Analysis of Environmental and Typhoon Effects on Modal Frequencies of a Power Transmission Tower

The structural health monitoring of power transmission towers (PTTs) has drawn increasing attention from researchers in recent years; however, no long-term monitoring of the dynamic parameters of PTTs has previously been reported in the literature. This study performed the long-term monitoring of an instrumented PTT. An automated subspace identification technique was used to extract the dynamic parameters of the PTT from ambient vibration measurements taken over approximately ten months in 2017. Ten target modal frequencies were selected to explore the effects of environmental factors, such as temperature and wind speed, as well as the root-mean-square (RMS) acceleration response of the PTT. Variations in the modal frequencies of approximately 2% to 8% were observed during the study period. In general, among the environmental factors, the temperature was found to be the primary cause of decreases in the modal frequencies, except in the case of some of the higher modes. Typhoon Nesat, which affected the PTT on July 29th, 2017, seems to have decreased the modal frequencies of the PTT, especially for the higher modes. This reduction in the modal frequencies seems to have lasted for approximately two and a half months, after which they recovered to their normal state, probably due to a seasonal cool down in temperature. The reduction percentages in the modal frequencies due to Typhoon Nesat were quantified as approximately −0.89% to −1.34% for the higher modes, but only −0.07% to −0.46% for the remaining lower modes. Although the unusual reductions in the modal frequencies are reported in this study, the reason for this phenomenon is not clear yet. Further studies would be required in the future in order to find the cause.