Low-cycle fatigue behavior of glass-fiber-reinforced polymers cross arms with steel sleeves

Abstract

For the dynamic fatigue problem of transmission tower cross arms caused by the strong wind load, an experimental study on low-cycle fatigue behavior of a new type full-scale glass-fiber-reinforced polymers (GFRP) cross arm with steel sleeves was carried out. A total of six specimens were subjected to cyclic loading for simulating low-cycle fatigue. The stress state was monitored. The variety of load-displacement-time curve, energy dissipation and dynamic strain were analyzed. The ultimate bearing capacity of the specimens without significant fatigue failure was examined to derive residual bearing capacity. Based on the residual strength theory, the cumulative damage was evaluated to predict the fatigue life. It is shown that the GFRP cross arms demonstrated favourable anti-fatigue performance, and can be expected to provide important reference for wind res istance design in transmission tower line system.