Studies on strengthening techniques for existing transmission line and communication towers

Abstract

The transmission and communication towers are subjected to increased loading due to its voltage upgradation and installation of new antennas in existing towers for new line of sight, respectively. Hence, cost-effective structural upgrading scheme has to be developed that can be easily adopted by power and communication industries. In the present study, component level analytical and experimental investigations are carried out to strengthen existing angle section of transmission tower. Experimental investigation is conducted to determine the buckling capacity of single angle section of size 65 × 65 × 5 mm with slenderness ratio 40 strengthened with different connection patterns such as (i) double cross-plate, (ii) single cross-plate, (iii) friction grip, (iv) double angle, and (v) double cleat angle connections. The compression strength of angle section is increased on an average by 20%. The analytical investigation is carried out using ABAQUS software using C3D8R elements. The numerical and experimental results are in good agreement, and the variation is within 16%.