CABLES STRUCTURES

BUILDING STRUCTURES-V
DAYANANDA SAGAR COLLEGE OF ARCHITECTURE
 INTRODUCTION

• The flexible suspension bridges, which were initially developed in China, India
and South America, is of great antiquity and marked a new leap towards
structural form for long span structures.
• While most of the early bridges used rope, often made from bamboo, there is
recorded evidence of bridges made with use of chains in China as early as first
century AD.
• Cable structures were also used in major buildings such as roman
amphitheatre which has a roof supported by rope.
EXAMPLES OF ANTIQUE CABLE
STRUCTURES
 INTRODUCTION
• The theoretical understanding of cable structures are rather recent.
• Fautso Veranzio was the first one to publish drawings of suspension bridges
in 1695.
• A major turning point in the evolution of cable structures occurred in early
part of nineteenth century in America, when James Findley developed a
suspension bridge capable of carrying vehicle traffic.
• Findley’s real invention was not the cable itself, however, but the
introduction of a stiffening bridge deck in which stiffening was achieved by
longitudinal truss made of wood
FINDLEY’S BRIDGE
CABLE WITH STIFFNED DECK
 GENERAL PRNCIPLES OF FUNICULAR
STRUCTURES

• A cable subjected to external load will deform in a way that is dependent on

the magnitude and location of external forces. The form acquired is often
called the funicular shape of cable.( Funicular is a Latin word for rope )
• Only tension forces develops inside cables.
• In the study of cables it is important to know what exact curve or series of
straight-line segment defines the funicular shape for the given loading.
CABLE CONFIGURATION FOR LOADS
CABLE FREE BODY DIAGRAM
CABLE REACTIONS DEVELOPED
CABLE REACTIONS DEVELOPED
CABLE REACTIONS DEVELOPED
 CABLE LENGTH & SAG CALCULATION
• Cable sag is generally kept as 1/3 or span for uniformly loaded cables.
• Cable length for an uniformly loaded cable with suspenders at same level
can be calculated as
• L = S ( 1 + 2.66() + 6.4 ()
• Where, L = length of cable in m
S = span of cable in m
h = sag of cable in m