Influence of host structure characteristics on response of rooftop telecommunication towers

The increasing trend of mobile communications has seen exponential growth in the last three years. Increased competitions among mobile operators also have contributed to the installation of many towers to enhance both coverage area and network reliability. The tower locations as specified in terms of latitudes and longitudes with the height of mounted antenna dictated by functional requirements of the network. The availability of land which satisfies ideal installation conditions in urban areas is extremely limited giving no alternative but to adopt roof top towers (with marginal adjustment in position but not in height). In the present study, the seismic response of 4-leged telecommunication tower has been studied under the effect of design spectrum from the Indian seismic code of practice for Zone-IV. The analysis has been performed on ground tower and tower located on the roof of host structure by varying positions of tower with increasing the stiffness of host structure in the both direction (X and Y). Their dynamic analyses are performed by SAP2000 program. The axial forces of the tower members are considered as the main parameter. The comparison has been made between rooftop tower and ground tower members at the same height from the ground.