The increasing sizes of telecommunication antennas mean increasing load demands on existing towers. In many cases strengthening of existing towers is unavoidable. The common strengthening method of introducing additional members has some significant disadvantages such as weight and the windage area increase. An alternative strengthening method being investigated is the strengthening of tower legs or braces using Carbon Fibre Reinforced Polymer (CFRP).
The term is used to describe a fibre reinforced composite material that uses fibres as the primary structural component and thermosetting resins such as epoxy, polyester, or vinyl ester as the matrix.
Some advantages of this strengthening method include:
- negligible increase of the reference wind area and therefore of the wind forces,
- marginal increase in structural self-weight,
- no need for exchange of brace profiles,
- adjustment and fine tuning of the extent of strengthening to the design needs
- great strength to corrosion and fatigue.
Some advantages of this strengthening method include:
- A totally brittle failure. It has no plastic behavior, so it has not the ability to absorb energy
- Anisotropic response and strength. There are many variables that could change its behavior and strength. The grade and quality of materials, the manufacturing process, fiber architecture, and the quality need to be considered.
It will certainly be interesting to see if this technology is adopted within the telecoms industry.
KAEG has the capability to accurately engineer complex and challenging telecom structures, including providing cost effective workable strengthening schemes aimed at improving structural capacity and life-extension. Contact our expert team at: info@ka-engroup.com to learn more and discuss how we can best serve your needs.