Fakultät Bauingenieurwesen Fakultätsrechenzentrum

Topology, shape, and size optimization of transmission towers

Author: Marat Khodzhaiev
WS 2019/20
Supervisor: Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Uwe Reuter, Fakultätsrechenzentrum Fakultät Bauingenieurwesen
Goals: • Investigation of suitable optimization and design approaches of transmission towers
• Developing an approach to design optimization of transmission tower with aiming at
the practical application of its implementation.
• Implementation of the developed approach in the form of a computer program.

Problem: Designing a transmission tower requires considerable time in order to find efficient form in terms of cost. In order
to find the optimum design in a given time, an efficient approach to topology, shape, and size optimization is
needed. For the approach to be applicable, a resultant transmission tower geometry should conform industry
limitations and structural verifications to be performed according to EN 50341-1:2012.

Solution: An approach to topology, shape, and size design optimization of a transmission tower based on a genetic
algorithm was developed in this research. The proposed approach performs topology and shape optimization by
varying number and heights of tower panels. Size optimization is performed by a search for the most optimal
combination of cross-sectional and material parameters of the tower members. Lower tower cost is considered as
a design objective. Feasible tower geometry configurations conform to conventional layouts of a lattice steel
tower with continuous cross bracing. The proposed approach was implemented in the form of a computer
program written in the Python programming language. Computer program FEAPpv is utilized for structural
calculation by the finite element method.
Layout optimization Geometry
Start
Problem subdividing input
Set
Generation
Layout initial parent
population
Design Input optimization genome
FALSE Wind load
Subproblem 1 Size generation
optimization IF For each
Problem subdividing TRUE the number of individual:
generation exceeds an Structural
Layout upper limit Size calculation by
optimization Freeze optimization FEAPpv
Next
optimal
Size subproblem Sizing
geometry
optimization optimization of
Setting fittest members
Search for
individual a
FALSE the fittest
new parent
Output IF next individual Evaluation
subproblem IF
optimal TRUE available the objective of cost
geometry of the fittest is smaller
TRUE of the parent
FALSE
Cost
Finish output

Example: Topology, shape and size optimization of 110 kV double circuit transmission tower.
Master Thesis

Genetic algorithm parameters: 10 generations of 300 population size.

Subproblem 2 Subproblem 4
Initial Optimized
Results:
Sub Initial Final Cost
problem cost cost reduction Initial
1 89.0 78.3 12.1%
2 98.4 98.3 0.1%
3 226.2 215.4 4.8%
4 410.4 367.0 10.6%
5 590.8 507.0 14.2%
TOTAL 1414.8 1265.9 10.5%
Optimized

Subproblem 2 Subproblem 4