Study on the buckling behaviour of cold-formed angles in transmission towers: Fid-Bau Portal

Study on the buckling behaviour of cold-formed angles in transmission towers

Yang, Fengli / Han, Junke / Yang, Jingbo / Li, Zhenbao

Abstract Considering the structural characteristics of transmission towers, four sections of cold-formed angles with different slenderness ratios and constrained types were selected for the experimental and numerical study. Experiments and finite element analysis for the ultimate loads of the compression cold-formed angles were carried out. The finite element model well predicts the buckling behaviour of the cold-formed members. For the axial compression members, the load-strain curves as well as the ultimate loads were analyzed, and the experimental ultimate loads were compared with those of calculated by the applicable standards. It shows that the applicable standards aren’t adaptive to the strength design of the compression cold-formed members in transmission towers. Through the analysis of the experimental and FEA results, the fitting curve of the stability coefficients for the cold-formed members in transmission towers was determined. The ultimate loads calculated by the fitting curve are well agreed with the experimental values, especially for the members with relatively low slenderness ratios. Some modification suggestions were proposed for the calculation of the ultimate load for the axial compression cold-formed angle. Experimental analysis on the cold-formed members of the other five constrained types was completed, and the modification formulas of the slenderness ratios for members of different constrained types were obtained.