Recent Advances of GFRP Composite Cross Arms in Energy Transmission Tower: A Short Review on Design Improvements and Mechanical Properties

Currently, pultruded glass fibre-reinforced polymer (pGFRP) composites have been extensively applied as cross-arm structures in latticed transmission towers. These materials were chosen for their high strength-to-weight ratio and lightweight characteristics. Nevertheless, several researchers have discovered that several existing composite cross arms can decline in performance, which leads to composite failure due to creep, torsional movement, buckling, moisture, significant temperature change, and other environmental factors. This leads to the composite structure experiencing a reduced service life. To resolve this problem, several researchers have proposed to implement composite cross arms with sleeve installation, an addition of bracing systems, and the inclusion of pGFRP composite beams with the core structure in order to have a sustainable composite structure. The aforementioned improvements in these composite structures provide superior performance under mechanical duress by having better stiffness, superiority in flexural behaviour, enhanced energy absorption, and improved load-carrying capacity. Even though there is a deficiency in the previous literature on this matter, several established works on the enhancement of composite cross-arm structures and beams have been applied. Thus, this review articles delivers on a state-of-the-art review on the design improvement and mechanical properties of composite cross-arm structures in experimental and computational simulation approaches.