Once these general rules have been applied to an initial cleat concept, the actual cleat spacing and

installation sag can be calculated. If the weight of the cable is supported by the cleat and the cleat has
not been specifically designed to meet the requirements of the project, then the side pressure of the
cable at the cleat could be excessive, and there will be a tendency to concentrate cable bending at the
edge of the cleat. Equation 2 should be used to initially determine the fixing centres:

Having determined the spacing between the cleats it is necessary to fix the value of the initial sag.
This sag generally should not normally be less than 2 , but it may be necessary to increase the sag
beyond this value to ensure that the change of strain in the sheath due to thermal movements does not
exceed the maximum imposed by the fatigue properties of the sheath.

To simplify the calculation of the sheath strain it is assumed that the longitudinal expansion of the
complete cable follows the expansion of the conductor. The total sheath strain is therefore the sum of
the absolute values of the strain due to the movement of the cable together with the strain due to the
differential expansion of the conductor and the sheath. On the basis that it can be shown that the
maximum sheath strain change will not be exceeded provided:

Also, to avoid concentrated bending at the edge of the cleat, the cable deflection δ due to its own
weight should be at least five times less than the initial sag between the cleats, and is required to
ensure satisfactory expansion and contraction movement. The following formulae can be used to
determine δ the cable deflection:

Quite often the design of such cable fixings is one of a longitudinal ‘saddle’ type of design, rather than
the traditional cable clamp design. Firstly, the cable saddle should in itself be able to support the
weight of the cable in its final installed position. E.g. a 2500mm² copper conductor, lead sheathed
cable can weigh almost 50kg / metre. If we assume an 8m fixing distance, then the cable saddle must
be able to support 4m (200kg) on one side, and 4m on the other side, without deflecting or changing
its original profile. Furthermore, the longitudinal saddle must also be radiused along its length to
ensure the cable is adequately and safely supported. Various cable construction types affect the radius
4