CE 231/ES 033

CABLES
 Cables and fabric structures are deformable
structures.

Cables are mainly used to support suspension

roofs, bridges and cable car system.

INTRO
They are also used in electrical transmission lines
and for structures supporting radio antennas.

In the following sections, cables subjected to

concentrated load and cables subjected to
uniform loads are considered.
• Cable is a funicular structure. Funicular structure could be said to be
a structure which can achieve equilibrium state by adopting a mechanism of a
'right' form (shape/geometry) corresponding to the applied loads. This 'right' form is
referred to as the 'funicular' geometry.
• It is easy to visualize that a cable hung from two supports subjected to external load
must be in tension.
• A cable may be defined as the structure in pure tension having the funicular shape
of the load.
 Cable subjected to Concentrated Loads
▪Cables are flexible. They do not resist shear force and bending moment.
▪The forces are always acting tangential to the cable at any point along the length.
▪If the weight of the cable is negligible as compared with the externally applied loads then
its self weight is neglected in the analysis.
 GIVEN: Cable lengths L1, L2, L3, L4 and sag at
C, D, E (hc, hd, he) are known.
REQUIRED: four reaction components at A and
B, cable tensions in each of the four segments
and three sag values: a total of eleven unknown
quantities
SOLUTION: Write two force equilibrium
equations ( ∑Fx=0, ∑Fy=0 ) at each of the
point A,B,C,D and E i.e. a total of ten equations
The required one more equation may be written
from the geometry of the cable.
For example, if one of the sag is given then the
problem can be solved easily.
If the total length of the cable, L, is given then
the required equation may be written as:
L
Cable subjected to uniform load
Cables are used to support the dead weight and live loads of the
bridge decks having long spans.
The bridge decks are suspended from the cable using the hangers.
Cable subjected to uniform load
The stiffened deck prevents the supporting cable from changing its
shape by distributing the live load moving over it, for a longer length
of cable.
In such cases cable is assumed to be uniformly loaded.
ANALYSIS:
Let the slope of the cable be zero at
A.
As the cable is uniformly loaded, the
tension in the cable changes
continuously along the cable length.
Let the tension in the cable at m end
of the free body diagram be T and
tension at the n end of the cable be
(T+∆T). The slopes of the cable at m
and n are denoted by θ and θ+Δθ
respectively.
ANALYSIS:
Y = (wo /2 FH )x2
FH = (wo L2 ) / 2H Equation for finding the horizontal
reaction.
* Weight of cable is
Y = (h/ L2) x2 Equation for finding the sag neglected with the
Maximum tension in the cable at x=L: assumption that sag to span
Tmax = (FH2 + wo L2 )1/2 ratio is small. As such the
Or load due to the deck will be
Tmax = wo L (1+ (L/2H)2 uniformly distributed over
the horizontal projected
Where: length of the cable.
L = length of cable measure along the horizontal
wo = uniformly distributed load intensity
H = horizontal component of the force along the
cable
T = tension force of the cable
PROBLEM EXAMPLE
PROBLEM EXAMPLE

10
PROBLEM EXAMPLE
14To – 6To = 8To
 Y = (wo /2 FH )x2

FBD of an x-Length
Y = (wo /2 FH )x2
Y = (wo /2 FH )x2