Analyzing the Limit Loading of Transmission Tower by Means of Finite Element Model

The truss structure has been widely used in the area of high-voltage electric power transmission due to its limited mass and great stiffness. The carrying capacity should be known in advance before the practical usage of transmission tower. As a result, analyzing the limit loading of transmission tower can be significantly useful. In this research, a model of transmission tower structure has been established by a software named Abaqus 6.14. By imposing different loading forces to the finite element model, the locations of limit stress and displacement were figured out. It has shown that the truss structure in this article can bear no more than 198 kN of loading. Stresses meanly distribute in the two side of the tower body, decreasing with the increasing height. The limit stress shows up at the bottom and is at same side of loading force. Stress and displacement responses fit Hooke's law perfectly, in other words, the proposed finite element model can be used in the design of transmission tower in practice.