Progressive Collapse Analysis of Latticed Telecommunication Towers under Wind Loads

Abstract

As the antenna-supporting structures, latticed telecommunication steel towers are considered as critical members of telecommunication infrastructures. It is necessary to perform progressive collapse analysis of lattice telecommunication towers under wind loads. The present study conducts a nonlinear dynamic analysis on 50 m high typical standard latticed telecommunication tripole tower and angle tower by alternative load path method. The finite element models for two towers subjected to design wind loads are developed by ABAQUS. The analysis results show that, for 50 m high standard tripole tower, the member failure in the first three tower sections from tower top would not trigger the collapse of the tower. From the fourth tower section to tower bottom, the member failure at certain wind direction may cause a collapse. For 50 m high standard angle tower, the single member failure in any tower section would not cause the collapse of the tower. A dynamic sensitivity index is proposed to identify the most unfavorable wind direction for tripole tower and angle tower. A progressive collapse fragile curve based on collapse probability of telecommunication tower under wind loads is proposed to assess the anticollapse performance of the towers.