Dedicated Software for the Structural Analysis of Guyed Antenna Towers

• Published in: Structural Engineering, Mechanics and Computation pp. 621 - 628
• Main Author: Iordanescu, Mircea
• Format: Book Chapter
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Science 2001
• ISBN: 9780080439488; 0080439489
• DOI: 10.1016/B978-008043948-8/50067-9

Tall-guyed towers for directional telecommunications antennas are complex structures, with specific design requirements regarding their strength, stiffness, and stability. Their structural behavior is characterized by a pronounced geometric nonlinearity due to the presence of guys and a strong compression force in the mast. The most convenient solution for analyzing such structures involves the use of dedicated programs adapted for personal computers. This chapter discusses a method for the nonlinear analysis of guyed towers that takes account of all their behavioral and load characteristics. The analysis is performed iteratively, according to the stiffness matrix method, with redefinition of the secant stiffness matrices for guys and the lattice-mast finite elements. The tower internal forces and displacements are evaluated directly for each load combination, including the dead weight, initial guy tensioning, temperature changes, as well as the effects of wind and ice. Mast stability is automatically verified throughout the analysis. Several examples illustrate the performance of this method as applied to guy towers with triangular mast and stabilizers. The compression–torsion coupling effect in the mast proves to be a very adverse effect for towers with single parallel diagonals.