Suspension Bridge
Isabelo B. Somontan Jr. Rhey Lloyd A. Boloron
BSEE Student, BISU BSEE Student, BISU
Tubigon, Bohol Dauis, Bohol
somontanisabelo18@gmail.com rheylloydboloron@gmail.com
Abstract- Exploring the significance of catenary
equation in constructing suspension bridges and
analyzing the physics and mathematical
calculations in this evolving era of construction
and engineering. A catenary, in mathematics, a
curve that describes the shape of a flexible
hanging chain or cable. Any freely hanging cable
or string assumes this shape, also called a
chainette, if the body is of uniform mass per unit
of length and is acted upon solely by gravity. A
suspension bridge is a type of bridge in which
the deck is hung below suspension cables on
vertical suspenders. The basic structural
components of a suspension bridge system
include stiffening girders/trusses, the main
suspension cables, main towers, and the
anchorages for the cables at each end of the
bridge. To explore derivation of catenary
equation, the researcher used differential
equation to understand its derivation and built a
suspension bridge prototype. Upon researching,
there researchers concluded that catenary
equation is significant in making bridges and not
only limited to bridges and can be also applied in
infrastructure. Hopefully, this research will help
understand the mathematical explanation of
catenary equation.
I. INTRODUCTION
In these evolving eras of modern-day
engineering, people innovate and create new
ideas as our economy grows. Economic growth
brought developments to civilization in terms of
construction and engineering, with this said
development, it created roads and bridges to
link different civilizations towards progress and
prosperity. With different infrastructure came
with different bridge designs, for example, A
catenary suspension bridge.
[1] A catenary is a cable or a chain
acting under its own weight, supported only at
its end points. This is different to the loaded
cables supporting a suspension bridge, which
take the form of a parabola. In mathematical
representation, the catenary uses a hyperbolic
cosine while the parabolas use a polyncular. In
architecture and engineering, catenaries are
used in bridge and arch design to avoid bending
Mark Darel B. Saligumba
BSEE Student, BISU
Tagbilaran City , Bohol
saligumbadarel@gmail.com
moments. They are also regarded as the ideal
shape for an arch that is free-standing and of
constant thickness. The English physicist and
polymath Robert Hooke was the first to study
the mathematical properties of catenary curves
in the 1670s.
In line with the application of catenary
equation, suspension bridges are built using the
catenary equation in order to create a support
using cables in catenary form. [2] The cable
curve is an important part of suspension bridge.
The load on the main cable consists of two
parts. One part is the load distributed along the
cable curve, including the cable gravity, winding
and coating weight, etc. The other part is
through the concentrated force of cable clip
transmission, including the weight of cable
clamp and the weight of suspender cable and
the weight of stiffening girders and bridge deck,
etc.
II. SUSPENSION BRIDGES
Suspension bridge refers to a bridge with a
cable suspended and anchored on both sides
as the main load bearing member of the
superstructure. The cable geometry is
determined by the balance condition of the
force and is generally close to parabola.
Suspension Bridges are mainly composed
of cables, bridge towers, anchors, stiffening
girders and suspenders [3]. The main load-
bearing component of suspension bridge is
suspension cable. It mainly bears tensile force.
It is usually made of steel with high tensile
strength (steel wire, steel cable, etc.). Because
the suspension bridge can make full use of the
strength of material and has the characteristics
of saving material and light weight, the span
capacity of suspension bridge in various system
bridges is maximum, and the span can reach
more than 1000 meters. The largest span
bridge in the world today is the Akashi-Kaikyo
Bridge in Japan, with a main span of 1,991
meters [4]. The main drawback of suspension
Bridges is that they have less rigidity and are
 prone to large deformation and vibration under words, the slope 𝑦 ′ of the curve at x satisfies the
load. equation

Suspension bridge is one of the main forms µ𝑠 µ 𝑥

𝑦 ′ (𝑥 ) = = ∫ √1 + (𝑦 ′ (𝑡 )) 2 dt
of the long-span bridge. At present, most of the ℎ ℎ 0
bridges with span of more than 1000 meters in
the world are suspension bridges. If the carbon which can be written as a second order
fiber material with light weight and strong µ
strength is used as the main cable, its ultimate differential equation ,where 𝑎 =
ℎ
span can be more than 8000 meters in theory.

In this paper, the researchers studied the 𝑦 ′′ = 𝑎√1 + (𝑦 ′ )2 (Eq. 1)

equation of catenary. A miniature bridge was
built to illustrate the catenary equation in
suspension bridge. A sample figure of
suspension bridge is shown below:
with initial conditions y (0) = 0 and 𝑦 ′ (0) = 0,
where α = µ/h > 0.
Solving the differential equation. A possible way
to solve (1) is to rewrite it as a second order
linear differential equation that can be solved
without previous knowledge of the hyperbolic
cosine. We square both sides of (1)
2

2 2
√ ′
Figure 1. Simple Suspension Bridge Sketch 𝑦′′ = (𝑎)2 1 + (𝑦 )
Retrieved from https://www.instructables.com/Simple-
Suspension-Bridge-Model/ ( )
III. SYSTEM MODEL 2
𝑦 ′′ = (𝑎)2 (1 + (𝑦 ′ )2 )
Equation of Catenary
2 2
𝑐
The catenary 𝑦 = 1 + 𝑎 cosh(𝑎𝑥)was 𝑦 ′′ = (𝑎)2 + (𝑎)2 𝑦 ′
originally obtained by describing the curve
formed by a uniform flexible chain hanging
under the influence of gravity. For convenience
we assume the endpoints of the chain to be at and differentiate with respect to x
the same height and choose our coordinate
system in such a way that the origin is the 𝑑 ′′ 2 𝑑
lowest point of the curve. As a curve resulting 𝑦 = [(𝑎 )2 + (𝑎)2 𝑦 ′ 2 ]
𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑥
from the influence of physical forces, the
catenary is the solution of a differential
equation. There are three forces acting on each
point (x, y) of the chain (Figure 1): a tangential
tension T, a horizontal pull H at the origin, and 2𝑦 ′′ 𝑦 ′′′ = 0 + α2 2𝑦 ′ 𝑦 ′′
the weight W whose magnitude w is
proportional to the length s of the chain between
the origin and the point (x, y).
to obtain
2𝑦 ′′ 𝑦 ′′′ = 2α2 𝑦 ′𝑦 ′′
From (1) we conclude that 𝑦 ′′ (0) = 𝑎 and 𝑦 ′′ >
0 for every x. Then, dividing both sides by 2y
00 and letting z = 𝑦 ′ , we arrive at the equation
Figure 2. The Catenary

Since the sum of these forces must be zero, the 𝑧 ′′ = 𝑎2 𝑧, z(0) = 0 , 𝑧 ′ (0) = 𝑎
slope of the tangential force is given by w/h = (Eq. 2)
(µs)/h, where µ is the weight density and h is
the magnitude of the horizontal force H. In other
which has the unique solution REFERENCES
[1] Catenary (December 2020) Retrieved from
𝑒 𝑎𝑥 −𝑒 −𝑎𝑥 Designing Building Wiki :
𝑧= . https://www.designingbuildings.co.uk/wiki/cate
2 nary
Thus, the solution of (1) must be of the form
[2] Guojun Liu and Yansong Wang (2018)
𝑒 𝑎𝑥 −𝑒 −𝑎𝑥 Study on the Calculation Theory of the Cable
𝑦 = +𝐶. Curve for Suspension Bridge (IOP Conf. Ser.:
2𝑎 Mater. Sci. Eng. 394 0320920
Finally, the condition y (0) = 0 leads to the
solution
[3] Liu Qinglin, Liang Renhong. Development
and Prospect of suspension bridges [J]. traffic
1 1 world (transportation, vehicles), 2015 (05): 98-
𝑦 = − + cosh(𝑎𝑥) 100+103
𝑎 𝑎
[4] Deng Wenzhong. Debate on the world
IV. RESULT AND DISCUSSION record of bridge span. [J]. highway, 2009 (05):
19-23.

[5] Juan B. Gil (2005) The catenary (almost)

everywhere , Bolet´ın de la Asociaci´on
Matem´atica Venezolana, Vol. XII, No. 2 (2005)
p. 251-253

Figure 3. Hyperbolic cosine function

Although α seems to depend on µ, the

shape of the catenary is independent of the
weight density. In fact, α is uniquely determined
by the endpoints and length of the curve: If b is
the x-coordinate of the right endpoint, then the
2
length of the curve is exactly 𝐿 = α sinh(𝑎𝑏)
which happens to be injective as a function of α
> 0.s Thus, the catenary is described by the
hyperbolic cosine function.

V. CONCLUSION

Reviewing the simple design of suspension

bridges in Figure 1, the design was simulated
by making a miniature prototype of the bridge.
Through making the prototype, it actually
affirms the importance of catenary equation in
making a well-designed suspension bridge.

Hence, the catenary equation is a cardinal

factor in constructing suspension bridges, it is
not only limited to bridges but it also used in
constructing other infrastructures like catenary
arches and the likes. In conclusion, catenary is
arounds with people in nature, engineering and
construction, and others. Humanity are
surrounded by mathematical equation and
calculations; people just don’t realize it.