CABLES

The cables as the permanent members of the load-bearing structures are used extensively in
modern engineering. Some examples of cabled structures are as follows:
1- Suspension bridges.
2- Anchoring systems of different objects such as guy-rope of the masts.
3- Sea drilling platforms.
4- Stadium covering.
5- Floating breakwaters,
Cables are made from high-strength steel wires twisted together, and present a flexible
system, which can resist only axial tension. The cables allow cover very large spans.
Therefore the own weight of a load-bearing structure becomes relatively small and the
effectiveness application of cables increases with the increasing of the spans. Modern
suspension bridges permit coverage of spans hundreds of meters in length.
When used to support suspension bridges and trolley wheels, cables form the main load
carrying element of the structure. In the force analysis of such systems, the weight of the
cable itself may be neglected because it is often small compared to the load it carries. On the
other hand, when cables are used as transmission lines and guys for radio antennas and
derricks, the cable weight may become important and must be included in the structural
analysis.
We will make the assumption that the cable is perfectly flexible and inextensible. 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.