Abstract
Lattice transmission towers are widely used in overhead transmission lines. Accurate prediction of the load bearing capacity of lattice towers under different failure modes is very important for the accurate assessment of the reliability of transmission lines. Traditionally, lattice towers are analyzed as ideal trusses or frame-truss systems without explicitly considering loading eccentricity and slippage effects in bolted joints. Such effects are always observed in full-scale tower tests and introduce great differences in ultimate bearing capacity and failure modes obtained from linear analysis models. In this paper several numerical models of a 110 kV height-adjustable transmission tower are studied to investigate the influence of joint eccentricity and slippage on the bearing capacity of the tower, and the numerical results are compared with some experimental results available from prototype tests. The numerical simulation results confirm that joint slippage has dramatic influence on the deformation of the lattice tower, while only slightly reducing its load bearing capacity. Joint eccentricity is shown to greatly decrease bearing capacity and even to change its failure mode and sequence. Tower failure (pushover static) analysis considering both joint slippage and eccentricity is found in good agreement with the experimental results.
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