Effect of Wind and Earthquake Loading on Telecommunication Tower

Abstract

The telecommunication industry plays a great role in human societies and thus much more attention is now being paid to telecommunication towers than it was in the past. Telecommunication towers are tall structures usually designed for supporting parabolic antennas installed at a specific height. As telecommunication towers are the only means of enhancing both the coverage area and network reliability, more and more telecommunications towers are installed nowadays. The stability of towers post-earthquake or a cyclone is of great concern. Hence in the present study, a detailed analysis has been made on the behaviour of the telecommunication tower subjected to wind and seismic loads with varying the bracing system of towers. Gust factor method is used for wind load analysis. Conducted analytical study on effect of wind on telecommunication towers, for wind speed of 50m/s for four combination of bracing systems; Also studied the effect of earthquake loading on telecommunication towers using Modal analysis and Response Spectrum method, for seismic zones III, IV and V for all the four combination of bracing systems. The results of displacement at the top of the towers and stresses in the bottom leg of the towers are compared and the optimum bracing system is found.