American Iron and Steel Institute’s Technical Session

Steel Distribution Poles - The Material of the Future

Design & Testing of Steel Poles

- presented by -

Richard F. Aichinger, PE
Manager of Engineering, Utility Products
Valmont Industries, Inc.

American Iron and Steel Institute

Designing For “Equivalency”

“Equivalency” to what?
– Expected Strength
– Expected Life
– Expected Performance
• Deflection
• Handling
• Field Use

American Iron and Steel Institute

 Designing For “Equivalency”

• Most pole used to date have been wood

• How do you design a “Steel wood pole”?
– You can’t … but you don’t want to
– Instead you design a pole that meets minimum
strength and performance requirements every
time

American Iron and Steel Institute

 Designing For “Equivalency”

• How do you design a “Steel Distribution

Pole”?
– ANSI Standards:
• ANSI 05.1
• National Electric Safety Code (ANSI C-2)
– ASCE Manual 72
– Material & Manufacturing Proven Reliability
– Testing and Proven Product Experience
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 ANSI 05.1

• Provides performance and quality criteria

for wood poles of various species
• Provides strength requirements which
define the various pole Class definition
(Class 6 to H-6)
– Defined by a Capacity Loading to be applied 2
feet from the pole top
• Provides direct embedment depth

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National Electrical Safety Code (ANSI C-2)

• A Safety Code
• By default, also a Design Code
– Provides for Design considerations for various
line conditions (ice, wind + ice, wind)
– Provides for Construction Grades to
differentiate the allowable risk accepted in the
design

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National Electrical Safety Code (ANSI C-2)

A Little History:
• Provided for loading and strength since the
early 1900’s to present
• Early editions were based on ultimate
strength of materials
• Steel was first to be changed to Load
Factor in 1941
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National Electrical Safety Code (ANSI C-2)

• 1941 Summary:
– Material Grade B Grade C
• Steel 2.54 2.2
• wood 25% 37.5%
– (equiv. OLF) (4.0) (2.67)

American Iron and Steel Institute

National Electrical Safety Code (ANSI C-2)

• 1973 Wood was modified:

– Material Grade B Grade C
• Steel 2.54 2.2
• wood 25% 50%
– (equiv. OLF) (4.0) (2.0)
– Familiar?
– wood is now lower than steel in Grade C.
• 1997 Edition introduced Strength Factors
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 National Electrical Safety Code (ANSI C-2)

1997 Edition Grade B:

Strength Factor Equiv. O.L.F.

Load Type Overload Steel Wood Steel Wood Ratio
Vertical 1.5 1.0 0.65 1.5 2.31 0.65
Transverse
Wind 2.5 1.0 0.65 2.5 3.85 0.65

Tension 1.65 1.0 0.65 1.65 2.54 0.65

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 National Electrical Safety Code (ANSI C-2)

1997 Edition Grade C:

Strength Factor Equiv. O.L.F. Ratio
Load Type Overload Steel Wood Steel Wood
Vertical 1.5 1.0 0.85 1.5 1.76 0.85
Transverse
Wind 2.2 (steel) 1.0 0.85 2.2 2.06 1.07
1.75(wood)
Tension 1.1 (steel) 1.0 0.85 1.1 1.53 0.72
1.3 (wood)

American Iron and Steel Institute

 ASCE Manual 72

• “The Steel Pole Design Guide”

• Provides for the best practices of the
industry
• Provides for the Design Requirements
equated to:
– AISC
– ACI
– AWS
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 Designing For “Equivalency”

• “Equivalent Wood Pole” Loading (B):

– ANSI Load x 2.5/4.0
ANSI 05.1 Working “Equivalent”
Pole Class Loading Load Steel Load
2 3700 # 925 # 2313 #
3 3000 750 1875
4 2400 600 1500
5 1900 475 1188

American Iron and Steel Institute

 Designing For “Equivalency”

• CLASS 4 Pole has ANSI rated capacity of 2400#.

– GRADE B CONSTRUCTION:
• WOOD O.L.F. 4.0
• STEEL O.L.F. 2.5
• STEEL RATED LOAD BECOMES 2400# x 2.5/4.0 =
1500#
– GRADE C CONSTRUCTION:
• WOOD O.L.F. 2.0
• STEEL O.L.F. 2.2
• STEEL RATED LOAD BECOMES 2400# x 2.2/2.0 =
2640#
American Iron and Steel Institute
 Designing For “Equivalency”

• CLASS 4 Pole has ANSI rated capacity of 2400#.

– GRADE B CONSTRUCTION:
• WOOD O.L.F. 4.0
• STEEL O.L.F. 2.5
• STEEL RATED LOAD BECOMES 2400# x 2.5/4.0 =
1500#
– GRADE C (Expected NESC Change for 2002)
• WOOD O.L.F. 2.06
• STEEL O.L.F. 1.75
• STEEL RATED LOAD BECOMES 2400# x
1.75/2.06 = 2039# (vs. 2640#)
American Iron and Steel Institute
 Designing For “Equivalency”

• Steel Allows for Designs that Consistently meet

strength requirements by varying diameter and
thickness
• ASCE Manual 72 provides criteria for Local
Buckling of Tubular Steel
– Proven through years of use in other products
– Verified by EPRI and manufacturer testing
• Provides a pole that is consistent “by design”

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 Designing For “Life”

• Steel Allows for the Design of a Product that can

be protected against deterioration
– Galvanizing provides a proven inside/out protection
for most environments
– An additional groundline barrier coating provides
extra protection at the most corrosive location
– When damaged by overload conditions, Steel will
tend to locally yield rather than “break” or “collapse”,
often times allowing the line to remain in service

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 Designing For “Performance”

• Deflection of steel poles are normally less than

the “equivalent wood pole” based on the pole
size defined by ANSI 05.1
• The following graph shows a representative
comparison indicating the deflection of a Steel
versus wood poles

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 Load Deflection of Steel vs. Wood Poles
(40’ Class 4, NESC Grade “B”)

Deflection of 40 ft. Class 4

(Treatment Adjustments per Table C4)
100.00

90.00

80.00

70.00
Deflection (in.)

60.00
Western Red Cedar
50.00 So. Yellow Pine
Steel Pole
40.00 Douglas Fir

30.00

20.00

10.00

0.00
lbs. lbs. lbs. lbs. lbs. lbs. lbs. lbs. lbs. lbs. lbs. lbs. lbs. lbs. lbs.

600 700 800 900 1000 1100 1200 1300 1400 1500 1700 1900 2100 2300 2400

Loading (lbs.)

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 Designing For “Performance”

• Weight of steel poles are normally much less

than the “equivalent wood pole” providing added
savings for field handling and maneuvering
• The following chart is a representative
comparison of the weight of wood poles versus
Steel Poles

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Weight Comparison of Wood to Steel

2500

2000
POLE WEIGHT, lb

1500

Douglas Fir Weight, lbs.

Steel Pole Weight, lbs.

1000

500

0
5 4 3 5 4 3 5 4 3 2

40 40 40 45 45 45 50 50 50 50
CLASS and WEIGHT

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 Designing For “Performance”

• Additionally, Steel can be Designed for true

design applications wood is seldom correctly
considered for:
– Guyed angles and corners
• NESC requirements:

– Unguyed angles and corners

• Steel provides the necessary strength and flexibility of size
and application

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 Designing For “Reliability”

• Steel Poles have been successfully used:

– for over 30 years for the Electric Utility industry
– for over 40 years with the same product in other
industries (lighting and traffic)
• Fabrication and Quality systems have evolved to
keep up with customer demand, technology, and
increasing Design sophistication

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 Designing Proven by “Testing”

• Steel Poles have been tested for as long as Steel

Poles have been fabricated. But there is a
difference:
– Steel Poles are tested to Verify Design strength is
attained as a Minimum
– wood poles are tested to determine the mean rupture
strength

American Iron and Steel Institute

 Designing Proven by “Testing”

• Steel Distribution Poles have been tested by

independent firms (EDM in Fort Collins) and by
the manufacturers using controlled conditions
and sophisticated systems.
– Strength / Buckling tests to verify design acceptance
for conditions including:
• full tube sections
• tube sections with many cut holes to verify that condition
• attachment and guy hardware loading
– All showing the Strength and Reliability of Steel

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 Post Insulator Test On Steel Pole

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 Guy Attachment Test On Steel Pole

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 EPRI Test On 70’ Class 2 Steel Pole

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Testing at EPRI (Class 2) and EDM (Class 3 & 5)

American Iron and Steel Institute

Steel Distribution Poles - The Material of the Future

American Iron and Steel Institute

Steel Distribution Poles - The Material of the Future

In Conclusion:
• Steel Distribution Poles Provide
– Expected Strength
– Expected Life
– Expected Performance in
• Deflection
• Handling
• Field Use
American Iron and Steel Institute