Failure Analysis of Transmission Line Towers
Publication: Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities
Volume 25, Issue 3
Abstract
Transmission line towers, though designed per code provisions, may fail during mandatory testing required in many countries. Different types of premature failures that were observed during full-scale testing of transmission line towers at Tower Testing and Research Station, Structural Engineering Research Centre, Chennai (CSIR-SERC) are studied, and the results are discussed in detail. The failures are modeled using finite-element software, and the analytical results and the test results are compared with various code provisions. The nonlinear finite-element analysis program NE-Nastran was used to model the elastoplastic behavior of towers. Bracing members with slenderness ratios above 170 become ineffective, even though they have to carry insignificant forces. Importance of design assumptions and connection detailing in overall performance of towers were studied. Nonlinear finite-element analysis is useful in understanding the system behavior and for prediction of the failure pattern and ultimate load. Based on the test results, the importance of studying these failures is highlighted and significant conclusions were drawn.
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References
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities
Volume 25 • Issue 3 • June 2011
Pages: 231 - 240
Copyright
© 2011 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Feb 4, 2010
Accepted: Jul 27, 2010
Published online: Jul 31, 2010
Published in print: Jun 1, 2011
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