The use of S460 steel grade in the construction of OHL transmission towers

The article describes structural solutions and specialised testing of innovative steel lattice towers intended for 400 kV overhead line (OHL). A unique aspect of the preformed research is the use of S460 steel grade in the structure of such transmission towers. This new series of towers was developed in reference to current EN 50341‐2‐22:2016 standard that introduces higher safety standards for OHL towers. A full‐scale prototype was developed and analysed, where the verification of the standard load‐bearing capacity was done and proceeded by the destructive test in order to determine the ultimate capacity of the new tower typology. The article presents the obtained results, the justification for the use of S460 steel grade and a comparative analysis with the classical engineering procedures. A good agreement between a theoretical model and the test results is demonstrated.