CABLES


Cables are often used in engineering structures for
support and to transmit loads from one member to
another. When used to support suspension roofs, bridges, and
trolley wheels, cables form the main load carrying element in the
structure.

The weight of the cable itself maybe neglected in the

force analysis.
 CABLES

Due to its flexibility, the cable offers no resistance to shear
or bending and, therefore, the force acting in the cable is
always tangent to the cable at points along its length.
Being inextensible, the cable has a constant length both
before and after the load is applied. As a result, once the
load is applied, the geometry of the cable remains fixed, and the
cable or a segment of it can be treated as a rigid body.
 ANALYSIS OF CABLE
Assumptions

 Cable is flexible and in-extensible; hence does not resist any bending
moment or shear force (this is not always true - e.g., fatigue of cables); self
weight of cable neglected when external loads act on the cable
 Since only axial tensile forces are carried by the cable, the force in the cable is
tangential to the cable profile
 Since it is in-extensible, the length is always constant; as a consequence of the
cable profile not changing its length and form, it is assumed to be a rigid body
during analysis
 Even when a moving load is acting on the cable, the load is assumed to be
uniformly distributed over the cable (since the cable profile is not assumed to
change)
Cable Subjected to Concentrated Loads

When the weight of the cable
is neglected in analysis and is
subjected to only
concentrated loads, the cable
takes the form of several
straight line segments;
the shape is called as
funicular polygon.
 Problem 1

The cable segments
support the loading as
shown. Determine the
distance yc from the
force at C to point D.
Set P=4k.

Ans. 3.98ft
Problem 2

Determine the tension
in each segment of the
cable and the cables
total length. P=80lb

Ans. AC=74.7 lb
CD=43.7 lb
DB=78.2 lb
h=15.7 ft
 Problem 3

The cable supports the
three loads shown.
Determine the
magnitude of P1 if
P2=3KN and yB =0.8m.
Find also the sag yD

Ans. P1=6.58 KN, yD=0.644m

 Problem 4

Determine the force P
needed to hold the
cable in the position
shown, segment BC
remains horizontal,
compute also the sag
YB and maximum
tension in the cable.