Analysis of Steel Communication Towers in Iraq Under the Effect of Seismic Loading

Authors: Mereen Hassan Fahmi Rasheed¹ & Faris Rashied Ahmed² & Alameen Hamid Mohammed^3
1Civil Engineering Department, Erbil Polytechnic University, Erbil, Iraq
²Civil Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Koya University, Erbil, Iraq
³Civil Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Tishk International University, Erbil, Iraq

Abstract:The telecommunication industry launched in Iraq two decades ago through three mobile network operators which are holding national licenses; Korek Telecom, Zain Iraq and Asiacell. Since the launch date till now, more than twelve thousand of telecommunication towers have been installed in Iraq holding and transmitting the telecommunication traffic between the Iraqi regions. However, this huge number of towers have been analyzed under the effects of wind loading only without taking into considerations the seismic effects with noting that there are many tremors which have been receded in the recent past. Accordingly, a specific type of towers with different heights have been selected and analyzed under the effects of seismic loading using both equivalent static and response spectrum methods and then the results were compared with the gained results from the wind analysis. After obtaining and analyzing the results, it could be used as a milestone for such a study for the coming telecommunication towers or the existing towers with different topologies and categories.

Keywords: Bracings, Communication Towers, Response Spectrum Analysis, Seismic Analysis, Self-Supporting Towers

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doi: 10.23918/eajse.v5i1p36

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