Given the premise that a communication tower is a vital infrastructure that may collapse when encountering a wind disaster, this paper focused on investigating the collapse mechanism and collapse fragility of a communication tower subjected to wind loads. In this paper, a finite-element (FE) model of a 60-m-tall communication tower that collapsed under wind loads was created in ABAQUS (version 6.10). The wind-induced response was studied considering member buckling, and the Tian-Ma-Qu material model was used. Based on the dynamic explicit method, collapse simulations of the tower were performed with different wind attack angles using the incremental dynamic analysis (IDA) method. Subsequently, the weak position and the collapse mechanism of the tower were summarized. The results indicated that the Tian-Ma-Qu material model was effective in simulating the collapse of communication towers; the buckling of the main members was the governing reason for the progressive collapse of the tower. Thus, the main members should be strengthened in the design. Furthermore, the collapse fragility analysis of the tower was investigated, and the influence of the wind attack angle was discussed. The results demonstrated that the wind attack angle had a significant impact on the collapse fragility curve and the ultimate capacity.

In this paper, the two-dimensional vibration controls of a power transmission tower with a pounding tuned mass damper (PTMD) under multi-component seismic excitations are analyzed. A three-dimensional finite element model of a practical power transmission tower is established in ABAQUS (Dassasult Simulia Company, Providence, RI, USA). The TMD (tuned mass damper) and PTMD are simulated by the finite element method. The response of the transmission tower with TMD and PTMD are analyzed, respectively. To achieve optimal design, the influence of the mass ratio, ground motion intensity, gap, and incident angle of seismic ground motion are investigated, respectively. The results show that the PTMD is very effective in reducing the vibration of the transmission tower in the longitudinal and transverse directions. The reduction ratio increases with the increase of the mass ratio. The ground motion intensity and gap have no obvious influence on the reduction ratio. However, the incident angle has a significant influence on the reduction ratio.

The collapse problem of transmission tower upon strong winds was well noted in past few years. This article analyses the wind-induced collapse problem of a long-span transmission tower–line system. The member buckling effect was particularly considered. In doing so, a three-dimensional finite element model of the long-span transmission tower–line system was established in ABAQUS based on a practical project. The transmission tower and line were simulated by the frame and truss elements, respectively. The nonlinear behavior of a compressive member was simulated using the Marshall model, and the nonconvergence of numerical calculation was set to be the collapse criterion. The critical wind speed, damage position, and collapse probability were obtained from a collapse analysis of the long-span transmission tower–line system under different wind attack angles. The collapse mechanism of the long-span transmission tower–line system under a wind attack angle of 45° was investigated, and an incremental dynamic analysis was performed to evaluate the collapse-resistant capacity of the transmission tower. The study reveals that the interaction between bending moment and shear deformation is critical to the collapse of transmission tower.

The numerical simulation of transmission tower-line systems' progressive collapse performance is considered as a major research hotspot and significant project, due to the increasing number of wind-induced collapse accidents recently. In this study, the finite element models for single tower and transmission tower-line system were established to simulate wind-induced progressive collapse by birth-to-death element technique in ABAQUS/Explicit. The wind field, based on the Kaimal fluctuating wind power spectrum and harmonic superposition method, was constructed by MATLAB commercial software. The current research focuses on the dynamic behaviour and the mechanism of a typical transmission tower-line system progressive collapse under wind action with clear step-by-step description. The numerical simulation results demonstrated that transmission tower-line system collapse mechanism depended on the number, position and last deformation of damage elements. Since the gallop effect of conductor and ground lines were ignored in the single tower model, the transmission tower-line system model, which has higher computational precision than the single tower model, is relatively accurate and recommended strongly in the design.