- Authors
- Yu Wang; Dedong Yang; Hao Zhu; Jun Chen; Daguang Han
- Journal
- Applied Sciences, 2026
- DOI
- 10.3390/app16136788
- Licence
- CC-BY
- Citations
- 0 (OpenAlex, 3 Aug 2026)
Key findings
- Results show that after 30 years of service in an ISO 9223 C4 corrosive environment, the structure-level SHI decreases from 1.47 (intact, code wind) to 1.00 under the proposed coupled assessment with code-prescribed wind, and further to 0.76 when terrain amplification (15% speed-up) is considered, with the failure probability rising from 3.6% to 24.1%.
- Multi-degradation coupling causes an additional 28% capacity loss relative to single-factor assessment and substantially alters the weak-component ranking.
- Reinforcing the five most critical members restores the SHI to 1.25 with only a 2.8% steel-weight increase.
Abstract
Extreme wind events, particularly tropical cyclones, pose the most severe safety threat to aging lattice steel space-truss structures in coastal regions, including transmission towers, communication and observation towers, and lattice supports of building-integrated wind-energy facilities. Such structures suffer progressive capacity degradation through multiple concurrent mechanisms, yet their actual residual safety margin under extreme wind loading remains poorly quantified. Current assessment practices rely on code-prescribed simplified wind speeds that ignore terrain-induced local amplification, and assume an intact structural condition that neglects in-service deterioration. This paper proposes a Risk-Based Safety Assessment Framework (RBSAF) that addresses both deficiencies through a five-step pipeline: (i) multi-scale wind field downscaling that resolves terrain-amplified wind profiles at individual structure sites; (ii) independent degradation models for atmospheric corrosion, bolt loosening, fatigue accumulation, and pitting corrosion; (iii) a multi-degradation coupling aggregation method that yields a unified Structural Health Index (SHI) capturing nonlinear interaction effects; (iv) code-based multi-scenario safety margin scanning with automatic identification of weak components; and (v) a risk-informed reinforcement priority mapping strategy. A representative 220 kV angle-steel lattice tower in a coastal mountainous corridor of Southeastern China is employed as the case study. Results show that after 30 years of service in an ISO 9223 C4 corrosive environment, the structure-level SHI decreases from 1.47 (intact, code wind) to 1.00 under the proposed coupled assessment with code-prescribed wind, and further to 0.76 when terrain amplification (15% speed-up) is considered, with the failure probability rising from 3.6% to 24.1%. Multi-degradation coupling causes an additional 28% capacity loss relative to single-factor assessment and substantially alters the weak-component ranking. Reinforcing the five most critical members restores the SHI to 1.25 with only a 2.8% steel-weight increase. The framework provides a systematic, quantitative tool for safety evaluation and maintenance prioritization of aging lattice steel structures in wind-prone built environments.
Cite this work
@article{han2026riskbasedsafety,
title = {Risk-Based Safety Assessment of Aging Lattice Steel Space-Truss Structures Under Extreme Winds: A Multi-Scale Wind and Multi-Degradation Coupling Framework with Application to Transmission Towers},
author = {Yu Wang and Dedong Yang and Hao Zhu and Jun Chen and Daguang Han},
journal = {Applied Sciences},
year = {2026},
doi = {10.3390/app16136788},
}
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Author identity: ORCID 0000-0003-3787-963X · Google Scholar