# Relative Entropy-Based Reliability Assessment of Hybrid Telecommunication Skeletal Towers

## TL;DR

This paper assesses the reliability of hybrid telecommunication towers under wind pressure, comparing them to traditional steel towers.

## Contribution

The study introduces a novel reliability assessment method using relative entropy and compares hybrid versus steel tower reliability.

## Key findings

- Hybrid towers offer mass savings while maintaining reliability levels.
- Reliability indices are calculated using FORM and Bhattacharyya entropy methods.
- Probabilistic characteristics are derived via the Stochastic Finite Element Method.

## Abstract

The main aim of this paper is the uncertainty quantification and reliability assessment of the hybrid skeletal telecommunication tower subjected to dynamic wind pressure. The structural response of this aluminum–steel construction is contrasted with the original steel tower solution widely available in engineering practice in the numerical environment of the system ABAQUS 2024. Some design parameters of both towers are considered uncertain and distributed according to the Gaussian probability distribution so that the resulting reliability indices in the Ultimate Limit State (ULS), as well as the Serviceability Limit State (SLS), are determined. These indices are calculated using the First Order Reliability Method (FORM), and also from the probabilistic entropy scheme due to the Bhattacharyya theory. The first two probabilistic characteristics necessary for the reliability assessment result from the Stochastic Finite Element Method implemented according to the generalized iterative stochastic perturbation technique. All probabilistic calculus is programmed in the symbolic algebra of the system MAPLE 2015. As it is documented in this study, a choice of the hybrid tower enables for some mass savings under preservation of the same reliability level.