Wind-Resistance and Failure Analyses of a Lightning-Damaged Transmission Tower

Abstract

This paper estimates the wind-resistance of a lightning-damaged transmission tower. The buckling cause of a tower member under lightning excitation is reexamined through an overall tower model, and the modelling method of the lightning-damaged transmission tower is presented. The static wind-resistance of a transmission tower is estimated with the consideration of initial eccentricity and nonlinear behaviors of material and geometry, and two influencing parameters are discussed. According to the simulation results, the basic wind speed of collapse decreases dramatically due to lightning damage, and the collapse modes of the original and lightning-damaged towers are very different. As a consequence, more attention should be paid to lightning damage of transmission towers.