Design optimization of base widths of transmission tower using mode-pursuing sampling global optimization method

Design optimization of the transmission towers is important since the cost of tower structure accounts for a high proportion of the total cost of a transmission line. This work treats base widths of tower as design variables to obtain the minimum tower weight under the strength and stability constraints for the tower structure members. The forces in each structure member are calculated in ANSYS using the APDL program; section sizes of each member are designed to satisfy the Chinese Electrical Standard DL/T5145-2002. The structural analysis and member design procedure is treated as a black-box function for global optimization, which is performed using the mode-pursuing sampling method (MPS). The results illustrate the weight of a tower can be reduced by 8.1% and MPS has a high efficiency in global optimization with expensive black-box functions.