Development of GFRP Guyed Communication Towers

The demand for a lightweight, reliable, and cost-effective construction material with free maintenance and great resistance to corrosion to replace steel communication towers has become more obvious in recent years. The paper explores the use of glass fibre-reinforced polymers (GFRP), as unconventional materials for the fabrication of lightweight communication guyed towers. The tower examined in this investigation had a uniform constant cross section of three identical cells bonded together to form an equilateral triangle with sides of 500 mm. The communication tower was analyzed using the finite element program ANSYS and was designed to satisfy both the ultimate limit state and the serviceability limit state requirements of the structural standards for antenna towers and antenna supporting structures, EIA/TIA Standard. The experimental work involved the testing of 9 m tower segment under static and dynamic loads and an extensive material testing to define the tower's material properties. This paper presents results from this research project.