Single-pole towers are widely used in communication and transmission lines in foreign countries, and their applications in China have been increasing in recent years. With their simple structure, ease of construction, sleek and aesthetic appearance, and minimal land occupation, single-pole towers have promising prospects for development. To fully utilize the performance of single-pole towers and to refine the design and construction technology, this article analyzes and researches the static nonlinearity and wind-induced vibration control of single-pole towers.

Wind load is the most important horizontal load for single-pipe towers. Under the design wind load, the lateral displacement of single-pipe towers is significant, usually playing a controlling role in their design. However, the methods currently used for calculating the lateral displacement of single-pipe towers are not clearly defined. This article takes the specific application of single-pipe towers – single-pipe communication towers – as an example and conducts linear elastic and second-order elastic analyses on single-pipe communication tower examples with different heights and diameter-to-thickness ratios. During the second-order elastic analysis, the overall initial bending defects of the single-pipe tower are introduced. The calculation results indicate that to reduce the lateral displacement of single-pipe towers, wind vibration control of the tower structure is necessary; in addition, it is recommended to use the second-order elastic analysis method when designing calculations for single-pipe tower structures over 50 meters in height.

To gain a deeper understanding of the impact of nonlinearities and defects in single-tube towers on their structural integrity, this study conducts a full-process analysis of a 50m single-tube communication tower example, introducing both initial geometric and mechanical defects. It yields the load-displacement curves for the entire structural process. The analysis reveals that defects have little effect on the ultimate bearing capacity of single-tube towers but significantly influence their stiffness, primarily due to geometric defects. For single-tube towers over 50m in height under design loads, it is recommended to incorporate geometric defects in addition to second-order elastic analysis methods. Under wind loads, structural aerodynamic vibration control is necessary for single-tube towers, but there is currently no ideal damper suitable for such structures. Considering the limited internal space and low manufacturing costs of single-tube towers, this study proposes installing steel ball dampers to control structural aerodynamic vibration. The authors simulate the time history curve of fluctuating wind loads on an actual single-tube communication tower using harmonic superposition method, followed by an explanation of the vibration reduction principle of the steel ball damper. Subsequently, a time history analysis is conducted on the single-tube communication tower structure before and after the installation of the steel ball damper. The comparison of results from the two calculation models indicates that the steel ball damper is effective in controlling the aerodynamic vibration of single-tube towers. On this basis, the study further explores the construction feasibility of applying steel ball dampers to single-tube tower structures. The research shows that steel ball dampers are structurally simple, require minimal space, and are cost-effective, making them well-suited for controlling the aerodynamic vibration of single-tube tower structures. Therefore, steel ball dampers are a relatively suitable vibration reduction device for single-tube towers.