Relative Entropy-Based Reliability Assessment of Hybrid Telecommunication Skeletal Towers

Area of Science:

• Structural Engineering
• Reliability Engineering
• Wind Engineering

Background:

• Telecommunication towers are critical infrastructure subjected to dynamic wind pressures.
• Assessing structural reliability under uncertainty is crucial for safety and efficiency.
• Existing steel towers are widely used, but material advancements allow for hybrid designs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To perform uncertainty quantification and reliability assessment of a hybrid aluminum-steel telecommunication tower.
• To compare the structural response and reliability of the hybrid tower against a traditional steel tower.
• To evaluate the impact of uncertain design parameters on reliability indices.

Main Methods:

• Numerical simulations using ABAQUS 2024 for structural response analysis.
• Stochastic Finite Element Method (SFEM) with generalized iterative stochastic perturbation technique.
• Reliability index calculation using First Order Reliability Method (FORM) and Bhattacharyya theory-based entropy scheme.
• Probabilistic analysis programmed in MAPLE 2015.

Main Results:

• The hybrid tower's structural response was simulated and compared to a steel tower.
• Reliability indices for both Ultimate Limit State (ULS) and Serviceability Limit State (SLS) were determined.
• Uncertain design parameters were modeled using Gaussian probability distributions.

Conclusions:

• The hybrid telecommunication tower design allows for significant mass savings.
• The hybrid design maintains the same level of reliability as conventional steel towers.
• This study provides a framework for reliability-based design optimization of telecommunication towers.