An assessment of the sensitivity of lattice towers to fatigue induced by wind gusts

The dynamic properties of lattice towers are closely constrained by practical economic design. It is thus possible to generalize the prediction of dynamic response, using the stochastic wind gust model, with details as outlined in the seminar ‘Wind engineering in the eighties’ (CIRIA, London, 1980). An approximation to the combined effect of resonant and non-resonant components of the response is presented, as a factor to be applied to the effective stress range based on the dynamic response alone, computed at a single ‘reference wind speed’.

Results are presented for a range of practical structures, which indicate that good detailing can generally ensure that fatigue damage caused by wind gusts does not seriously limit design. The sensitivity of the normalized results to changes of location and of tower function and geometry is shown to be relatively small.