Behavior of self supported transmission line towers under stationary downburst loading

Mohamed M. Darwish and Ashraf A. El Damatty

Abstract

During the past decade, many electrical transmission tower structures have failed during downburst events. This study is a part of a research program aimed to understand the behaviour of transmission lines under such localized wind events. The present study focuses on assessing the behaviour of self supported transmission line towers under downburst loading. A parametric study is performed to determine the critical downburst configurations causing maximum axial forces for various members of a tower. The sensitivity of the internal forces developing in the tower

Key Words

downburst; transmission lines; finite element; self supported transmission towers.

Address

Mohamed M. Darwish : March Consulting Associates Incorporation Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, S7K 0B8 Ashraf A. El Damatty : Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The University of Western Ontario London, Ontario, Canada, N6A 5B9

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