ANALYSISAND

ANALYSIS ANDDESIGN
DESIGNOF
OF
TELECOMMUNICATION
TELECOMMUNICATION
TOWER
TOWER
Guided by;
D Sreehari Rao,
Assistant Professor, Dept. of Civil Engg.

By;
G Sireesha ( 11202012),
P Hari Krishna (11202024),
S Sri Hari (11202030).
 INTRODUCTION

In the present era the technology in communications has developed to a very large
extent. The communication industries have seen a tremendous increase in last few years
which have resulted in installation of large number of towers to increase the coverage
area and network consistency. In wireless communication network these towers play a
significant role hence failure of such structure in a disaster is a major concern. Therefore
utmost importance should be given in considering all possible extreme conditions for
designing these towers. In most of the studies, the researches have considered the effect
of wind only on the four legged self-supporting towers. In this dissertation, a four legged
lattice tower is analyzed and designed along with foundation details.
 TYPES
TYPESOF
OFCOMMUNICATION
COMMUNICATIONTOWERS
TOWERS

BASED ON STRUCTURAL ACTION

SELF SUPPORTING GUYED TOWERS MONOPOLE

TOWERS
The towers that are supported
on ground or on buildings are
called as self-supporting
towers. Though the weight of
these towers is more they
require less base area and are
suitable in many situations.
Most of the TV, MW, Power
transmission, and flood light
towers are self-supporting
towers.
Guyed towers are normally
guyed in three directions. These It is single self-supporting
towers are much lighter than self
pole, and is generally placed
supporting type but require a over roofs of high raised
large free space to anchor guy
buildings, when number of
wires. Whenever large open antennae required is less or
space is available, guyed towers
height of tower required is less
can be provided. There are other than 9m.
restrictions to mount dish
antennae on these towers and
require large anchor blocks to
hold the ropes.
Self Supporting
Self Supporting Guyed Tower Monopole Tower
Tower Guyed Tower Monopole Tower
Tower
Based on the type of material sections :
Based on the sections used for fabrication, towers are classified into angular and hybrid
towers (with tubular and angle bracings). Lattice towers are usually made of bolted angles.
Towers with tubular members may be less than half the weight of angle towers because of the
reduced wind load on circular sections. However the extra cost of the tube and the more
complicated connection details can exceed the saving of steel weight and foundations.

Based on cross section of tower:

Towers can be classified, based on their cross section, into square, rectangular, triangular,
delta, hexagonal and polygonal towers. Triangular Lattice Towers have less weight but offer less
stiffness in torsion. With the increase in number of faces, it is observed that weight of tower
increases. The increase is 10% and 20% for square and hexagonal cross sections respectively.

Based on the number of segments:

The towers are classified based on the number of segments as Three slope tower; Two slope
tower; Single slope tower; Straight tower.
 OBJECTIVES
The objective of this project is to design a Telecommunication tower, along with
foundation details, and to analyze it, below mentioned basic parameters are considered :
Base width.
Height of tower.
Soil Bearing Capacity.
Configuration of Tower.

Following research has to be carried out for meeting the above objectives:
Soil exploration studies.
Terminology of communication tower and its components.
Different behaviors of towers.
Methodology for analysis and design of communication towers.
To meet these objectives the following work has to be done:
Towers are configured with keeping in mind all field and structural constraints on
AutoCAD 2015.
Loading format including reliability, security and safety pattern are to be evaluated.
Wind loading is calculated on the longitudinal face of the towers.
Now all the towers are modelled and analyzed as a three dimensional structure
using STADD.Pro V8i and STAAD(X) Tower V8i.
Finally tower members are designed as an angle sections.
DESIGN OF COMMUNICATION TOWERS
The following are the steps involved in design of communication tower:

Selection of configuration of tower.

Computation of loads acting on tower.
Analysis of tower for appropriate loading conditions.
Design of tower members according to codes of practices.
Design of foundation according to codes of practices.
 CONFIGURATION
A communication tower, like any other exposed structure, has a super structure shaped,
dimensioned and designed to suit the external loads and self-weight
Selection of configuration of a tower involves fixing of top width, bottom width, number of panels
and their heights, type of bracing system and slope of tower. The following are key parameters in
configuration of tower.

Width at bottom level = 4.00 m

Width at top level = 1.20 m
Overall Height = 30.00 m
No. of levels = 09 levels
Slope of outline of tower = 87 8 15.34 (with horizontal)
 ELEVATION OF LEVELS
LEVELS HEIGHT (M) BASE WIDTH (M) BRACING PATTERN OF
FACE
0 0 4 K2 Brace Down
1 6 3.3 Double K1 Brace Down
2 10.5 2.775 Double K1 Brace Down
3 14 2.367 Double K1 Brace Down
4 17 2.017 XX Bracing
5 19 1.783 XX Bracing
6 21 1.55 XX Bracing
7 22.5 1.375 XX Bracing
8 24 1.2 XX Bracing
9 30 1.2 XX Bracing
 LOAD CONSIDERATIONS

In case of communication towers self-weight of tower is most important component of

tower design. The tele communication steel tower is a pin-jointed light structure, It is still
assumed that their behavior is similar to simple truss.
The percentage of openings in Tower structure will be more than 30%, so wind loads
acting on the tower will be of less magnitude compared to chimneys, but the major cause
of failures of telecommunication tower throughout the world though still remains to be
high intensity winds (HIW). The major problem faced is the difficulty in estimating wind
loads as they are based on a probabilistic approach. There has been several studies in
telecommunication towers taking into consideration the wind as well as dynamic effect.
The loadings which are considered during this project are:
1. Dead loads or Vertical loads
( i.e. self weight of tower members, Self weight of antennas, labour and
equipment during construction and maintenance.)

2. Transverse loads
(Wind load on exposed members of the tower and antenna.)
Wind load on tower:
The wind load on tower can be calculated using the Indian standards IS: 875(Part 3)-
1987[3] and BS: 8100 (Part 1)-1996[4].

Wind load on antennae:

Wind load on antennae shall be considered from Andrews catalogue. In the Andrews
catalogue the wind loads on antennas are given for 200kmph wind speed. The designer
has to calculate the antenna loads corresponding to designwind speed.
 DESIGN WIND PRESSURE
At Tirupati region, the design wind speed = 39 m/s

Design speed at the site = Vz = K1K2K3Vb

Risk co-efficient = K1 for 100 years life = 1.08
K2 , terrain factor for 30 m and class B of Terrain category 3 = 1.03
Topography factor (K3) = 1+ Cs
For the given plain topography K3 = 1 ( As C=0 )

Vz = 1.08*1.03*1*39 = 55.62 m/s

Design wind pressure = Pz = 0.6 Vz2 = 1.86 KN/m2

Similarly the design wind pressures for different levels are calculated and tabulated as
follows:

Height (m) Design wind pressure

(KN/m2 )
0 0
10 1.36
12 1.44
15 1.55
18 1.63
21 1.70
24 1.75
27 1.81
30 1.86
 MODELLING AND ANALYSIS
The lattice tower model was analyzed in ANSYS as well as in STAAD. Pro V8i
and STAAD(X) Tower V8i software package. The model was created using the
coordinate data for the points and the element connectivity table and suitable cross
sectional properties were assigned to the elements created. The boundary condition
was stimulated in the model by fixing the three lowermost nodes of the modeled
structure. The loads calculated above are applied at appropriate nodes and the stress
parameters, deformation of the structure under the effect of the applied load is
studied.
 DESIGN OF MEMBERS

Suitable steel sections are initially assumed as members of the tower for
analyzing the structure. Once the analysis is done members are finalized based on
the stresses developing in them, following the codal provisions provided by Indian
Standards.

The maximum allowable stresses in the members are given in IS 802 (Part-1).
Limiting slenderness ratios for members are given in IS 802(Part-1).
Effective Length of compression members should be assumed as per IS
806(1968).
DESIGN OF FOUNDATION
 DESIGN OF SLAB BASE
per IS 800:2007,
As
Bearing strength of concrete = 0.6fck
But for practical consideration bearing strength = 0.45fck
Area of plate required =
Where Pu = Factored load
Load on each leg is = 400KN
Factored load on each leg = 600KN
Area of plate required = = 53333.33 mm2
Side of each base plate = 300 300 mm2
 Minimum thickness required (ts) = ()0.5

Where W = = = 6.66 N/mm2

a = 95 mm and b = 95 mm
ts = ()0.5
ts =25 mm
(As ts tf (truss angle thickness ts = 12mm), hence safe.)

Connect base plate to foundation concrete using 4 Nos 20mm diameter and
300mm long anchor bolts.
If weld is to be used for connecting column to base plate check the weld length of
filler weeds.
DESIGN OF RAFT FOUNDATION
Initially
assume footing size = 5m 5m
Uniform load on footing (W) = = = 32 KN/m2
Consider per meter width then load is = 32 KN/m
Maximum bending moment at center of footing = 100 KNm
Bending moment required Mu = 0.138fckbd2
100106 = 0.138 25 1000 d2
d = 170.25 mm
d = 200 mm.

Area of steel required:

Mu = 0.87 fy Ast d (1-)
100106 = 0.87415Ast200(1- )
Assume concrete grade = M20
Steel grade = Fe415
Ast required = 1596.36 mm2
Assume diameter of bars = 12 mm
No. of bars required = = 15 bars
Spacing of bars = =250 mm

Design of concrete column for slab base:

Axial load on the column = 600KN.
According to code axial load on column = 0.4fckAc + 0.67fyAst
(As per IS 456:2000)
600103 = 0.4fckAc + 0.67fyAst
600103 = 0.425Ac + 0.67fyAst
 Assume 1 of steel of concrete area.
600103 = 0.425Ac + 0.67Ac
Ac = 46946.6 mm2 = 216.67 216.68 mm2.
Ac = 220 220 mm2.
Hence provide 300 300 mm2 square column at 350mm from edge.
Height of this column above the raft footing = 450 mm

Area of steel = 1% of column cross section

= 0.01 300 300 = 900 mm2
Assume 20mm dia bars then No. of bars = = 3 bars
 RESULT
A Telecommunication tower of 30m high is analyzed and designed.
1. The configuration of the tower is as follows:
Height of tower = 30m
Base width = 4m
Top width = 1.2m
Type of tower = Four legged lattice tower with two slopes.
Number of members = 564
2. Wind load is calculated using STADD.Pro V8i using IS: 875(Part 3)-
1987[3].
The total wind load acting on the structure is 2719 Kg.

3. Design has been done according to IS: 802 using STADD.Pro and
following results are obtained:
a. Total weight of steel required in superstructure = 9758 Kg.
b. Materials required in super structure:
S. No Profile Length(m) Weight(Kg)
1. ISA 100x100x12 120.33 2130
2. ISA 80x80x10 170.63 2019
3. ISA 90x90x10 418.69 5609
Total = 9758
4. Raft foundation of 5m x 5m has been designed along with slab base
and column base to transfer the loads to raft. The details of foundation are:

a. Allowable Bearing Pressure = 250 KPa

b. Thickness of slab base = 25 mm
c. Thickness of column base = 450 mm
d. Thickness of Raft foundation = 22 mm
 CONCLUSION
In the present era, technology is growing at a rapid phase which require
adequate communication means like mobile phones, internet, radio
communication etc. So there is need for proper communication systems
including radio stations, Communication towers. If we could optimize the
design of towers and use less resources, it will save a lot of money and
resources. In olden days angle sections are used in making of truss in
towers, currently tubular sections are preferred as they are more
economical.
The wind load acting on the telecommunication towers will be
comparatively less in magnitude as it is open structure with more openings,
but failure of the towers is mainly due to High Intensity Winds and
Earthquakes. So high factor of safety should be given to wind loads and