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Chapter I
Introduction
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Transmission Line Towers are the structures that support power conductors. A brief description of these
structures is given below.
1.1 Transmission Line towers
The purpose of a Transmission Line Tower is to support conductors carrying electrical power and groundwires
at suitable distances above the ground level and from each other.
The rapid rate of growth in electric power consumption has led to the setting-up of power stations with
higher capacities and also a spurt in their numbers. Consequently, additional transmission lines are required
to transmit power from the generating station to the load points.
A transmission line tower is a space-frame and a high-order indeterminate structure. The major
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components of a transmission line are conductors, groundwires, insulators, towers and foundations. In the
design of a transmission line tower a number of requirements have to be met. The most
important being insulation and safe clearances to earthen parts. Additionally, properties of conductors,
spacing between them and location of groundwires with respect to conductors will influence the design of
towers and foundations. The cost of a tower is influenced by its weight. The weight in turn depends on the
designer’s efficiency in the selection of an economical configuration and application of governing
specifications.
1.1.1 Tower configurations
Depending upon the requirements of the transmission system, various line configurations have to be
considered, ranging from single-circuit horizontal to double-circuit vertical structures and with single or
double or V-strings in all phases, as well as any combination of these.
The configuration of a transmission line tower depends on the following factors:
1. Length of the insulator assembly;
2. Minimum clearance to be maintained between conductors, and between conductor and tower;
3. Location of groundwire or wires with respect to outermost conductor;
4. Mid-span clearance required from considerations of the dynamic behavior of conductors and
lightning protection of the line;
5. Minimum clearance of the lowest conductor above ground level.
1.1.2 Types of towers
1.1.2.1 Classification according to number of circuits
The majority of high voltage double-circuit transmission lines employ a vertical or near vertical configuration
of conductors, while single-circuit transmission lines employ a triangular arrangement of conductors. Single-
circuit lines, particularly 400 kV and above, generally employ a horizontal arrangement of conductors.
The number of groundwires used on the line depends on the isoceraumic level (number of thunderstorm
days/hours per year) of the area, importance of the line and the angle of coverage desired. Single-circuit
lines using horizontal configuration generally employ two groundwires, due to comparatively wider width of
the configuration. Whereas lines using vertical and offset arrangement more often utilize one groundwire,
except on higher voltage lines of 400 kV and above. On higher voltage lines it is usually found advantageous
to string two groundwires, as the phase-to-phase spacing of conductors would require an excessively high
positioning of groundwire to give adequate coverage.
1.1.2.2 Classification according to use
Towers are classified according to their use, independent of the number of conductors they support. A
tower has to withstand loading ranging from straight runs to varying angles and dead ends. To simplify the
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designs and ensure an overall economy in construction and maintenance cost, tower designs are generally
confined to a few standard types as follows:
i) Tangent / Suspension Towers
ii) Angle Towers
iii) Special Towers
A detailed description of these types is given below.
i) Tangent / Suspension Towers
Suspension towers are used primarily on tangents but are often designed to withstand in line up to 2 degrees
in addition to the wind, ice and broken conductor loads. If the transmission line traverses relatively flat,
featureless terrain, 90 per cent of the line may be composed of this type of tower. (The design of a tangent
tower provides the structural engineer the greatest opportunity to minimize the total weight of steel
required).
ii) Angle Towers
Angle towers, sometimes called semi-anchor towers, are used where the line makes a horizontal angle
greater than two degrees. As they must resist a transverse load from the components of the line tension
induced by this angle, in addition to the usual wind, ice and broken conductor loads, they are necessarily
heavier than suspension towers. Unless restricted by site conditions, or influenced by conductor tensions,
angle towers should be located so that the axis of the cross-arms bisects the angle formed by the
conductors.
Theoretically, different line angles require different towers, but for economy there is a limiting number of
different towers which could be used. This number is a function of all the factors that make up the total
erected cost of a tower line. However, experience has shown that the following angle towers are generally
suitable for most of the lines:
1. Light angle - 2 deg. to 15 deg. Line deviation
2. Medium angle - 15 deg. to 30 deg. Line deviation
3. Heavy angle - 30 deg. to 60 deg. Line deviation
While angles of line deviation are for the normal span, the span may be increased up to an optimum limit by
reducing the angle of line deviation and vice versa.
The loading on a tower in the case of a 60-degree angle condition and a dead-end condition is almost the
same. As the number of locations at which 60-degree angle towers and dead end towers are required are
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comparatively few, it is economical to design heavy angle towers both for the 60-degree angle condition and
for the dead-end condition, whichever is more stringent for each individual structural member.
For each type of tower, the upper limit of the angle range is designed for the same basic span as the tangent
tower, so that a decreased angle can be accommodated with an increased span or vice versa. It would be
uneconomical to use 30-degree angle towers in locations where deviation angles higher than 2 degrees and
smaller than 30 degrees are encountered. The introduction of a 15-degree deviation tower would bring
about sizeable economies.
Angle towers are generally provided with tension insulator strings. Having light angle towers (2 to 15
degrees) can affect appreciable economies with suspension insulators. This will result in lighter tower
designs due to reduced longitudinal loads under broken wire conditions, because of the swing of the
insulator string towards the broken span.
It might appear that the use of suspension insulators at angle locations would result in longer cross-arms so
as to satisfy the clearance requirements under increased insulator swings because of the large line deviation
on the tower. In such a case, it is the usual practice to counteract the excessive swing of insulator strings by
the use of counter weights (in some countries counter weights up to 250 kgs have been used) and thus keep
the cross-arm lengths within the economic limits.
Another method to overcome the difficulty of higher swings (if suspension strings are used for a 15-degree
line deviation) is to have unequal cross-arms for the tower. The main differences in the design aspects
between this type of tower and the usual towers (with equal cross-arms) are:
1. The tower will be subjected to eccentric vertical loading under normal working conditions.
2. For calculation of torsion loads, the conductor on the bigger half of the cross-arm should be
assumed to be broken, as this condition will be more stringent.
iii) Special towers
The construction of each transmission line is a fresh engineering problem. Certain conditions arise
necessitating the design of ‘Custom Towers’, often of unusual design. Some of these special towers are as
follows:
a) River Crossing Towers
b) Railway Crossing (or) Highway Crossing Towers
c) Transposition Towers
a) River Crossing Towers
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Usually, the governing specification requires that towers employed for navigable waterways be designed for
heavy loading conditions. In addition to these structural requirements, it is often necessary to limit the
height of tall crossing towers because of the hazard they present to aircraft.
b) Railway Crossing (or) Highway Crossing Towers
Towers for highway crossings are often required by the governing specification to be fitted with double
suspension insulators and capable of resisting more longitudinal load than a standard suspension tower.
Angle or dead-end towers with suitable extensions and double tension insulator strings are employed for
railway crossings.
c) Transposition Towers
Power transmission lines are transposed primarily to eliminate or reduce disturbances in the neighboring
communication circuits produced by the geometric imbalance of power lines. An incidental effect of
transposing power line sections is the geometric balancing of such circuits between terminals, which assures
balanced conditions at every point of the power transmission system. Improvements and developments in
both the communications and power fields have, however, greatly reduced the need for transposition of high
voltage lines at close intervals.
1.2 Matrix Method of Analysis
Before the advent of digital computers, the methods of analysis of complex structures generally involved
lengthy time-consuming calculations, involving long hand-calculations for obtaining member forces and
deflections. The use of high-speed computers has enabled the analysis of large structural systems to be
carried out more easily and accurately.
Many designs are possible to satisfy the functional requirements and a parametric design procedure may be
employed to choose the optimum design. The computer-aided design (CAD) provides an ideal medium for
such a process.
The design process, as generally understood, requires a totally different chain of events such as modeling,
simulation, analysis, synthesis and evaluation. Though the CAD process results in a design solution, it further
requires a specific approach to suit each particular problem. Let us take a look at the design steps.
1.3 Steps constituting design process of a Transmission Line Tower
i) Sag Tension Calculations
This involves sag-tension computations of the tower.
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ii) 3-D Geometry Generation
Involves pattern generation for panels of various patterns. Various alternative patterns can be generated,
which can be subsequently compared.
iii) Project Database
The database consists of various angle sections and built-up sections, which can be used in design. Various
types of materials and cost-weight factors can be considered at this stage. This becomes the most vital step
in optimization.
iv) Preliminary Design
Sections are chosen from the database based on design criteria such as minimum slenderness ratios,
minimum thickness, edge distance, position of joints, etc.
v) Loads Generation
Loads of various natures such as reversible, permanent and accidental are generated along longitudinal,
vertical and transverse directions.
vi) 3-D Space Truss Analysis
Analysis should have the fastest solution techniques considering a number of elementary loading conditions.
Focus should be synthesized and picked from across tower combinations for common substructures.
vii) Redesign
Redesign should be carried out for most critical loading combinations, thereby ensuring verification for
stress in each member under all feasible loading conditions.
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