Optimization of transmission line towers considering the family concept

Resumo

Transmission line towers (TLTs) are responsible to support the cables of overhead transmission lines
(TLs). Because these structures are repeated several times in a line, the application of optimization procedures is
highly recommended. In the design of a line, towers with different heights and leg combinations are necessary.
However, it would be difficult to individually design or produce these supports. Therefore, for the ease of design,

industrial production and erection processes, a TLT can be separated in main parts, such as basic body, body ex-
tensions and legs. The so-called tower family is the combination of these minor components in order to obtain the

different supports. The present work aims to apply this concept into a size, shape and topology optimization pro-
cedure of TLTs. The developed optimization procedure is an extension of the methodology proposed by de Souza

et al. [1]. A self-supported 138 kV double circuit tower family composed by tower body, one body extension
and two different tower legs was evaluated. The sizing of redundant members and each bolted connection are
considered. The final solution is around 9% lighter than the original family design, showing the efficiency of the
proposed optimization procedure.