Improving Full-Scale Transmission Tower Design through Topology and Shape Optimization
Publication: Journal of Structural Engineering
Volume 132, Issue 5
Abstract
Application of structural optimization to transmission tower design is facilitated since major costs such as material, transportation, erection, and maintenance are directly proportional to structural mass. In this paper, structural topology and shape annealing (STSA), a structural topology optimization method that combines structural grammars with simulated annealing, is applied to reduce the structural mass of an existing tower. STSA has previously been validated only on smaller-scale benchmark tasks. The challenges of extending STSA for application to full-scale design tasks are presented. Key results include a 16.7% mass reduction of the existing primary members through combined optimization of the tower envelope, joint locations, and discrete section sizes. Also, the tower configuration was optimized to have 16 fewer joints and 80 fewer primary members. Promising results for a practical, full-scale application serve to validate the STSA method for combined structural optimization of topology, shape and discrete section size.
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Acknowledgments
The writers would like to thank N. Sabri, formerly at EOS Lausanne, Switzerland, for his collaboration related to practical design aspects of transmission towers and creation of the optimization model for this study. The first writer would also like to thank the Leverhulme Trust (U.K.) for supporting this research through a Philip Leverhulme Prize and the EPSRC (U.K.).
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Structural Engineering
Volume 132 • Issue 5 • May 2006
Pages: 781 - 790
Copyright
© 2006 ASCE.
History
Received: Oct 31, 2002
Accepted: Feb 11, 2005
Published online: May 1, 2006
Published in print: May 2006
Notes
Note. Associate Editor: Christopher M. Foley
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