Assessment of the effectiveness of wood pole repair using FRP considering the impact of climate change on decay and hurricane risk

Eric Merschman (1) , Abdullahi M Salman (1) , Emilio Bastidas-Arteaga (2) , Yue Li (3)

1 UAH - University of Alabama in Huntsville
2 GeM - Institut de Recherche en Génie Civil et Mécanique
3 Case Western Reserve University [Cleveland]

Electric power distribution systems are vulnerable to disruption due to severe weather events, especially hurricanes. Such vulnerability is expected to increase over time due to the impact of climate change on hurricanes and the decay of wood poles that support the distribution lines. This study investigates the effectiveness of using fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) sleeve to reinforce wood poles subjected to decay and hurricane hazard to restore their lost strength and extend their effective service life. The potential impact of climate change on the pole decay rate and the intensity and frequency of hurricanes is also considered. The optimal FRP repair time based on the structural reliability of the poles is also determined. Three locations with varying climates are chosen to evaluate and compare the results: Miami, Charleston, and New York City. The results show that in all three locations, the application of the FRP sleeve can more than double the service life of the pole depending on the time of the repair. The results also show that climate change significantly increases the vulnerability of the pole. The probability of failure of the pole at the end of the 21st century under RCP8.5 emission scenario in Miami, Charleston, and New York City increase by about 30%, 70%, and 73%, respectively, compared to a no climate change scenario. If climate change is only assumed to affect the decay of the pole, i.e., no change in hurricane hazard intensity, the corresponding increases in failure probability are 5%, 22%, and 20% in Miami, Charleston, and New York City, respectively. This implies that most of the impact of climate change on pole failure risk is due to the increase in hurricane intensity. The impact of climate change on decay is found to be comparatively small. It increases with time as variation in temperature and precipitation becomes more prominent towards the end of the 21st century. The optimization results show that the optimal FRP repair time depends on how the FRP affects the pole's decay rate. If the FRP can significantly slow down the wood decay rate, the optimal time of repair is at the beginning of the pole's life cycle. If the FRP has no impact on the wood decay rate, it is better to repair the pole after significant decay has occurred.

Mots clés: Wood poles; FRP repair; Hurricane; Wood decay; Climate change adaptation

Domaines: Matériaux; Génie civil

Eric Merschman, Abdullahi M Salman, Emilio Bastidas-Arteaga, Yue Li. Assessment of the effectiveness of wood pole repair using FRP considering the impact of climate change on decay and hurricane risk. Advances in Climate Change Research, 2020, 11 (4), pp.332-348. ⟨10.1016/j.accre.2020.10.001⟩. ⟨hal-03136340⟩