Abstract
Abstract This study focused on improving the design of slender structures with reinforced concrete (RC) telecommunication towers as the main application. Analytical procedure based on Rayleigh’s method to compute the first natural vibration frequency and the critical buckling load was development. All the nonlinearities present in the system were considered, in addition to the soil-structure interaction and the variation of the geometric properties along the length of the structure. The geometric nonlinearity and imperfections of the tower structure were computed as functions of the axial load using a geometric stiffness matrix. Further, the material nonlinearity was accounted for by reducing the flexural stiffness. As concrete structures exhibit viscoelasticity, creep was calculated using the Eurocode 2 model. The soil-structure interaction was modeled as a set of distributed springs. To validate the proposed method, the first frequency and critical buckling load were compared with those yielded by FEM simulations. The frequency results were in good agreement with those of the FEM simulations, indicating that the proposed method is sufficiently accurate for use in engineering design applications and easy to implement. On the other hand, the buckling load results obtained using the proposed method and FEM differed significantly, motivating further investigation.
Highlights
Telecommunication towers are slender beam-column structures that are frequently subjected to dynamic loading due to wind excitation
For these cases, the frequencies are especially very low, suggesting proximity to the losing of stability, it is necessary, to verify the structural safe in relation to the vertical capacity of loading, understood it as the limit value for installation of antennas and platforms. Considering both aspects, the main objectives of this study were to develop a novel analytical expression for computing the first vibration frequency and modal shape of slender reinforced concrete (RC) structures, to compute the critical buckling load considering geometrical and physical nonlinearities, and to compare the obtained values with those given by the finite element method (FEM), what is going to allow analysis of similar structural systems when exposed to the environmental wind
The first vibration modes predicted by applying the proposed method via Eq (41) and by applying the nonlinear FEM formulation via Eq (62) are compared in Figure 9, and they are found to be in good agreement
Summary
Telecommunication towers are slender beam-column structures that are frequently subjected to dynamic loading due to wind excitation. Precise prediction of the first resonance frequency is necessary for dynamic analysis of such structures As, for these cases, the frequencies are especially very low, suggesting proximity to the losing of stability, it is necessary, to verify the structural safe in relation to the vertical capacity of loading, understood it as the limit value for installation of antennas and platforms. For these cases, the frequencies are especially very low, suggesting proximity to the losing of stability, it is necessary, to verify the structural safe in relation to the vertical capacity of loading, understood it as the limit value for installation of antennas and platforms Considering both aspects, the main objectives of this study were to develop a novel analytical expression for computing the first vibration frequency and modal shape of slender reinforced concrete (RC) structures, to compute the critical buckling load considering geometrical and physical nonlinearities, and to compare the obtained values with those given by the finite element method (FEM), what is going to allow analysis of similar structural systems when exposed to the environmental wind
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