To explore the mechanical characteristics of footings in steel tubular towers with matrix anchor bolt groups

a finite element(FE)model was established.The analysis revealed that the distribution of anchor bolt tension is significantly non-uniform

with the maximum tension reaching 1.29 times the average value.Additional FE models were developed to investigate the influence of shear keys

base plate thickness

stiffener thickness

and stiffener height on the mechanical behavior of the joints.The results indicate that cross-shaped shear keys effectively improve the stress distribution

reduce the maximum stress in different regions of the tower footing

and alleviate the uneven distribution of anchor bolt tension.Increasing base plate thickness beyond a certain range shows limited benefit for the overall stress state.Increasing stiffener thickness slightly improves stress distribution

but a significant improvement in anchor bolt tension uniformity is observed only when shear keys are present.Increasing stiffener height improves the stress state in multiple aspects

and the effect is more pronounced when shear keys are installed.Based on these FE results

design recommendations are proposed to optimize footing performance and reduce the non-uniformity of anchor bolt tension.