A full-scale experiment of a lattice telecommunication tower under breaking load

• All the results described in the paper are obtained via full scale pushover test of the 40 m high telecommunication tower.
• The failure mechanism has been revealed, recorded and presented in the manuscript.
• The impact of geometrical imperfections of the leg members on values of axial forces was presented and discussed in details.
• Comparison between analytical model of wind loading based on standards with the experimental breaking load has been presented and discussed.

The main aim of this paper is to present results of a full-scale pushover test of a 40 meter telecommunication tower under breaking load. A detailed description of the studied tower has been presented with emphasis on the geometrical imperfections of the selected members of the structure. The results of the experiment consisting of the axial forces in the tower's members, as well as the displacements of the observed nodes as a function of external load have been presented. A comparison of a wind load based on the current standards with the load based on the experimental breaking force has been discussed for a typical set of telecommunication equipment. The main conclusion was that the structure's overall carrying capacity depended on the buckling resistance of the legs. Additionally, theoretical buckling resistances (based on standards) of the tower's legs made with round solid bars were smaller than the experimental axial forces in compression.