Investigations on A220 kV Cold-formed Latticed Transmission Line Tower

Dr N Subramanian, Fellow
An attempt was made to analyse and design a 220 kV transmission line tower using cold-formed lipped angle sections. Since 60 angles are not presently rolled in India, the tower was designed as one with square base. This introduced some difficulties in fabrication and detailing. To verify the assumptions made in the design and to study the behaviour of the joints, a full scale testing of this 36 m tower, up to failure, was undertaken. From this investigation, it was found that cold-formed towers can be considered as a viable alternate to hot rolled towers even for square based towers.
Keywords: Transmission line tower, Cold-formed section, Full scale testing, Economy, Connections

INTRODUCTION
Transmission line towers represent about 35-40 % of the total cost of the transmission line project. Hence, greater emphasis is now given to develop designs that are more efficient and cost less and give a better aesthetic look. Also, even a small percentage of the saving in the weight of one tower will result in substantial overall savings of costly matcrial such as steel. Transmission line towers were traditionally designed using hot-rolled steel sections. Tile main difficulty of using hot-rolled steel angles is the non-availability of thinner sections and also the code restriction on the allowable thickness. This has resulted in the use of some minimum angle which leads to more weight. Hence, several countries have tried to substitute these hot-rolled angles with cold-formed shapes. Cold-formed shapes arc readily available. in thinner sections and provide a viable alternative for more economical structures due to savings ill weight'. The added advantage is that any section can be rolled according to specification even in small quantities. (Most of the major cold rolling companies in India accept a minimum of 5 t for any section to be rolled). Hence, long unsupported lengths may be used for the leg members, which will in turn reduce the number of bracing members and the number of connecting bolts. Cold-formed members with thickness of 3 nun - 6 mm are used for transmission towers. However, in India, the transmission line tower code does not include the use of cold-formed steel sections in these towers. Hence, an attempt was made to analyse and design a 220 kV double circuit tangent tower using cold-formed lipped angle sections. Since 60 angles are not presently rolled in India, the tower was designed as a square based tower. This introduced some difficulties in fabrication and detailing which are discussed in this paper. In order to verify the assumptions made in the design and to study the behaviour of the joints of the tower, a full scale test of this 36 m high tower was conducted. The tower was tested up to failure. From the test results, it was found that the analytical model predicts the behaviour within reasonable limits, and the cold-rolled seeDr N Subramanian is with Computer Design Consultants, Usmao Road, TNagar, Madras 600 017. 19J, North

tions offer a viable alternative even for square based towers, resulting in 10% savings ill cost.

EXAMPLE TOWER
In order to demonstrate the economy that can be achieved by using cold-formed sections, a 220 kV double circuit tangent tower having the configuration shown in Fig 1 was analysed. The loads acting on this tower based on sag-tension calculations are shown in Fig 2.
FIGURE 1 CONFIGURATION OF TANGENT TOWER

220

kV

DOUBLE

CIRCUIT

This paper was received on November 25, 1994. Written discussion on the paper will be received until September 30, 1996.

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The wind load acting at different nodes of the tower were calculated by using a module of the TRAJ"JSTOWER program, developed by the author. These wind loads were assumed to act at each and every node of the tOWL'f. Similarly, the dead load of the town was also distributed to act at every node or the lower. The analysis of the tower was made by using the analysis and design module of the TRANSTOWER program for the various loading conditions as specified in the

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rolle d ongl2 section

(b~U;ing cold roll2d liPPlld chonnel

IS code ',
This program is based on the stiffness method of structural analysis and assumes the tower as a three-dimensional truss. The details of this program arc discussed elsewhere". In the analysis, the secondary bracings were omitted, though their effect is considered in the design. Note that while designing cold-rolled members, the extra strength available due to cold rolling at comers was also take-n into account (clause 6.1.1.1 oflS 801). From an earlier analysis and design of a 400 kY transmission line tower, based on Indian specifications for cold-rolled Illl~lllht'_rs4-5, it was found that there is a weight saving of about 30%. However, arc higher only be of the order since the cost of cold- formed sections sections, the savings this small in cost will saving will several of 10%. Even than hot-rolled

been omitted

and the value of Cw has be ell included.

CONNECTIONS
For cold-formed used members, the same angles connection is valid. design Members axis philosophy meeting for hot-rolled

at a joint should be arranged

FIGURE 4 (a) TOWER AT TESTING

with the centroidal

STATION - BEFORE

TESTING

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result ill large savings in the overall project because identical towers will hl'- erected in the same project. It is to be noted that completely new configurations

such as

triangular - based tower will result in more economy, since the number of members will be 29% lower!". Triangular - based tower results in about 27 % reduction in the cost of foundation",

DRAWBACKS

OF INDIAN CODE llROVlSIONS

It has been found in Italy that towers made of cold-formed sections having triangular base (which is quite stable) arc more economical than square base towers". However, Indian code docs not specify the use towers with triangular base, (although, a mention about triangular based towers is made in the draft Indian code on antenna towers). Moreover, the Indian code does not give any methods to calculate the warp-

or

ing constant C". Further, explicit equations life not given to find the allowable stress for singly symmetric and non-symmetric members subjected to lateral torsional buckling and for which the Ionn factor Q is less than 1. It may be of interest to note that in the recent Indian specification for cold-formed fight gauge sections, the column factor Q has

64

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FIGURE 4 (b) TOWER AT TESTING

STATION - AFTER TESTING

FIGURE 5 CONTROL SYSTEM

meeting at olle point. Eccentricity should be minimised. However, in cold-formed sections, other than angles, bolted connections on one leg or one plane may' create eccentricities higher than those occurring in hot-rolled angles. In these cases, the flexural component of the stress caused by the eccentricity must be considered in the design. Moreover, effect of local distortion in cold-formed steel connection should also be studied. Further difficulties of connecting cold-formed lipped channels to the bracings are explained in Fig 3. In normal hotrolled towers, the bracings and leg members have angle sections, and hence, the bracings can be directly connected to the leg members on both faces of the kg angie, thus eliminating the use of extra gusset plates. It also, to some extent, reduces the bolt weight. As seen in Fig 3, such a method cannot be adopted for cold-formed sections.
TABLE 1 TEST SCHEDULE Direction and Type of Load 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Res!. Resl. Res!. Resl. Res!. Res!. Resl,

MODEL TOWER AND DETAILS OF TK"TING PROCEDURE

In order to check the validity of the assumptions made in the design and to study the behaviour of thc tower connections, a prototype tower with the configuration and member sizes as shown ill Fig 1 was tested in the Tower Testing and Research Station of the Structural Engineering Research Centre, Madras. It is to be noted that this is the first time a prototype of cold-formed steel tower is tested in India. Thc tower at the test rig is shown in Fig 4(a). Since it was a preliminary test to ascertain the validity of using cold-formed sections in lowers, the tower was tested only for the normal condition, though facilities are available to test it for broken wire conditions also.

TABLE

FOR NORMAL Vertical Load, kN 6.96 23.02 23.02 23.02 23.02 23.02 23.02

CONDITION Rigg Load, N

FS - 2.0 Resultant Load, kN 10.82 31.50 31.50 33.22 33.22 46.74 46.74 Resultant Angle 37"27" 44 31' 44 31' 4tO 40' 41' 40' 28' 12' 28' 12' Load Cell, kN 50 300 500 300 500 300 500 Control Channel No and (Range) 1 (3) 2 (4) 3 (4) 4 (4) 5 (4) 6 (3) 7 (4) Test Load as percent of Range 86.56 84.00 50.40 88.59 53.15 62.32 74.78

Horizontal Load, kN 8.76 22.90 22.90 2530 25.30 42.00 42.00

250 500 500 500 500 500 500

Vol 77, August 1996

65

TABLE 2 STRUCTURAL Directions and Location Transverse At Top Conductor Level Bottom Conductor Level Computed values 0 0

DEFLECTIONS, Percentage

mm
Test Load 7S at Failure 50

or Ultimate

Datum

25

Subsequent inspection of the tower showed that both the compression bracings in transverse fac~ immediately below bottom cross ann level had buckled. Also the compression legs below bottom cross ann had buckled Fig 4(b). DISCUSSIONS AND CONCLUSIONS

115 55

250 (63)' 120 (33)'

360 180

390

In the test setup, the transverse and vertical load components are combined into a resultant force, the longitudinal component being applied in the horizontal plane. Fig 5 schematically shows the wire rope arrangement for the application of the resultant load at the required angle at a typical load point on the tower, In the rope applying the resultant load, a load cell to measure the load and an angle sensor to monitor the angle of load application are attached. The resultant load is controlled by the hydraulic ram at the top and the angle of application is controlled by the vertical ram at the lower level. The double acting hydraulic rams are remotely controlled from the control room loading channels. This control is automatic by means of a closed loop servo system explained in the figure. The closed loop system adjusts the resultant transverse and longitudinal components simultaneously at all load points and ensures that the loads are proportional from zero to maximum. Limit switches help to see that the load applied never crosses the ultimate value. The magnitude of load and the deviation in the angle of application arc automatically recorded on charts. To identify the transducers' range, each is given its own channel number, eg, 7-(1), 7-(2), 7-{3), and 7-{4). Accuracy of the measuring system during a test is determined by calibrating the transducer/recorder combination before and after testing. A calibration rig compares the transducer output against a NFL calibrated proving ring. Depending on the minimum values of the ultimate test loads required to be applied at any particular load point during a series of tests, a load cell for that load point is chosen, and the load cell-recorder combination is calibrated for the required ranges of the load cell, allotting one control channel for each load cell. The details of the tabulation for the tested tower is given in Table 1. After completing the rigging of the test tower, a trial test was conducted with around 10% of loading in all load points, to check the rigging pattern, hydraulic loading and control system functioning. During the actual test, a pause in loading was made after every 5% or 10% of ultimate test load has been applied. This is done to allow deflection readings to be taken and to assess the ability of the tower to accept a further increase in load. In addition to visual inspection of the tower throughout the test for probable distress in any member, at selected stages of loading, theodolite readings of the movement of graduated scales fitted on to certain parts of the tower were also taken for assessing the tower deflection. Table 2 gives the deflection readings taken during the test. After reaching 84% of ultimate test load, the tower failed. 66

Most of the cold-rolled section manufacturers in India are rolling only a range of standard sections. Hence, it was not possible to adopt the actual designed sections in the tower. The sections shown in Fig 1 are the sections used in the testing and not the sections designed by using the computer program. Hence, in order to compare the computed results with those of the test results, the sections and loads as adopted in the test were substituted in the computer model. Comparison of the computed and tested results showed that the tower failed at a lower load which is 16 % less than the calculated load. This may be attributed to the large deformations (which are four times more than the calculated values) noticed during the test. The test also showed that the initial imperfections in tbe tower members will have greater influence in the case of cold-rolled sections. It was also found that there was no appreciable deformation at the gussetted joints, A series of tests on parts of the towers are being planned in order to determine the effect of eccentricity of the gussetted joints. However, this preliminary test ensured that cold-formed sections could be successfully adopted in four-legged transmission line towers, which will result in economy of material. It was also seen that the gusset plates, though marginally increasing the cost of the tower, docs not change the structural performance of the tower. More tests, including those on triangular-base towers will throw more light on the behaviour of such towers. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The tower was fabricated and tested on behalf of MIs T I Metal Sections. The tower was tested at the Tower Testing and Research Station of the Structural Engineering Research Centre, Madras. The author was a consultant to M/s T I Metal Sections in this project REf'ERENCES
L E H Gaylord and G M Wilhoite. 'Transmission Towers - Design of Cold Formed Angles.' Journal of Structural Engineering, Proceedings ASCE, vol Ill, no 8,August 1987, P 1810-1825.
2.IS 802 (part I) - I rn7. 'Code of Practice for use of Structural Steel in Overhead Transmission Line Towers.' Bureau of Indian Standards, New Delhi, 1977. 3. N Subramanian and C R Annapurani. 'Design of Transmission Line Towers using a Micro Computer.' The Bridge and Structural Engineer, vol 16, no 1, March 1986, p 21-31.

4. IS 801 - 1975. 'Indian Standard Code of Practice for use of Cold Formed
Light Gauge Steel Structural Members in General Building Constructions (Firs! Revision).' Bureau 'of Indian Standards, New Delhi, January 1rn6.

5. N Subramanian.

'Design of Transmission Towers using Cold Formed Members.' Civil Engineering and Construction Review, vol 3, no 5, May 19'K1,p 63-67.

6. M AZaveland and P Faggiano. 'Design of Cold Formed Latticed Transmission Towers.' Journal of Structural Division, Proceedings ASCE, vol Ill, November 1985. p 2427 - 2445. 7. Test Report on 220 kV Double Circuit Tangent Tower, Report no 18, Tower Testing and Research Station, SERC, Madra." December 1991.

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