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What is the equation for the tension on the ends of a cable suspended at different heights?

I'm looking for an equation to find the tension on the ends of a cable suspended between two poles (one higher than the other) with no load but
the cable itself.

I determined that the tension would be different on each end, that the shape of the suspended cable would be a catenary curve truncated at one
end, and that the following would be the variables necessary in the equation:

cable weight
cable length
vertical distance between ends
horizontal distance between ends

Some links that could be helpful:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/12736614/Sag-Tension-Calculation
http://mysite.du.edu/~jcalvert/math/catenary.htm

newtonian-mechanics statics variational-calculus

edited Sep 7 '14 at 6:38 asked Sep 6 '14 at 7:52

Web_Designer
107 1 5

Are you assuming a uniform mass distribution? – Danu Sep 6 '14 at 8:50

@Danu the mass of the cable is uniform for equal lengths of the cable, but because one end is suspended higher than
the other, I don't believe that vertical slices of the curve with the same width would necessarily have equal masses.
– Web_Designer Sep 6 '14 at 14:33

Related: physics.stackexchange.com/q/64240/2451 and links therein. – Qmechanic ♦ Sep 6 '14 at 20:11

@Web_Designer Your intuition on masses of slices is spot on. The neatest way to analyse this situation is with a free
body diagram of a finite (i.e. non-infinitessimal) length of cable as shown in my answer in the link
physics.stackexchange.com/q/64240/2451 : Skliv's answer to the same question gives an explicit formula.
– WetSavannaAnimal aka Rod Vance Sep 10 '14 at 13:10

3 Answers

Since the cable is not moving horizontally you know the horizontal component of tension is the
same at both ends. The total tension is the horizontal component divided by the cosine of the
angle. So the ratio is the tensions is the ratio of the cosines. Since you know the shape of the
curve you should be able to take it from here.

UPDATE

The general equation for a catenary (with lowest point at x=0) is

Where

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newtonian mechanics - What is the equation for the tension on the ends... http://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/134198/what-is-the-equati...

For a given horizontal distance and vertical displacement, we have to figure out the location of
the lowest point and the tension - two equations, two unknowns.

From wikipedia.org/wiki/Catenary#Determining_parameters:
Given , , and , then can be solved for numerically:

where
is the horizontal distance between ends, is the vertical distance between ends, is the
length of the cable, and is the y coordinate of the lowest point.

Next, we just need to find the position of the lowest point relative to the ends. To get the actual
locations of and (the horizontal distances from the lowest point to the the left and right
ends, respectively) you now have to solve
Za razmak hvatišta "h" mora
x1 je udaljenost tjemena lančanice od
vrijediti da je h=x2 - x1
hvatišta "1" a x2 je udaljenost tjemena
lančanice od hvatišta "2" . Naime,
tjeme lančanice je uvijek u x=0 ako greška h=x2-x1
koristimo jednadžbu lanačnice koja je
prikazana u ovom tekstu y=a*cosh(x/a)
Umjesto x1 uvršetno je
x1=x2-h
Solve (2) for then substitute into (1) to get

Finally, the ratio of tensions comes from the ratio of cosines of the angle at the point of
suspension:

We know the tangent at is given by

ovo je derivacija lančanice u

točki "x"

Combine with the trig identity

kad znamo tangens onda
izračunavamo cosinus jer
nam on treba za T=H/cos

You finally obtain

Izračun odnosa tangencijalnih

2 sila T2/T1 (za kontrolu)
1

edited Sep 10 '14 at 13:00 answered Sep 7 '14 at 0:12

Floris
85.9k 8 152 246

Actually, the curve is not skewed, but is in fact a symmetric curve that is truncated on one side.
You can find the information you need here.

If the slope of the chain is dy/dx = tan θ, then T cos θ = H and T sin θ = wx. At B, T sin θ =
ws.

T is the total tension, x is the distance from the lowest point to the desired point, w is the
weight per unit length, s is the horizontal distance to B, B is the suspension point, and H is the
horizontal tension.

edited Sep 6 '14 at 16:03 answered Sep 6 '14 at 14:37

LDC3
3,498 1 5 24

This doesn't give me the different tension values for the high and low end of the cable. The link looks informative,
though I don't understand it all. If you could elaborate, in greater detail, on the process, I would greatly appreciate it.
Thanks! – Web_Designer Sep 6 '14 at 19:06

Suppose that the distance to the right of the lowest point to the support (A) is 5 m and the distance to the left of the
lowest point to the support (B) is 3 m. Then on the right, it will be T(sin θ1) = 5w and on the left, it will be T(sin θ2) =
3w. θ1 is determined by the tangent at point A and θ2 is determined by the tangent at point B. – LDC3 Sep 6 '14 at
19:16

Well, classical mechanics is your friend. Before going on to catenary equations and stuff,
always draw some free-body diagrams :)

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newtonian mechanics - What is the equation for the tension on the ends... http://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/134198/what-is-the-equati...

There's your catenary and the forces that act upon it, right? If you had , tension on left end
would be ( is cable cross-section). Similarly you'd find .

So it's as simple as finding and . Use Newton's laws of motion in the static case:

Now, I don't remember a lot about catenaries (I should, though), but I think that with the
pairs of points of both ends and length of cable you should be able to find the cable
equation. You can derive it to find the angles at each end so that:

If I'm right, you won't even need to use the third Newton equation (equilibrium of moments).
But, if you do, you can find with the catenary equation (is it on the lowest point? I don't
know, but I read something along that line somewhere).

That should get you going. Good luck.

answered Sep 6 '14 at 21:58

André Neves
1,195 6 19

1 Note that the center of gravity will not be on the curve - it will be above it. But you don't need it... – Floris Sep 7 '14 at
23:45

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