Experimental and theoretical study of wind loads and mechanical performance analysis of heliostats

•This paper presents the calculation of wind load shape factor and wind load prediction on heliostats.•Wind load measurement on a full scale heliostat was performed.•Mechanical performance analysis of heliostat structures is done.

Wind load greatly affects the mechanical performance and tracking accuracy of heliostats. Therefore, predicting wind loads accurately is important for developing heliostats with good performance. Quantifying an accurate wind load shape factor is the key to predict wind loads. In this paper, the wind load shape factor is obtained through measuring wind pressure distribution on the heliostat surface, and then is used to analyze the mechanical parameters of the heliostat support structure, such as stress distribution and directional deformation. The said mechanical parameters are compared with those generated by the modeled wind load which is calculated according to the related codes. The comparison results show that the theoretical method of modeling wind loads can be used to design and research the heliostat.