Abstract
Hand-holes are present within the body of welded aluminum light poles. They are used to provide access to the electrical wiring for both installation and maintenance purposes. Wind is the main loading on these slender aluminum light poles and acts in a very cyclic way. In the field, localized fatigue cracking has been observed. This includes areas around hand-holes, most of which are reinforced with a cast insert welded to the pole. This study is focused on an alternative design, specifically hand-holes without reinforcement. Nine poles with 18 openings were fatigue tested in four-point bending at various stress ranges. Among the 18 hand-holes tested, 17 failed in one way or another as a result of fatigue cracking. Typically, fatigue cracking would occur at either the 3:00 or 9:00 positions around the hand-hole and then proceed to propagate transversely into the pole before failure. Finite element analysis was used to complement the experimental study. Models were created with varying aspect ratios to see if the hand-hole geometry had an effect on fatigue life.
Highlights
Aluminum light poles support overhead light fixtures and are used to are illuminate sidewalks, roadways, parking lots, recreational areas, and others
Wind is the main contribution to loading to these light poles, which can be classified as slender structures
In these aluminum light poles, electrical wires will run through conduit, into the hollow section of the pole, and proceed up into the light [1,2]
Summary
Aluminum light poles support overhead light fixtures and are used to are illuminate sidewalks, roadways, parking lots, recreational areas, and others. There are multiple structural details of interest These include the base to pole connection, mono-tube or truss arm joints truss, and the hand-holes used for electrical access. The behavior of the fatigue in these electrical access hand-holes within these aluminum light poles is largely unknown. Report number 176 from NCHRP (National cooperative Highway Research Program) web only found results of unreinforced and reinforced hand-hole fatigue tests for welded. Report number 176 from NCHRP (National cooperative Highway Re gram) web only found results of unreinforced and reinforced hand-hole fati welded steel structures. Lehigh University studied detail associated with stee 2 of 13 under fatigue During these experiments, 13 of the specimens had handholes ent geometries (as compared with aluminum poles). Finite element mod ated to help improve the understanding of the stress concentrated around the The models created had different aspect ratios
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
