Performing Department
Engineering
Non Technical Summary
Rural communities are often underserved in terms of cell coverage, data bandwidth, and internet service. The lack of connectivity can limit these communities in their access to business opportunities, education, and social engagement. Even farming equipment with wireless connectivity is becoming standard for data processing and intelligentfarming, and without the infrastructure, certain communities will be unable to take advantage of these features. Research has shown that without these structural improvements,rural areas will not be able to support autonomous vehicles and future technologies. Limited access to the internet is hindering growth in these rural areas. Large cell companies have already announced that these communities will not receive the same 5G as cities. For telecommunication and tower companies, the high cost of deploying cell towers is a barrierto further develop services there. If these services are provided, the high cost of deployment is passed on to the end user, making internet and cell service difficult to afford.IsoTruss Industries combines the benefits of composite materials with a patented geometric design to make some of the lightest, strongest, and aesthetically pleasing structures in the world. Using this technology for telecommunicationtowers can provide a large cost savings for the deployment of cell services. The structure is 90% lighter than traditional steel cell towers, and due to it's open geometry, experiences up to a75% reduction in wind forces on the tower. This results in cheaper shipping,a drasticallyquicker deployment with less heavy machinery, and much smaller tower foundation. Cost and time to deploy an IsoTruss tower will be significantly lower than traditional towers. In additional to lower deployment costs, IsoTruss towers will also require less maintenance. The life cycle of the material can be up to 4 times longer than steel, and the materials don't corrode.The scope of work for this project is to design an IsoTruss cell tower tailored for application in rural communities. Research on the applicable loading cases and regulation on these sites will allow an optimized tower to be designed, manufactured, and tested. Collaborating with community officials and industry professionals will enable a full cost savings analysis to be generated, including savings on shipping, installation labor, foundation, and maintenance. The design, test results, and cost analysis along with the top target areas for first deployment will be the initial products of this project. This information will allow key decision makers to deploy cell towers in areas formerly thought to be too expensive to develop.
Animal Health Component
90%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
90%
Developmental
10%
Goals / Objectives
The purpose of this grant is to develop more cost efficient telecommunication towers for rural communities. There are three major goals: 1)Finalize a tower design best suited for these rural developments; 2)Identify the targetcommunities for these towers and understandthe total cost savings IsoTruss can provide over traditional structures; and, 3)Manufacture and test a sample towerto verify the structural strength and stiffness ofthe design and long term benefits of IsoTruss structures in this application.The objectives for finalizing the tower design will be to: 1) Understand the most applicable loading cases and appropriate standardsfor telecommunication towers and foundations in rural areas;and, 2) Apply simple beam theory and numerical (finite element) analysis in an iterative manner to determine the lightest tower and foundation to meet the required standards and handle the anticipated loads.The objectives for the second major goal are to: 1) Identify communities that are underserved in terms of cell coverage and bandwidth;2) Find target communities where towers, foundation, and installation is expensive and time consuming;3) Complete cost savings analysis for shipping and installing anIsoTruss tower;and, 4) Estimate life cycle cost savings and environmental benefits.The objectives for the third major goal will be to: 1) Perform material strength analysis on the carbon fiber members; 2) Verify overall tower properties through destructive testing; and, 3) Validate the performance of the IsoTruss material.
Project Methods
The first goal of this project is be to produce a final tower design for a rural application. To reach this goal, research will be conducted to gather data on rural tower applications, loading cases, and industry regulations. Collaboration will take place with tower installation and maintenance companies to understand the requirements and typical issues with current solutions. With a clear picture of the design case, a tailored IsoTruss structure can be developed for a rural tower. Using the patented IsoTruss structure as a basis, iterations and innovations on the tower and geometry will be made to fit this scenario. To start iterating, simple beam theory and numerical (finite element) analysis will be used to model and predict tower strength and failure modes. A design of experiments will be conducted using the finite element analysis to produce mathematical relationshiops that can accurately model the strength and weight of a tower as a function of the material, geometry and loading conditions. These formulas can be entered into optimization software to find the theoretically optimal geometry for the IsoTruss structure to handle the loading case and requirements of a rural tower. This optimised design will be confirmed, again using finite element analysis and standard beam theory mathematics. The design will be further evaluated in preparationfor pursuit of the third goal. The second goal of this project is to identify the target communities for these towers and understand the total cost savings IsoTruss can provide over traditional structures. Hypotheses will be created for target communities based on projected cost savings. These will be substantiated by collaborating with appropriate partners and industry experts. In order for a complete cost savings to be understood, a complete analysis will have to take place on any differences that an IsoTruss structure has in shipping costs, foundation size, time to install, recurring maintenance, and overall lifespan. Impacts will be explored with shipping and tower companies to understand the current and future shipping cost advantages of anIsoTruss tower structure, which is 90% lighter than current solutions. In addition to the signifcant weight savings, IsoTruss's patented truss geometry experiences lower wind forces that monopoles, which further reduces the required foundation design. Additionally, IsoTruss structures can be used to replace the foundations reinforcing rebar and anchor bolts. Working with civil engineering firms that specialize in tower foundations, a comparison in foundation size and cost will take place using the optimized IsoTruss tower design. This will require in-depth research into industry required codes and regulations to understand how IsoTruss can best minimize foundation size and replace the heavy rebar and anchor bolts. Working with tower installation companies, an analysis on installation time and cost will be conducted. On top of the reduced foundation size, the IsoTruss structures will require less heavy machinery, resulting in additional time and cost savings which can be accurately calculated. Similarly, savings will be researched and predicted on the difference in maintenance and longevity of the tower.Also related to the second goal, efforts will take place in identifying the top target areas for these towers. Once there is an understanding of all of the issues related tothe entire tower deployment scenario, a better idea of target areas can be reached. Collaborating with tower companies, telecommunication companies, the USDA, and local community leaders, IsoTruss can find the rural areas most in need of additional cell coverage. An analysis to determine the cost to deploy towers in these areas will be conducted. Areas that are challenging, particularly for heavy traditional towers, will likely be the best place to start with IsoTruss towers. A list of top potential sites will be generated and ranked according to the cost savings of using IsoTruss towers compared to steel towers.The third goal is to evaluate designs and findings from the first two goals through manufacturingand testing validation. Extensive part testing will take place to accomplish this. Two methods will be used to test the strength of the optimized tower design. The first is to manufacture sections of the tower and test individual members of such sections. An IsoTruss structure is made up of a repeated truss structure, with only a few different sized members. Each unique member will be taken and tested under axial loading using ASTM testing standards with appropriate testing equipment. Intersection points (similar to "connections") between these continuous members will also be tested the same way. This information will lead to more accurate material property data that can be used to validate or change the tower design. Using the accurate material properties, the tower design can be finalized. Full-size, 20-foot sections, of this tower will be hand built and prepared for testing. Using a civil engineering test facility, these sections will be loaded under axial and bending forces to failure. Additional testing, such as salt chamber testing and accelerated UV testing will also be conducted following ASTM standards at accredited research facilities later in the project.The testresults, along with the final designand cost analysis, will provide traction for the future sales effort. Tower companies and local governments can be provided with the needed documents to understand the benefits of a lightweight, corrosion resistant, low maintenance tower. The evidence these studies will provide can lead to the expected outcome of a purchase order for these towers. Cities and companies will be able to afford placing these towers in hard to reach or extremely rural areas and still be able to get a reasonable returnon their investment.