Mathematical and Computer Modelling

of Dynamical Systems: Methods, Tools

and Applications in Engineering and
Related Sciences

Modelling and simulation of bicable

ropeways under cross-wind influence

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Mathematical and Computer Modelling of Dynamical Systems

Modelling and simulation of bicable ropeways

under cross-wind influence

Improvements of safety standards of ropeways are crucial in order to ensure a high level of
operational reliability and safety. In this context, the question of cross-wind stability of
ropeways is of particular concern. The real cross-inclination of the gondola and its correlation
to wind speed and direction on an operating ropeway are of great interest for ropeway
manufacturers and responsible authorities as well as for ropeway operators. As presented in
this paper, a mathematical model for simulation was developed in order to gain a better
understanding of the cross-wind behaviour of bicable ropeways. This model was established for
a numerical dynamic simulation of the movement of gondolas with stiff connections, ‘hanger-
cabins’, due to arbitrary cross-wind loads acting at a section of the studied span of the
ropeway. All equations were solved using the program MATLAB1 and the toolbox
SIMULINK1. In addition, the results of a simulation of a real ropeway are presented.

Keywords: Bicable ropeway; Wind load; Cross-oscillation; Time-domain simulation;

MATLAB

1. Introduction

Ropeways are important in the development of mountain regions which would

otherwise be highly inaccessible. They are more environmentally friendly than road
traffic and serve as a pre-condition for the development of alpine tourism. Ropeways
are used for public transport as well as for transporting goods in mountain resorts. As
this directly relates to tourism, these ropeways create a vital source of income for
residents of alpine regions. Therefore, ropeways are a fundamental part of the tourist
infrastructure.
Reliable transportation of passengers and goods requires high safety standards.
Safety engineering aspects of ropeways are always basic criteria which call for special
64

attention during the planning phase and initial operation, and require routine and
periodic checks. Recently, major efforts have been made to achieve further improve-
ments in system security.
In this context, the question of cross-wind stability of ropeways is of particular
importance for ropeway manufacturers, responsible authorities and ropeway opera-
tors. Strong cross-winds result in unacceptable cross-inclination of gondolas,
particularly while crossing the towers supporting the cable at regular intervals along
the ropeway. This situation poses a considerable risk to the entire ropeway as well as to
passengers. Especially with bicable ropeways, the alignment of the hauling cable within
the line rollers must be ensured during strong cross-winds for optimum safety
(figure 1). There is considerable interest on the part of ropeway manufacturers to be
able to ensure operational reliability of their ropeways at higher wind speeds, but at
present there is no reliable information on the real cross-inclination of the gondola and
its correlation to wind speed and direction on an operating ropeway. Only in the last
few years have theoretical investigations dealing with cross-wind influence been
performed [1,2].
To obtain a better prediction of the behaviour of a bicable ropeway under cross-
wind influence, a suitable mechanical model has been established. This model is
useful for the numerical simulation of the cross-oscillation behaviour discussed in this
paper. With this modelling system, extensive calculations of the oscillation behaviour
of the gondolas and investigations of the whole ropeway system were carried out.

Figure 1. Gondolas of a circulating detachable bicable ropeway.

 Modelling and simulation of bicable ropeways 65

2. Description of the technical system of bicable ropeways

The first step in establishing a mechanical model of a bicable ropeway is to analyse the
working principle of the system, which will be addressed in the following section.
A bicable ropeway works with a certain number of cabins (up to 25 persons per
cabin) fixed with the haul cable by operational releasable clamping devices.
In the station, the cars are separated from the haul cable, decelerated, and guided onto
an overhead monorail, which leads the gondola at a low speed through the embarkation
and disembarkation area. The low speed through the station enables easy entrance and
exit for the passengers. Before exiting the station, the gondola is accelerated again to the
constant haul cable speed and joined to the haul cable by the closure of the clamp. Thus,
the clamping device fixed to the gondola can grip the haul cable at any point and therefore
enable the setting of various sequential intervals between the individual gondolas.
Outside the station area, the cables are led over line support structures, the track cable
on saddles (track cable saddle), and the haul cable on support rollers. At the circulating
operation, there are two track cables which are permanently anchored at one end of the
track, normally the upper end, and maintained under constant tension by weights at the
other end. Each of the two track cable sections serves for just one direction, and
these are linked together in the upper and lower stations by the overhead monorails. The
haul cable can be tensed either by a tension weight or a hydraulic tensioning cylinder.
Drive for the haul cable is provided by the electric motor-driven drive pulley. The design
and mode of operation of detachable ropeways are shown in figure 2.

3. Description of the mathematical model

3.1 Mechanical model

It can be assumed that the cross-oscillation of the cabins and the movement of
the cables in one span between two towers is not transmitted to the next span.

Figure 2. Circulating detachable bicable ropeway.

66

In making this assumption, numerical studies can be reduced to one span (figure 3) of
the track.
In normal operation, the cabins move along the span with constant velocity. The
trajectory along the span follows the elastic line of the track cable. The horizontal
tension force and the dead weight of the cable and the cabins influence this line. For
this simulation, it can be assumed that the elastic line of the track cable is constant and
fixed in a vertical direction. This means that there is neither vertical oscillation effects
nor swinging of the cabins in the x – z plane.
Every gondola is modelled as a mechanical system with two degrees of freedom
(DOFs)—rotation angle, j, and horizontal movement of the connection between the
track cable and the gondola, yT (figure 4). Changes in the inclination angle of the track
cable, l (figure 3), cause changes in the vertical distance between both cables a ¼ h1 cos(l)
(figure 3), where h1 is the distance between two cables, i.e. the distance between points Q
and P. They also cause changes in the inertia moment of the gondola IQ towards axis xQ.
This inertia moment is calculated for every fixed position of the gondola along the span.
The gondola’s oscillations in the vertical plane x – z are neglected, and as a result it can
be assumed that the relative movement of the gondola is in one plane. It is described as
the sum of the rotation around axis xQ at the point of the connection between the track
cable and the gondola (point Q) and a horizontal translation of this point in a plane
perpendicular to the span (plane QyQzQ). This movement is caused by the cross-wind
forces, which act on the separate parts of the gondola (carriage, hanger, and cabin), dead
weights of the gondolas and passengers, and reactions of the cables. The forces of the
cables are modelled by springs with changing stiffness. They are elastic forces and will be
referred to later on as RT, the force between the track cable and the gondola (acting at
point Q), and RZ, the force in the clamp (acting at point P).
In accordance with the relation between gondola distance, l, and the distance
between the towers, L, a certain number of gondolas are moving in the span. In this
technical system, all damping forces are very small. If we neglect the damping forces for
every gondola, the differential equation for both degrees of freedom is as follows:

Figure 3. Scheme of a span of a bicable ropeway.

 Modelling and simulation of bicable ropeways 67

Figure 4. Model of a gondola.

    
A B j
€i f1
¼ ð1Þ
B C y€Ti f2

where ji is the angle of rotation of gondola number i around axis xQ. This is the first
degree of freedom for the system; yTi is the horizontal coordinate of the connection
between the gondola i and the track cable (point Q). This is the second degree of
freedom of the mechanical system.
In equation (1), the constants are given by:

  h i
A ¼ mL iL 2 þ lSL 2 þ eSL 2 þ mZi ai 2 þ mG iG 2 þ ðlSG þ ai Þ2 þ eSG 2
h i h i
þ mK iK 2 þ ðlSK þ ai Þ2 þ eSK 2 þ mPi iPi 2 þ ðlSPi þ ai Þ2 þ eSPi 2
B ¼ mL ðlSL cos ji þ eSL sin ji Þ þ mZi ai cos ji þ mG ½ðlSG þ ai Þcos ji þ eSG sin ji  ð2Þ

þ mK ½ðlSK þ ai Þcos ji þ eSK sin ji  þ mPi ½ðlSPi þ ai Þcos ji þ eSPi sin ji 

C ¼ ðmL þ mZi þ mTi þ mG þ mK þ mPi Þ
68

where mL is the mass of the carriage; mG is the mass of the hanger; mK is the mass of
the cabin; mPi is the mass of all passengers in gondola i; mZi is the mass of the hauling
cable added to gondola i; mTi is the mass of the track cable added to gondola i; ai is the
vertical coordinate of the clamp (point P) of gondola i in coordinate system QyQzQ
(figure 4); eSL,lSL is the coordinates of the mass centre of the carriage in coordinate
system QyQzQ (figure 4); eSG,lSG þ ai is the coordinates of the mass centre of the hanger
in coordinate system QyQzQ (figure 4); eSK,lSK þ ai is the coordinates of the mass centre
of the cabin in coordinate system QyQzQ (figure 4); eSPi,lSPi þ ai is the coordinates of the
mass centre of the passengers in coordinate system QyQzQ (figure 4); iL is the mass
inertia radius of the carriage; iG is the mass inertia radius of the hanger; iK is the mass
inertia radius of the cabin; iPi is the mass inertia radius of all passengers in gondola i.
It can be seen that certain parts of the mass of the hauling cable mZi and the mass of
the track cable mTi are added to gondola i. The generalized forces f1 and f2 including
wind forces WL, WG, and WK and the elastic forces from the cables RTi and RZi are
time-dependent as well as position-dependent functions.

3.2 Wind forces

During the calculation, the cross-wind loads change in time. For the numerical
simulation, experimental data or mathematical functions can be used.
In the presented model, the wind loads are proportional to the square of the wind
velocity, and a time-dependent sin-function is used [3]:
(
2pðtt2n1 Þ
WMAX sin T if t2n1  t  t2n
Wi ðtÞ ¼
0 if t2n  t  t2nþ1

where
AWi cWi rVMAX 2
WMAX ¼
2 ð3Þ
T ¼ 2ðt2n  t2n1 Þ

where AWi is the cross-area exposed to the wind gust; cWi is the air drug coefficient; r is
the density of the air; VMAX is the maximal velocity of the wind; and n ¼ 1, 2, . . . , k.
The time dependency of the above-described mathematic function of wind loads is
shown in figure 5. As proposed in [3], based on experimental data, this function is a
half period sin-function combined with ‘dead’ intervals (‘dead’ intervals refer to time
periods without wind). This function assumes that the wind forces act in only one
direction and have only positive values, but of course the direction of the wind can vary
in time. This is assumed as a periodic force acting on a certain part of the span. The
horizontal length of the wind influence depends on the geographic situation of the
ropeway and is established as (figure 6):

Dwe ¼ wR  wL

That means that during the periodic time window

t2n1  t  t2n
 Modelling and simulation of bicable ropeways 69

Figure 5. Generalized graph of the wind load as a mathematical function of time.

Figure 6. Cross-wind loads over the cables in horizontal plane.

the wind load can act as a line load to both cables and as a single force to the cabin,
if the cabin is moving during the certain time window within the wind field Dwe.
The values of time limits of the wind gust t2n71 and t2n can easily be changed, as can be
seen in the numerical data cited later.

3.3 Elastic forces

Regarding the theory of cables and chains [4,5], the horizontal deflection of the track
cable and the haul cable caused by wind forces and elastic forces at the contact points P
and Q can be put together according to the following equations.
Here, the pseudo-dynamic method is used. Elastic forces, with which gondolas act
over the cables, are calculated for each position of the gondolas at every integration
step of the simulated movement.
70

The horizontal laws of movement of points P and Q of gondola number i are:

yZi ¼ yW G
Zi þ yZi and yTi ¼ yW G
Ti þ yTi ð4Þ

where yWZi is the horizontal law of movement of point P, due to the action of the
cross-wind along the hauling cable; yG Zi is the horizontal law of movement of point
P due to the action of gondola i; yW
Ti is the horizontal law of movement of point Q due
to the action of the cross-wind along the track cable; and yG Ti is the horizontal law of
movement of point Q due to the action of gondola i.

Depending on the position of point Q along the track cable, its horizontal law of
movement due to cross-wind loads can be calculated using the proper equation:

wT
1st section: yW
Ti ¼  xTi ðwR  wL Þð2L  wR  wL Þ
2HT L
wT  2
2nd section: yW
Ti ¼ xTi L  xTi ðw2R  w2L Þ þ 2wR LxZi  w2L L ð5Þ
2HT L
wT
3rd section: yW
Ti ¼  ðw2  w2L ÞðL  xTi Þ
2HT L R

where xTi is the horizontal (parallel to the cable) coordinate of point Q of gondola i.
For the following simulation, the values of gondola i are: i ¼ 1 7 4 or i ¼ 1 7 3;
(xT1 ¼ x 7 xQ1; xT2 ¼ x þ l 7 xQ2; xT3 ¼ x þ 2l 7 xQ3; xT4 ¼ x þ 3l 7 xQ4); wL is the
coordinate along axis x of the beginning of the section exposed to wind load
(2nd section); wR is the coordinate along axis x of the end of the section exposed to
wind load (2nd section); wT is the value of the cross-wind load acting at the tract cable;
HT is the value of the horizontal projection of the force in the track cable out of
the span.
The corresponding equations of law of movement of point P are:

wZ
1st section: yW
Zi ¼  xZi ðwR  wL Þð2L  wR  wL Þ
2HZ L
wZ  2
2nd section: yW
Zi ¼  xZi L  xZi ðw2R  w2L Þ þ 2wR LxZi  w2L L ð6Þ
2HZ L
wZ
3rd section: yW
Zi ¼  ðw2  w2L ÞðL  xZi Þ
2HZ L R

where: xZi is the horizontal (parallel to the cable) coordinate of point P of gondola
i (i ¼ 1 7 4 or i ¼ 1 7 3); (xZ1 ¼ x; xZ2 ¼ x þ l; xZ3 ¼ x þ 2l; xZ4 ¼ x þ 3l); wZ is the
value of the cross-wind load acting at the hauling cable; and HZ is the value of the
horizontal projection of the force in the hauling cable out of the span.
Simultaneously to the laws of movement due to cross-wind loads of the contact
points PðyW W
Ti Þ and QðyZi Þ, the laws of movement of these points, due to elastic forces
with which gondolas act at the cables ðyG G
Ti are yZi Þ, are computed. These forces are
elastic and are the opposite of the forces with which the cables return the gondolas
to their equivalent position. Thus, they will also be named RZi and RTi, similar to the
 Modelling and simulation of bicable ropeways 71

corresponding ones in the dynamic equation (1). They can be calculated with the
following systems of equations for the shown simulation:

x ðLx Þ

Z1 Z1 xZ1 ðLxZ2 Þ xZ1 ðLxZ3 Þ xZ1 ðLxZ4 Þ

HZ L HZ L HZ L HZ L
8 9 8 9


> RZ1 > > yG Z1 >

xZ1 ðLxZ2 Þ

xZ2 ðLxZ4 Þ > > > > >

HL xZ2 ðLxZ2 Þ xZ2 ðLxZ3 Þ

< R > = > < yG >=

Z HZ L HZ L HZ L
Z2 Z2


¼ ; ð7Þ

xZ1 ðLxZ3 Þ xZ2 ðLxZ3 Þ xZ3 ðLxZ3 Þ xZ3 ðLxZ4 Þ
> RZ3 > > yG >

HZ L HZ L HZ L HZ L
>>
:
>
>
;
>
>
: Z3 >
>
;


R yG

xZ1 ðLxZ4 Þ
Z4 Z4

xZ2 ðLxZ4 Þ xZ3 ðLxZ4 Þ xZ4 ðLxZ4 Þ

HZ L HZ L HZ L HZ L

x ðLx Þ

T1 T1 xT1 ðLxT2 Þ xT1 ðLxT3 Þ xT1 ðLxT4 Þ

HT L HT L HT L HT L
8 9 8 9


> RT1 > > yG T1 >

xT1 ðLxT2 Þ

xT2 ðLxT4 Þ > > > > >

HL xT2 ðLxT2 Þ xT2 ðLxT3 Þ

< R > = > < yG >=

T HT L HT L HT L
T2 T2


¼ : ð8Þ

xT1 ðLxT3 Þ xT2 ðLxT3 Þ xT3 ðLxT3 Þ xT3 ðLxT4 Þ
>> RT3 >
> >
> yG >
T3 >

HT L
> > > >

HZ L HZ L HZ L

: R ; : yG ;

xT1 ðLxT4 Þ
T4 T4

xT2 ðLxT4 Þ xT3 ðLxT4 Þ xT4 ðLxT4 Þ

HT L HT L HT L HT L

It is seen from the dynamic equations that there is a relation between the laws of
movement of points P and Q for each gondola. This relation is:

yPi ¼ yTi þ yPQi ; i.e. yZi ¼ yTi þ ai sin ji :

So, yW G
Zi þ yZi ¼ yTi þ ai sin ji and from the differential equation (1) for each gondola
at every iteration step the following system is used:

yG W
Zi ¼ yTi þ ai sin ji  yZi
ð9Þ
yG W
Ti ¼ yTi  yTi

where yTi and ji are the degrees of freedom of every gondola obtained from the
dynamic equation (1). yW W G G
Zi and yTi are obtained from equations (5) and (6). yZi and yTi
are used for solving systems (7) and (8), where forces RZi and RTi are obtained. These
forces are regarded like active forces in dynamic equation (1). The entire scheme of the
simulation model is shown in figure 7.

4. Simulation results

This section presents the simulation results. The accuracy of the model is checked by
comparison with a model created in a program for dynamic calculations of the multi-
body system ADAMS [6]. The numerical results are also compared with some
measurement results [7].
The geometric data and specifications, which have been gathered from the bicable
ropeway over the past five years, are now being used for simulation. The presented
results are given for one span of the ropeway track (figure 8).
In this numerical experiment, some of the values used are provided in table 1. The
empty places are for variables.
72

Figure 7. Scheme of the functioning simulating cycle.

Figure 8. Scheme of the track between the second and third part of the line support structure.
 Modelling and simulation of bicable ropeways 73

Table 1. Values used in the numerical experiment.

Values in the
Symbol Identification cited example Units

Masses and force variables

mL Mass of the carriage 500 kg
mG Mass of the hanger 150 kg
mK Mass of the cabin 600 kg
mPi Mass of all passengers in gondola i 700 kg
mZi Mass of the hauling cable, added to gondola kg
number i
mTi Mass of the track cable, added to gondola number i kg
qZ Dead weight of the hauling cable 61.8 N/m
qT Dead weight of the track cable 126.5 N/m
HT Value of the horizontal projection of the force in the N
track cable, out of the span
HZ Value of the horizontal projection of the force in the N
hauling cable, out of the span
WL Horizontal lateral wind force over the carriage N
WG Horizontal lateral wind force over the hanger N
WK Horizontal lateral wind force over the cabin N
RTi Elastic force of the reaction of the track cable, N
due to its horizontal movement, acting over
gondola number i
RZi Elastic force of the reaction of the hauling cable, N
due to its horizontal movement, acting over
gondola number i
g Earth acceleration 9.81 m/s2
Velocity variables
VH Velocity of motion of the hauling cable and the 5 m/s
gondolas with passenger
Geometric variables
eSL,lSL Coordinates of the mass centre of the carriage m, m
in coordinate system QyQzQ (figure 4)
eSG,lSG þ ai Coordinates of the mass centre of the hanger m, m
in coordinate system QyQzQ (figure 4)
eSK,lSK þ a1 Coordinates of the mass centre of the cabin m, m
in coordinate system QyQzQ (figure 4)
eSPi,lSPi þ ai Coordinates of the mass centre of the passengers m, m
in coordinate system QyQzQ (figure 4)
eWL,lWL Coordinates of the acting point of the wind force m, m
over the carriage WL in coordinate system
QyQzQ (figure 4)
eWG,lWG þ ai Coordinates of the acting point of the wind m, m
force over the hanger WG in coordinate system
QyQzQ (figure 4)
eWK,lWK þ ai Coordinates of the acting point of the wind force m, m
over the hanger WK in coordinate system
QyQzQ (figure 4)
iL Mass inertia radius of the carriage m
iG Mass inertia radius of the hanger m
iK Mass inertia radius of the cabin m
iPi Mass inertia radius of all passengers in gondola i. m
ai Vertical coordinate of the clamp (point P) of gondola m
number i, in coordinate system QyQzQ (figure 4)
x Horizontal coordinate of point P, along the track m
cable for the first gondola (figure 3)
xQi Horizontal distance along axis x between points P m
and Q for gondola number I; this is due to the
rotation of the hanger and the cabin around
axis yP (angle l, figure 3 and figure 4) and is
equal to xQI ¼ h1 sin l
(continued )
74

Table 1. (Continued ).

Values in the
Symbol Identification cited example Units

xTi Horizontal, parallel to the cable, coordinate of point m

Q of the gondola number i (i ¼ 1 7 4 or i ¼ 1 7 3)
h1 Distance between the two cables, when angle l ¼ 0 0.556 m
(figure 8).
L Horizontal distance between the towers (figure 8) 800 m
l Horizontal distance between every two gondolas 250 m
(figure 8)
H Vertical distance between the towers (figure 8) 300 m
l Inclination angle of the elastic line of the track cable, rad
due to its dead weight
Parameters used for calculating the wind load
WMAX Maximal value of the wind load, acting at:
Carriage, hanger or cabin N
Track cable or hauling cable N/m
wL Coordinate, along axis x of the beginning of the 200 m
section, exposed to wind load (2nd section)
wR Coordinate, along axis x of the end of the section, 300 m
exposed to wind load (2nd section)
wT Value of the cross-wind load, acting at the track cable N/m
wZ Value of the cross-wind load, acting at the N/m
hauling cable
VMAX Maximal velocity of the wind 22.22 m/s
AWi Cross-area, exposed to the wind gust m2
cWi Air drug coefficient –
 Density of the air 1.25 kg/m3

Figure 9. Generalized graph of the wind load as a function of time.

The section with acting wind loads is between 200 m and 300 m: wL ¼ 200 m and
wR ¼ 300 m. The time windows of the wind loads are (figure 9):

t1 ¼ 0 s; t2 ¼ 3:1 s; t3 ¼ 31:4 s; t4 ¼ 34:5 s; t5 ¼ 62:8 s; t6 ¼ 65:9 s; . . . and T ¼ 31:4 s:

The simulation results are shown in figures 10 – 15.

 Modelling and simulation of bicable ropeways 75

Figure 10. Spatial models of the calculated ropeway at different calculated cycle moments.

Spatial figures of the simulated motion of the calculated bicable ropeway are
shown in figure 10. These are extracted from the animation film of the move-
ment of the gondolas along the span. The film is created using the program
76

Figure 11. Movements of the cables and the gondolas viewed in the horizontal plane xy for 62.8 s  t  66.0 s.

MATLAB1, [8]. The arrows above the cables show the position and the magnitude
of the wind loads.
There is a gust of wind during the time interval between t ¼ 62.8 s and t ¼ 66.0 s. The
motion of the cables and the gondolas during that period are graphically interpreted in
 Modelling and simulation of bicable ropeways 77

Figure 12. Functions of the first DOF of all gondolas, that are along the span at the beginning of the
calculated cycle, when wL ¼ 200 m and wR ¼ 300 m.

Figure 13. Functions of the second DOF of all gondolas, that move along the span for one calculated cycle,
when wL ¼ 200 m and wR ¼ 300 m.
78

Figure 14. Graphs of the first DOF j1 of the gondola no. 1 for a different position for the wind loads along
the span.

figure 10. This motion is viewed from above, and the pictures show the projectional
position of the cables and the cabins in a horizontal plane. The dark lines in both sides
of the cables mark the position of the towers. The arrows above mark the position and
the magnitude of the cross-wind load.
Graphs of both degrees of freedom for the first four gondolas, when there is wind
between 200 m and 300 m of the span, are shown in figures 12 and 13. The grey
rectangle marks the position of the wind loads along the span. The dark black lines
show the starting positions (when t ¼ 0 s) of the four gondolas in the span. The
durations of the periods of motion for each gondola are as follows:

. for gondola no. 1: t  160 s;

. for gondola no. 2: t  110 s;
. for gondola no. 3: t  60 s;
. for gondola no. 4: t  10 s.

After that time the gondolas move to the next span, which we do not model. The
model allows the position of the loaded section to be changed easily. In figures 14
and 15, the graphs of both degrees of freedom of gondola no. 1 are shown. The
loaded section can be situated in the left half of the span, in the middle of the span,
and at the end of the span near the right tower. The wind fields are marked by grey
rectangles.
An additional mathematically described function of the wind load is presented. Here,
the gusts of wind follow the half-period of the described in equation (3) sin-function
 Modelling and simulation of bicable ropeways 79

Figure 15. Graphs of the second DOF yT1 of the gondola no. 1 for a different position for the wind loads
along the span.

and the ‘dead’ intervals have varying durations. For example, the one gust of wind lasts
5 s, while a ‘dead’ interval may last 15 s. The longest ‘dead’ interval is equal to 35 s.
The function presented here of the cross-wind loads is pseudo-periodic. The function of
time dependence on this kind of wind loads is shown in figure 16.
Analogically to figures 12 and 13, the obtained functions of both DOFs for each
gondola are shown in figures 17 and 18. Thus, the feature of the mathematical model,
which allows for an easy change in the wind loads, is illustrated.

5. Conclusions

This paper addressed the cross-oscillation of a bicable ropeway under a cross-wind

influence. First, the complex technical system of such a ropeway was described. Next, a
mechanical model was created to simulate the situation. The mechanical model was
designed with 8 or 6 main DOFs, depending on the number of gondolas in the span,
and relevant equations for the complex system were given. The numerical simulation
was processed using the program system MATLAB1 and the toolbox SIMULINK1,
[8]. An example with geometric data for a bicable ropeway, in operation for 5 years,
was calculated. The results are consistent with these measurements.
The modelling process presented allows parameters to be changed easily and thus
allows faster and more precise results in designing ropeways. This fact is very
important in improving the safety standards of ropeways.
80

Figure 16. Generalized graph of another pseudo-periodic function of the wind load.

Figure 17. Functions of the first DOF for the pseudo-periodic wind function of all gondolas that are along the
span at the beginning of the calculated cycle, when wL ¼ 200 m and wR ¼ 300 m.
 Modelling and simulation of bicable ropeways 81

Figure 18. Functions of the second DOF for the pseudo-periodic wind function of all gondolas that move
along the span for one calculated cycle, when wL ¼ 200 m and wR ¼ 300 m.

The toolbox SIMULINK1 from the program MATLAB1 is a very suitable tool to
model dynamic problems in the field of ropeways.

References

[1] Dragsits, H., 2002, Untersuchung des Schwingungsverhaltens der Fahrbetriebsmittel einer Seilbahn—
Anwendung genetischer Optimierungsverfahren, Diplomarbeit, TU-Wien (unpublished).
[2] Liehl, R., 2000, Theoretische Untersuchung des Querwindverhaltens von Zweiseilumlaufbahnen,
Diplomarbeit, TU-Wien (unpublished).
[3] Schlaich, J., 1966, Beitrag zur Frage der Wirkung von Windstößen auf Bauwerken, Der Bauingenieur 41.
[4] Czitary, E., 1962, Seilschwebebahnen, 2. Auflage (Vienna: Springer).
[5] Parkus, H., 1966, Mechanik der festen Körper, 2. Auflage (Vienna: Springer).
[6] MSC Software, Adams1 software. Available online at: www.mscsoftware.com/products/adams.cfm
(accessed 15 June 2005).
[7] Hoffmann, K. and Liehl, R., 2003, Measuring System for Characterisation of the Interaction Between
Crosswind and Gondola Inclination of Ropeways, XVII IMEKO World Congress, Croatia.
[8] Hoffmann, J., 1998, MATLAB und SIMULINK (Bonn: Addison-Wesley).

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