Heat Flux Analysis due to Lightning Strike on Tubular Columns in TV and FM Towers

Abstract

Lightning is a natural phenomenon when hits on a body causes multiple damages such as melting and burning at the point of contact, mechanical damage due to sound wave propagation and destruction due to magnetic flux. Lightning drains the electrical current up to 200 kA and the electro-thermodynamic reaction of the material may cause degradation, stratification, and surface breakdown. Most of the field observations of TV and FM towers' collisions due to lightning strikes show that the main tubular columns have been severely ruptured in the vicinity of the foundation. The high temperature generated during the flow of electricity produces heat through the conductive structure of the main body of the tower, as well as the expansion of gas inside the pipe which ultimately results in the explosion of the pipe and rupturing the towers. In this paper, a part of a tubular column of the tower is chosen and analyzed in ABAQUS software under the effect of lightning induced heat flux. The results show that the very high heat flux generated at the tubular column of the tower could be the main reason for the fracture.