Investigations on the Behaviour of Bolted Connections in gfrp Transmission Line Towers

Abstract

The overall objective of the study is to investigate the behaviour of bolted connections consisting of Glass Fibre Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) structural angle connected by only one leg of an equal angle with gusset plate for net tensile strength for application to transmission line (TL) tower and bring out the necessary design guidelines. The entire study is divided into mainly four distinct phases of activities. The first phase of the activity is analytical/theoretical modelling of single, two (single column), three (single newlinecolumn) and four (two columns with staggered) bolted single lap connections for net-tensile strength. The second phase of the activity is conducting experiments on the single lap joints for the above bolted connection configurations. The third phase of the activity is to conduct analytical investigations on these connection configurations. The final phase of the activity is summarising the results of findings in the present study. GFRP is an advanced composite material that has several advantages like light weight, high strength to weight ratio, non-corrosive, nonconductive, non-interference of electromagnetic fields and reduced inductive reactance compared to conventional steel. These properties are newlinehighly desirable for designing GFRP TL towers, and can save material, upto 50%. Thus, TL tower industry has huge potential/market to induct GFRP as a structural member. newline newline