Practical deflection analysis of tubular telecommunication towers subjected to a temperature gradient

Abstract

The subject of the paper are tubular telecommunication towers, commonly used by mobile telephony operators to build relay stations placed at relatively short distances from each other. The advantage of this type of facilities is their simple structure and small surface area they occupy. It has been observed that during operation, as a result of solar radiation, the towers experience excessive deflection, resulting in disturbances in the operation of transmitting and receiving systems mounted on the towers. The issue of a reliable and relatively precise assessment of the phenomenon of uneven heating of the body surface due to sunlight is not a trivial issue. From a practical view-point, the greatest difficulty is to estimate the temperature to which the surface of a structure exposed to sunlight heats up. Even the attempts at numerical modeling of the phenomenon do not accurately reflect its essence. The paper presents a proposal of a simplified analytical computational model that allows for a practical and uncomplicated estimation of the thermal loads to which such structures are subjected as a result of insolation. The considerations were supplemented with examples from engineering practice, showing the differences in deflection of structures protected by zinc and paint coatings.