Rational design of steel–GFRP towers for ultracompact overhead power lines

ABSTRACTThe potential use of glass fiber-reinforced plastic (GFRP) to fabricate single-circuit (SC) and double-circuit (DC) transmission towers was explored herein. Numerical simulations were also done in ANSYS Mechanical software using SOLID186 finite elements. The computations showed that for 110 kV SC and 35 kV and 110 kV DC anchor towers, GFRP structures are not acceptable due to poor stiffness. Different tower configurations with one and two poles made of GFRP and steel–GFRP were modeled. Hybrid steel–GFRP towers exhibited much better stiffness than GFRP ones. Here we advise SC and DC towers with two steel–GFRP columns braced by a metal cage.