Steel pipe tower structures possess relative technical and economic advantages, making them suitable for power transmission towers bearing heavy loads.
Load Characteristics: Steel pipe tower members experience low wind pressure, have high cross-sectional bending stiffness, a simple structure, and clear force transmission, fully utilizing the material's load-bearing capacity. This reduces tower weight and foundation forces, while also enhancing resistance to natural disasters under extreme conditions. When strength and stability calculations are met, using steel pipe towers with a relatively small wind pressure shape coefficient can significantly reduce wind loads on the tower body.
Cross-sectional Characteristics: Steel pipe members have centrally symmetrical cross-sections with isotropic properties; the material is uniformly distributed around the perimeter, resulting in high cross-sectional bending stiffness. For tension members of power transmission towers, when the cross-sectional area of steel pipe and angle steel is comparable, steel pipe tower members do not exhibit significant advantages. For the bending members of transmission towers, using steel pipes with smaller cross-sectional areas and larger gyration radii can fully and evenly utilize the material's mechanical properties to achieve the required structural stiffness and stability. This is especially true for heavy-load towers with large structural dimensions and long members, where the superior stability of steel pipe tower members is a significant advantage.
Regarding structural connections, the main members of steel pipe towers use flange or intersecting connections, while the diagonal members are connected to the main members using insert plates or intersecting connections. The main members of angle steel towers use internal and external wrapping connections, and other members are mainly connected via connecting plates and bolts. The flange and insert plate connections of steel pipe towers are relatively simple. Although this increases welding workload, it reduces the adverse effects of eccentricity in angle steel members on the structural load-bearing capacity. It also enhances the stiffness and density of the connection nodes, contributing to improved overall structural stiffness and stability, as well as resistance to wind-induced vibration loads.