Calibration of the Resistance Factors for the LRFD of Shallow Foundations of Transmission Towers under Uplift Loading
Publication: International Journal of Geomechanics
Volume 24, Issue 8
Abstract
Over the last few decades, reliability-based design methods have been widely implemented into the foundation design practice. However, several design codes for transmission tower foundations are still based on the allowable stress design (ASD) approach and are yet to adopt the reliability-based approach for design. This paper developed a load and resistance factor design (LRFD) method based on an existing ASD code to design spread foundations of transmission towers under uplift loading in cohesionless soils. In the LRFD development procedures, additional analysis was carried out to check the statistically significant dependency of the model factors (i.e., the ratio between the measured and calculated foundation capacities) on the foundation design parameters. The analysis results showed that there were statistical dependencies between the model factors and the foundation width, which are known as scale effects. By incorporating the identified dependencies, reliability analysis was carried out via Monte Carlo simulations (MCS) by considering the context of transmission tower foundations. From the reliability analysis outputs, it was found that the foundation width had notable effects on the foundation reliability and the calibrated resistance factors. The LRFD format of the existing code was proposed, along with the resistance factors for varying foundation widths and target reliability indices. Finally, a design example was illustrated to compare the design uplift capacities from the existing ASD format and the proposed LRFD format of the design code. Compared to the existing code, the developed LRFD method showed significant improvements in the consistency of the design capacities and the associated reliability levels for a given foundation design.
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Data Availability Statement
Some or all data, models, or codes that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request (in particular, the load test database).
Acknowledgments
This research was supported by the Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) Research Institute under Grant R20SA03 and the Mid-Career Researcher Program funded by the National Research Foundation of Korea under Grant NRF-2022R1A2C2009260.
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Published In
International Journal of Geomechanics
Volume 24 • Issue 8 • August 2024
Copyright
© 2024 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jul 31, 2023
Accepted: Mar 4, 2024
Published online: Jun 10, 2024
Published in print: Aug 1, 2024
Discussion open until: Nov 10, 2024
ASCE Technical Topics:
- Allowable stress design
- Construction engineering
- Construction management
- Design (by type)
- Electric power
- Energy engineering
- Energy infrastructure
- Engineering fundamentals
- Foundation design
- Foundations
- Geotechnical engineering
- Infrastructure
- Lifeline systems
- Load and resistance factor design
- Load factors
- Power transmission
- Power transmission towers
- Shallow foundations
- Standards and codes
- Structural design
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