DESIGN AND ANALYSIS OF GUYED TRANSMISSION TOWERS BY COMPUTER

S. J. Fang, E. C. Rossow,* S. Roy

Sargent h Lundy
55 E. Monroe
Chicago, IL 60603

*Northwestern University
The Technological Institute
Evanston, IL 60201

Abstract - The design and analysis of a 765 KV guyed
V typ-ission structure by computer is described.
The effects of guy pretension on the behavior and design
of the structure are discussed. A mathematical model
and procedure are presented which account for the non-
linear aspects of cable behavior but still permit the
simultaneous design and analysis of guyed structures for
up to ten combined load conditions.
INTRODUCTION
Guyed transmission towers have been used success-
fully for a number of years by the power industry [1,2].
In this paper a procedure is described which has been
incorporated into TRANTOWER, a transmission tower design
program, to permit the analysis and design of structures
having guys or cables as elements. The nonlinear force
deformation characteristic of cables is treated along
with other nonlinear effects in a single program which
performs analysis and design for multiple loading con-
ditions. In the analysis, equilibrium, compatibility,
and the force deformation relation for all members are
identically satisfied; it is an exact solution reflect-
ing the actual behavior of the structure. To demon-
strate its capabilities, the program is used in the
analysis and design of 765 KV "VI' configuration trans-
mission towers.
METHOD OF ANALYSIS
The concept of the method is that the nonlinearities
that occur in the stiffness matrix can be treated by a
set of self-equilibrating forces acting on the structure
which either weaken or strengthen the initial linear
stiffness of the nonlinear members in order to reflect
the true behavior of these members. These added forces
are called corrective forces since they "correct" fhe
initial stiffness of nonlinear members and produce the
same effect in the structure as the nonlinear stiffness.
The introduction of the cable element produces a
set of forces and displacements in the structure when
the initial tensions are introduced. Consequently, the
loading must be separated into live loadings and a
single loading condition which consists of dead load and
initial cable tensions. This latter loading condition
produces member forces and displacements which must be
added to the forces and displacements in the remaining
load cases. The previously described iteration process
is followed, but is modified so that one loading case is
initial tension and dead load only. The displacements
of this loading case are added during the iteration
process to the remaining load cases, thus yielding the
proper displacements for that condition plus initial
tension and dead load. Cable forces for the first load
case are always the initial tensions; for the remaining
load cases they are the forces arising from the dis-
placements in the initial tension and dead load configu-
ration. The process is summarized in Figure 1.

A guyed transmission tower consists of three major

structural components: horizontal bridge, columns, and
guys. Of these, guys are the most important because they
provide the required structural stability and lateral
load-carrying capacity. Unlike the angle truss members
in bridges and columns, the guys behave nonlinearly
-+ Construct load vectors using
results from previous iter-
ation (or initial load vector)

under loading, their tension and stiffness being very

sensitive to relative end displacements.

The effects of a nonlinear force-deformation rela-

tionship and initial tension must be properly considered
in the analysis of guyed towers. The mathematical
derivation of stiffness of guy or cable members, as well
as a method for determination of guy tension under end
displacement, is given in the Appendix. It should be
noted that the mathematical treatment employed herein is
more extensive than that in the approaches used by Deduct displacements of
others [8,9,101. The solution procedure for analysis is Load Case 1 from remaining
load cases when computing
based on the initial stiffness approach. The advantage cable forces in load cases
of this approach is that multiple loadings on a __ 2 to n.

structure that is behaving nonlinearly may be processed

simultaneously; this has been described earlier for the compute member and cable
forces for load cases
analysis and design of transmission line structures [3].

7th IEEE/PES Transmission and Distribution FAgure 1 Iteration P r o c e a u r e for

Solution with Cable Elements
Conference and Exposition, April 1-6, 1979

CH1139-5/79/0000-0512$00.75 @ 1979 IEEE

The treatment of the nonlinear behavior of a cable
element can be characterized in terms of the horizontal
(or x) component of the relative end displacementsi of
the element. In Figure 2, the relationship between the
horizontal component of the cable tension and relative
displacement of the cable ends is shown. The true
T where, from Equation A20 of the Appendix,
Figure 2 Horizontal Cable Force-
Deformation Relation
relation between relative horizontal displacement, A ,
and cable tension, T, is shown by the curve AOD, where 0
is the point corresponding to initial tension T. in the
cable. The assumed linear behavior of the cable'elemcmt
is in terms of the initial stiffness characterized by
the straight line tangent to AOD at 0 with slope T
For a relative displacement, Ad, the initial stiffngt;
shows a cable force T. + T rather than the actual cable
force for this displa2ement Td, i.e., the cable is not as
stiff as it should be. If some corrective cable tension
were applied to the ends of the cable which made up the
difference between Td and T. + T1, and were acting when
the Ad took place, the sum $f T. + T1 and the corrective
cable tension would exactly ma&h the proper cable ten-
sion T
d'
Consider an iterative scheme in which a corrective
cable tension force, T , is applied as a set of self-
equilibrating loads on 'She cable ends, and the structure
with this loading and other applied loads is solved for
displacements using the initial stiffness. Referring to
Figure 2 , if the relative horizontal displacement is A d
with the corrective tension T acting, the total hori-
zontal tension Td is simply
Td = Ti + T1 + Tc + DT
If DT is zero, the corrective force plus the force TI
based on the initial stiffness plus the initial tension
is exactly equal to the horizontal force that is devel-
oped by the nonlinear behavior of the cable. Thus, in
this circumstance, the initial stiffness together with
the corrective tension exactly represent: the nonlinear
force caused by the relative end displacements Ad. When
DT is not zero, the corrective tension must be modifited
to represent the nonlinear behavior. While T could
simply be incremented by DT, the resulting efrfective
stiffness, being greater than before, would result in a
smaller displacement A causing DT to be negative ,at
the next evaluation. &is can be avoided in part if T
is calculated on the basis of a Ad' < Ad. As shown ii
Figure 2, Ad' can be calculated by deducting from A d a
displacement which is equal to DT divided by the slope
513
Tsd to the force displacement relation at Ad. This is
expressed mathematically as
w T
,E = 6%cd sinh ad/cd + h d g
Tsd 6dd 6Ad
in which the 6 represents partial differentiation and
the subscripts refer to the evaluation of the parameter
at point d in Figure 2. In Equation 3 it is assumed that
the relation between Ah and Aa remains the same. For the
new Ad', a T I and T are computed. The corrective
tension for tie horiz2ntal direction becomes
Tc' =s Td' - Ti - Tll (4)
The iterative procedure just described is highly effect-
ive for cables undergoing increasing tension. The
slackening cable presents a more difficult problem since
the slope Tsd decreases rapidly, which leads to new
displacements A that are considerably different than
what is require$ for convergence. Hence, for the slack-
ening case, the above iterative procedure is followed,
but TS0, the slope to the force-displacement relation at
the initial tension point Ti, replaces Tsd in Equation
2.
The iterative procedure described above has been
implemented in TRANTOWER, which is described in other
publications [ 3 , 4 1 . This program also has the capa-
bility to treat the nonlinear behavior of "tension only"
members which may buckle under certain load dis-
tributions. Experience has shown that convergence of
the iteration scheme for cable elements has occurred in
10 to 40 cycles. The larger number of cycles is associ-
ated with load combinations in which extreme slackening
of the cables occurs. In these situations, the cable
tension drops to between 1/10 and 1/30 of the initial
tension. The procedure is still very efficient, since
it permits the simultaneous analysis and design of
structures for up t o nine different load combinations.
DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS FOR GUYED TOWERS
A guyed transmission tower may have several alter-
native configurations. The guyed "V", the guyed "Y",
and the guyed "portal" are some of the common types used
(Figure 3 ) . Of these, the guyed "V" is usually the
most advantageous because of its low cost, stability,
and ability to sustain large structural loadings.
Guyed-V Guyed-Y Guyed-Portal
Figure 3 Guyed Tower Configurations
 The significant design parameters affecting tbe
geometry and weight of a guyed "V tower are the depth of
the haunch and the configuration of the guys. Minimum
phase spacing limitations and air gap clearances control
the interaction and range of the two design parameters.
For the bridge, the weight of a design with deep
haunches, minimum phase spacing and guy attachment to
the haunches must be compared with the weight o f a design
with no haunches, greater phase spacing, and guy attach-
ment to the bridge. For guys, deep haunches give greater
air gap clearances and permit lower slopes for the guys
than if the guys attach directly to the bridge. For
columns, smaller haunch depths increase their length aad
make guy slopes steeper, all contributing to a heavier
weight. Therefore, several alternative haunch depths
and phase spacings must be tried to obtain an optimum
tower geometry.
Experience has shown that V-string suspension is
usually more economical than vertical string suspension,
and solid round bars as members of very tall guyed towers
reduce wind-exposed areas. A light-weight material like Figure 4 765 KV Guyed-V Tower
aluminum offers a construction advantage in inaccessible
terrains because a tower can be flown to the site by
helicopter, placed quickly, and guyed. For the guys,
high strength bridge strands reduce the dead weight and
the exposed surface for wind and ice. The design
considerations of the three main components of a guyed
-
tower namely, the guy, the bridge, and the columns -
are discussed below for any selected tower geometry.
During installation, the guys receive an initial
tension of an appropriate magnitude. This ensures that
the leeward cable will be under tension when the tower is
subjected to full wind load, reducing susceptibility to
galloping type vibrations. The guys are designed to
withstand the load8 multiplied by load factors recom-
mended by the NESC code 163. The horieontal slope of the
guy is adjusted such that the maximum guy forces occurr-
ing under an intact and a torsional loading case are of
approximately the same magnitude. Since the guys are
the most critical members in a guyed tower, the design
cable tension should be limited to a fraction of the
breaking strength of the cable l1,6,11].
The bridge members in the guyed tower are designed
according t o ASCE publication no. 52, "Guide for Design
of Steel Transmission Towers." The design is based on
area or buckling requirements.
The columns of the guyed tower are slender latticed
structures, pinned at the attachment point to the bridge
as well as at the bottom. The TRANTOWER program performs
an analysis with the column as an integral part of the \
entire structure and computes the reactions on the
column. The geometry of the column has two variables: Figure 5 Computer Plot for Case Study Towet
its width and the lattice arrangement, the latter deter-
mining the spacing of the panels. An optimum design
based on weight is carried out, the load consisting o f steel for groundwires. The design loads on the guyed
the reaction forces et the ends of the column and the tower are as follows: all intact, NESC, 112 in. ice, 4
transverse wind. The column is treated as a beam-column psf wind; all intact, no ice, 21 psf wind; all intact, 1
and parameter variation in its design is based on the in. ice, no wind; and maintenance loade. The longitu-
Worst of the two considerations: i t s overall buckling dinal loads on the tower are stringing, one phase, or one
and the buckling of the individual panels 151. shield wire; unbalanced (ice and wind), NESC, 211 span
ratio, and unbalanced (ice and wind), NESC, 1 in. ice,
2/1 span ratio; minimum strength, 21 pef wind with 1.3
CASE STUDY gust factor; and insulator, hardware, men, and equipment
loading of 1500 lbs/phase. Overload factors are given
A 765 KV, single circuit, steel guyed-"V" type in Table 1.
tower (Figures 4 and 5 ) with an overall height of 194 ft
and height CO crossarm of 175 fr. is used for illustra- The Cower described above has been analyzed and
tion. 'he configuration has a horizontal phase spacing designed treating the guy in two different ways, In the
of 45 f t . , phase to towet clearance of 194 in., and phase first, it is treated as a tension-only member having a
to guy clearance of 206 in. The design spans are 1400 constant stiffness and incapable of carrying any com-
ft. for wind span and 1950 ft. for weight span. The pression; in the second it is treated as a cable element
guyed structure is used for a Line angle varying from 0 having a nonlinear force/displacement: relationship and
to 2 degrees. The line consists of four-conductor an initial tension. In the first case, the guy is
bundles of 2167 Kcmil 7217 ACSR per phase and 3/8 in. EHS considered as having no initial tension so that under
514
 On the other hand, under the heavy vertical loading
Table 1 Overload Factors
case, the column reactions as well as the cable tensions
increase with an increase in cable pretension. The
m a d Case --
Vertical Transverse mnqitudinal] decrease in weight of the bridge must be compared with
the increase in weight of the columns in order to select
All intact, UESC a minimum weight. An optimum value of initial cable
All intact, pretension exists, since with increasing guy pretension,
21 psf rind
bridge weights initially decrease faster than column
All intact, 1
. ice 1.0 weights increase, a trend that reverses at higher pre-
tensions.

I-
Stringing: all loads 1.0
onbaiance: 1.1 for NESC, 1.0 fOK 1. ice It is important to know whether the pretension
_ _UinImum
__._
strength: a11 Loads 1.0 imposed on the cables will continue to sustain its value
after the guyed tower has been in use for some time.
Creep in the cables and soil movement at guy anchors
externally applied loads, only the tensioned guys pro- release some of the pretension in the cables. Loss in
vide resistance. In the second case, all guys have an pretension may render the bridge members, designed on
initial tension and "compression" guys unload and con- the basis of a prescribed cable pretension, unsafe.
tribute resistance to applied loading along with the Studies of the effects of anchor movement on the tower
tensioned guys. Therefore, the stiffness of all four indicate (Figure 6 ) that, based on an initial tension of
guys is effective, which reduces deflections (refer to 15 kips in the cables, the loss in initial tension is
Table 2 ) . Increasing the initial tension in the guys linear up to 8 in. of movement along the cable chord, and
is about one-third the pretension at this value.
Table 2 Cable Tensions L Transverse Deflection at
Guy Attachment Fvints Under Heavy wind Loading

16.0 1
30

Windward +93.7 +9J. 2

Cable

1 I 1 1 1 I
Transverse
Windward

g a r d
30.8 in.

36.5 in.
22.8 in.

28.6 in.
17.1 in.

22.9 in.

reduces lateral deflections in the structure, a factor

2 6.0

that may be important during stringing operations. How- 2

ever, due to the self-equilibrating nature of the 4.0
pretension forces, the forces in the bridge chord
members, the maximum column reactions, and the maximum
cable tension under lateral loads remain almost un- 2.0
changed, over a wide range of cable pretensions. Since
the extreme wind loading case governs the design of the
tower being studied, only small changes in the maximum
member forces occur as pretension in the cable increases aI i.0 4.0 6.0 8.0 10.0 12.0 14.0 16.0
with no appreciable reduction in tower weight. Anchor Movement Along Cable Chord (inches)

Under a heavy vertical load, the tower bridge is Figure 6 Relationship Between Guy
subjected to a negative bending moment, the top chord Anchor b Cable Pretension
being in tension and the bottom chord in compressi.on.
This is opposite to the effect of cable pretension, and
an overall reduction in the bridge member forces is For larger anchor movement, the rate of decrease of
observed for this loading condition, with increasing pretension reduces. The rate of pretension loss with
pretension in the guys (refer to Table 3 ) . guy anchor movement depends on the relative flexibility
of the tower bridge with respect to that of the cable;
Table 3 Hember Forces under Heavy Vertical -ding the more flexible the tower bridge, the lower the rate of
pretension loss. Previous tests E71 have shown that,
I Member Description
0
Initial Tension in Guy(kip8)
1 15 I 30
with the total loss of an anchor or under a severed guy
condition, the crossarm rotates and tilts until the
conductors and remaining guys apply sufficient restraint
Maximum force in bridge +62.5 to sustain equilibrium. This gives the guyed V-type
top chord member
tower an advantage over the other types in that it is
I Maximum force in bridge
bottom chord m e r II -62.1

1 1 I
more stable under a broken guy condition.

I Maximum force in
haunch member
Maximum reaction
-85.2

1139.6 I
-89.3

142.1 I
-107.2

164.3 I
CONCLUSIONS

An efficient method for the simultaneous analysis

and design for multiple load combinations of guyed
Maximum tension
in Guy
I +32.? transmission towers has been presented and implemented
in the TRANTOWER computer program. The effectiveness
and usefulness of the method are reflected' in the

515
results of the case study of a typical 765 KV guyed-V
type transmission tower.
The following observations can be made about the
effects of guy pretensions on design and response of the
765 KV guyed-V structure: incneasing guy pretension
increases the stiffness of the structure and reduces
deflections; increasing guy pretension reduces chord
member forces in the bridge due to heavy vertical loads;
when heavy vertical loading controls the design of the
lower bridge, an optimum value of guy pretension exists
for which the overall weight of the tower is a minimum;
when lateral loading controls the design of the tower
bridge, increasing guy pretension does not significantly
affect the total weight of the structure; anchor move-
ments must be relatively large before significant loss
of pretension occurs; the rate of loss of prestress due
to anchor movement depends directly on the stiffness of
the tower bridge.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The computer program was developed on Sargent S
Lundy's in-house computer facilities. Helpful sug-
gestions from Messrs. M. Zar, S. L. Chu, S. Cluts, and T.
M. Sekili are gratefully acknowledged.
REFERENCES
APPENDIX - STIFFNESS OF CABLE ELEMENT
In the development of cable stiffness it is assumed
that: the material of the cable is linear elastic; the
initial tension is known; and the only forces acting on
the cable are the end tensions and a uniform load per
unit length. Consider the inclined cable element shown
in Figure 7. The equations for a catenary yield:
s = c sinh xfc (All
y = c cosh xfc (A21
T = wy = wc cosh x/c = To cosh x/c (A31
T =wc (A41
where s is the coordinate along the cable, w the cable
load per unit length, T the tension at any point in the
cable, To the tension at point x = s = 0, and c the
catenary parameter. The location of the cable
coordinate system with respect to the cable ends is
known once the catenary parameter c has been determined.
The cable will stretch elastically due to the ten-
sion, and this change in length AL may be computed by
integrating the cable strain over its initial length s
0'
Thus,

Technical Session on Experiences with Guyed Trans- s +s

mission Towers, Winter Power Meeting, IEEE, Febru- AL = 1 0 '
1 + ' 0 T
ds =
ary 1968. I€ 1 mds (A51

Kravitz, R. A. and Samuelson, A. J., "Tower Designs s1 s1

for AEP 765-KV Project," Journal of the Power Divi-
sion, ASCE, October 1969, pp. 305-319.
Rossow, E. C., Lo, D. L. C., and Chu, S. L.,
"Efficient Design-Analysis of Physically Nonlinear
Trusses ,'I Journal of the Structural Division, ASCE,
April 1975, pp. 839-853.
Lo, D., Goel, S. K., and Morcos, A., "Computer-
Aided Design of Steel Transmission Towers," Journal
of the Structural Division, ASCE, July 1975, pp.
1443-1453.
Bresler, L. and Scalzi, Design of Steel Structures,
2nd Edition, John Wiley S Sons, New York.
American National Standard Institute, "National
Electrical Safety Code," 1977 Edition, published by
IEEE, New York.
Cook, L. H. T. and Cooper, B., "A Study of the Use
of Aluminum Guyed Towers for Extra-High-Voltage
Transmission Systems," IEEE Transaction on Power
and Apparatus, Vol. 82, April 1963, pp. 217-223.
Cohen, E. and Perrin, H., "Design of Multi-Level
Guyed Towers," Journal of the Structural Division.
ASCE, October 1958, pp. 1821-1-20.
in which A and E are the cross-sectional area and modulus
of elasticity, respectively, of the cable. Substituting
T from Equation A4 and integrating yields an explicit
expression for AL. Evaluation of this expression and
the final stiffness matrix requires determination of the
catenary parameter cy which may be calculated using the
identity:
L2 - h2 = 4c2 sinh2 a/2c (A61
in which L is the total length of the stretched cable s2-
sl, a is the horizontal projection of the cable x2-x1,
and h is the vertical projection y -y 1. !f,. during
construction, the cable is placed wi& an initial ten-
sion T. at point 1, the use of Equations A1 through A3
and soke hyperbolic function identities change Equation
A6 to
m m
1. I.
h2 + 4 sinh2$ [c2 cosh'g- (+(h +$] =0
For a taut cable, afc 1, Equation A7 may be simplified
to yield the approximate value of c

Rowe, R. S., "Amplification of Stress and Displace-

ment in Guyed Towers," Journal of the Structural
Division, ASCE, October 1958, pp. 1821-1-20.
Improved values of c are obtained by iteration from the
Cambell, D. B., "Unbalanced Tensions in Transmis- expression
sion Lines," Journal of the Structural Division,
ASCE, October 1970, pp. 2189-2205.
a
Zar, M., "Towers," Section 24, Structural Engineer- 'j+l =
ing Handbook, edited by E. H. Gaylord, Jr. and
C. N. Gaylord, McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York,
1968.

516
Once c has been determined the origin of the coordinate
system is known, and the unstressed length of the cable,
so, is determined by iteration using the expression

So = L - AL = s2 - sl - AL (1410)
CABLE TENSION DUE TO END DISPLACEMENTS
and the integrated form of Equation A5. Note that s and
1 The force-deformation relation for the cable is
s2 can be calculated from Equations A1 to A4.
nonlinear due to the rapid change of c with Aa and Ah.
The stiffness matrix of the cable is expressed in For any Aa and Ah, a new c and therefore a new set of
the form values for all parameters associated with the catenary
parameter must be determined. An iteration scheme is
again employed, this time using the initial s , the
displaced geometry of the cable, and any tempzrature
(All) change that has occurred. The new geometry is given by
a = a + Aa and h = h + Ah. This leads to an estimate of
tie change in c $0 be
in which
c sinh 5 Aa + h Ah
6H = 6 T = w
-g 6C C " --^_-I-

n
Sh= -E
where all parameters on the right are from the previous-
ly known state of the cable. The new estimate of c is

c1 = c + A c (A22)

Equation A21 works well for displacements causing

an increase in c. When the cable slackens, experience
shows that the initial estimate of c1 should be limited
(A15) to nothingless than one-tenth of the original c. With
c1, an estimate of the new tension T1 is

and H and V represent the horizontal and vertical com-

ponents of the cable tension. The evaluation of these
derivatives is a lengthy process and is not detailed T1-I=
-hlw
+
w
----
J
----
hi cosh2 a1/2cl + c
-----I-
: sinh2 al/cl
here. In summary, the derivatives take the form 2 2 sinh a1/2cl

g =-5
h
c sinh in which all parameters have been evaluated in ,the new
(A231

geometry. The new stretched length of the cable L1 is

L1 = ]h12 + 4c12 sinh2 a1/2cl (A241

(A.17)

and the new change in length AL1 can be computed from

Equation A5 in which the new s is calculated with T.
(A181 replaced by T1, c by c1, and s by s (1 MAT) where a is'
the coefficient of linear expa%sionoof the cable and AT
is the change in temperature that has occurred.
in which
Since the new length must be equal to the
unstressed length plus the changed length
ws
n = O
AE [sinh s L~ = s0(i + AT) + A L ~ (A251

Equations A24 and A25 are a measure of the accuracy of

The change in cl,Acl, giving a better match of L1
(A19) i?i'Equations A24 and A25 is

L1 - sO(l+aATT) - A L1
c1 = - TA-q-TL;---
---
+ a sinh - 4c sinh2 & SCl 6Cl

in which 6AL /6c is computed from Equation A5 and

Calculating the derivative in Equation A16 requires
neglecting a term that, for cables up to 1000 ft. in
length, is more than three orders of magnitude smaller
than the term that appears. Equation A16 is exact for
inextensible cables. The final tangential stiffness
matrix obtained by combining Equations All to A19 is
6L1f6c from Aquation A25. Iteration of Equations A23
througi A26 continues until Ll from Equation A25 is
accurate to six significant figures. This gives the
final value of c1 and enables computation of all new
catenary parameters.

517
1' f'

Cable

Weight - w

If
Figure 7 Inclined Cable Geometry
and Parameter Definitions

518