XVIII GIMC Conference

Siracusa, 2224 September 2010

ON THE FORCE DENSITY METHOD FOR SLACK CABLE NETS
L. Greco
1
, B. O. Fazio
1
, M. Cuomo
2
1
Universit a degli Studi di Catania, viale A. Doria 6
e-mail: leopoldo.greco@virgilio.it
2
Univertsit a degli Studi di Catania, viale A. Doria 6
e-mail: mcuomo@dica.unict.it
Keywords: Cable nets, force density method, slack cable.
Abstract. The design of cable nets and light tenso-structures requires a non conventional me-
chanical analysis, due either to the non various sources of non linearity (large displacements,
unilateral behaviour of the cables, non conservative loads). and to the fact that the cable do
not have a reference conguration (a cable is associated to innite reference congurations).
As a consequence, the rst problem that the engineer has to face is to determine the initial state
of the structure under its own weight compatible with a set of xed supports (the so called zero
state). This problem is known as form nding.
The paper examines the Force Density Method for form nding, proposing a generalization
that uses the exact expressions of the equilibrium derived from the equation of the catenary.
The method allows to obtain an exact conguration that may be used as a starling point for
subsequent incremental non linear analyses.
In the paper it is shown that the use of the exact equilibrium conditions leads to a form
nding method that is very similar to the FDM, but yields signicant differences in the initial
form when the weight of the cables is not negligible. Furthermore, the newly introduced force
density parameter is dimensionless, and has a clear physical meaning.
1 INTRODUCTION
Cable nets are employed for large roofs either as bearing structures (e.g. cable trusses) or as
support of the fabric that constitutes the tenso-structures. In many cases the design process of
light roofs starts with the project of a large cable net, then the inner cables are substituted by
equivalent membranes. The subject bears therefore a signicant engineering relevance.
From a mechanical point of view, the design of cable nets and of tenso-structures, requires
several non conventional analyses. First of all, large displacements, unilateral behaviour of
the cables, non conservative loads must be considered. Furthermore, for the cable element its
self many of the usual assumptions made for conventional element fail (due to the fact that a
cable is associated to innite reference congurations). As a consequence, the rst problem that
the engineer has to face is to determine the initial state of the structure under its own weight
compatible with a set of xed supports (the so called zero state). This problem is known as form
nding, and it holds either for cable-nets and tenso-structures. Different kinds of approaches
1
L. Greco, B. O. Fazio and M. Cuomo
for approximated form nding exist in literature, the most used methods being the dynamical
relaxation, the minimal surface method and the force density method (FDM).
In the dynamic relaxation method, starting from an arbitrary non equilibrated conguration
the initial form is sought by means of a series of dynamical perturbations, see [1] and [2].
The minimal surfaces are equilibrated surfaces having an uniform isotropic positive membrane
stress distribution, This method wasproposed by Bletzinger ([3]), who proved the existence
of minimalsurfaces under assigned boundary conditions. The obvious advantage of having an
uniform stress state in the membrane is however counterbalanced by the fact that in this type
of forms are usually found very at surfaces with extremely high curvatures in the proximity
of the supports. These kinds of forms are subjected to dynamic instabilities due to aero-elastic
effects.
The FDM searches for an initial equilibrated solution using the coordinates of the nodes as
unknowns, assigning a-priori the thrust in the cables. In its original version to each cable is
assigned a ratio, called force density, between the normal force acting in an equivalent truss
element and the length of this element itself. Usually in order to obtain reasonable forms,
the force densities are assigned constant everywhere except for the boundary cables. Once
an equilibrated conguration has been obtained, it is necessary to perform a fully non linear
analysis for subsequent loads that may act on the roofs, as wind and snow loads. In most of the
available computer codes, in the case of complex cable nets, the single element is modeled by a
non linear truss, especially in the case that the trust is high.
In the paper it is presented an enhancement of the FDM, that is particularly useful when
slack cables or very heavy elements are present. In this case, indeed, the initial conguration
determined with the equivalent truss element can be very far from the effective catenary con-
guration. This goal is reached using the exact equilibrium equations of the heavy cable. It
is shown that the use of the exact equilibrium condtions leads to a form nding method that is
very similar to the FDM, although it requires the solution of a non linear system of equations.
The usefulness of such a method relies also on the fact that the initial solution found in this
way, being an exactly equilibrated one, is a good starting point for the subsequent non linear
incremental analysis of the structure under variable loads, this reducing the computational cost.
The main idea of the paper is to introduce corrections on the FDM using the exact expressions
of the vertical shear and of the length of the cable. It is shown that the proposed method
yields signicant differences in the initial form when the weight of the cables is not negligible.
Furthermore, the newly introduced force density parameter is dimensionless, and has a clear
physical meaning.
In the paper it is also presented a non linear incremental analysis of the cable net, based on
the exact catenary element. The details of this formulation, however, are left for a forthcoming
paper.
2 EQUILIBRIUM EQUATIONS FOR CABLE ELEMENTS
2.1 Variational principle of a cable element
Let p = p(s) be the parametric conguration of the cable at a generic instant, with s the
arc-length. The tangent space T
p
B
t
at point p is generated by the unitary triad constituted by the
tangent vector

t :=
s
p, the unit normal n :=

s

t
and the unit bi-nomal vector

b :=

t n.
We denote with the resultant of the component along

t of the stress vectors associated to

t,
dened by :=

t. Indicating with L the current length of cable for any virtual displacement v
2
L. Greco, B. O. Fazio and M. Cuomo
the principle of virtual work is given by
_
L
0

s
(v) ds =
_
L
0
q v ds + F
0
v
0
+ F
L
v
L
(1)
integrating the rst term of (1) we have
[ v]
L
0

_
L
0

s
() v ds =
_
L
0
q v ds + F
0
v
0
+ F
L
v
L
. (2)
The eld equations in [0, L] are

s
() = q (3)
and the boundary conditions are
(0) = F
0
or v(0) = v
0
(L) = F
L
or v(L) = v
L
.
(4)
From the last condition the boundary forces must be tangent to the conguration of the cable.
2.2 Intrinsic representation of the equilibrium equations
Let v T
p
B
t
be a generic tangent vector, v = (v

t)

t +(v n) n+(v

b)

b. The intrinsic line

gradient of v is indicated by grad

(v ) and is dened by
grad

(v ) =
s
(v)

t
= (
s
v

t)

t + (
s
v n) n

t + (
s
v

b)

t.
(5)
Projecting the equilibrium equation (3) in the intrinsic tangent space we have

t = q

t = q

t
,
s
n = q n = q
n
,
s

b = q

b = q

b
. (6)
Using Frenets formula and considering that =

t the component of grad

() are

t =
s
,
s
n = ,
s

b = 0, (7)
where =
s

t is the curvature of the funicular curve.

Finally the intrinsic representation of the equilibrium equations (3) are

s
(s) = q

t
(s)
(s)(s) = q
n
(s)
q

b
(s) = 0,
(8)
with the boundary conditions
(0) = F
0
or v(0) = v
0
(L) = F
L
or v(L) = v
L
.
(9)
3
L. Greco, B. O. Fazio and M. Cuomo
2.3 Cartesian representation of the equilibrium equations
Projecting the equilibrium equations (3) on the Euclidean spatial frame we obtain, (noting
that
s
e
i
=
s
( e
i
) i = 1, 2, 3.)

s
(

t e
x
) = q e
x
,
s
(

t e
y
) = q e
y
,
s
(

t e
z
) = q e
z
, (10)
and remembering the denition of the tangent vector

t =
s
xe
x
+
s
ye
y
+
s
ze
z
we obtain

s
_
(s)
x
s
(s)
_
= q
x
(s),

s
_
(s)
y
s
(s)
_
= q
y
(s),

s
_
(s)
z
s
(s)
_
= q
z
(s).
(11)
The projection of the internal traction stress resultant along the cartesian directions are usually
called thrust and shear
H(s) = (s)e
x
= (s)
x
s
(s), K(s) = (s)e
y
= (s)
y
s
(s), V(s) = (s)e
z
= (s)
z
s
(s).
(12)
Using the denitions (12) the cartesian equilibrium equations (11) assume the compact form

s
H(s) = q
x
(s),
s
K(s) = q
y
(s),
s
V(s) = q
z
(s). (13)
By a rst integration along s we have
H(s) = H
0

_
s
0
q
x
(s)ds, K(s) = K
0

_
s
0
q
y
(s)ds, V(s) = V
0

_
s
0
q
z
(s)ds, (14)
where we have indicated H
0
= H(0), V
0
= V(0), K
0
= K(0). A new integration along s yelds
the parametric representation of the funicular conguration
x(s) =
_
s
0
H
0

_
s
0
q
x
(s)ds
(s)
ds + x(0), y(s) =
_
s
0
K
0

_
s
0
q
y
(s)ds
(s)
ds + y(0),
z(s) =
_
s
0
V
0

_
s
0
q
z
(s)ds
(s)
ds + z(0),
(15)
where the resultant stress traction is dened by
(s) =

_
H
0

_
s
0
q
x
ds
_
2
+
_
K
0

_
s
0
q
y
ds
_
2
+
_
V
0

_
s
0
q
z
ds
_
2
. (16)
3 FORMULATION OF ELASTIC CATENARY ELEMENT
In this section it is shown the particularization of the equilibrium equation to the case of
an elastic catenary obeying Hookes law, suspended at its ends and subjected only to its own
weight. A discussion on a wide variety of elastic catenaries can be found in [4], [5], [6] and [7].
3.1 Assumptions
The limitations of the present formulation are:
1. Small deformation only are considered (but large displacements).
2. Linear-elastic constitutive behavior only is considered ( = EA
0
).
3. Only self-weight acts on the cable, and it is assumed conservation of mass of the cable
element during the deformation process, i.e. the value of the weight per unit-length varies in
agreement with the mass conservation (associated catenary model [6] is considered).
4. Bending stiffness is neglected.
5. Only the distributed vertical load (along the z direction) due to self weight is considered,
so that the geometry of the conguration of the cable is plane.
4
L. Greco, B. O. Fazio and M. Cuomo
3.2 Equations of the elastic cable element
A total Lagrangian approach is used. As reference conguration we adopt the inextensible
catenary conguration of the cable and denote with s
0
[0, L
0
] the arc-length coordinate, with
L
0
the length of the non-deformed cable.
Since we consider that the only external action is the self weight q
s
, along the z-direction,
we have from equations (14)
H(s) = H
0
, K(s) = K
0
,
s
V(s) = q
z
(s). (17)
Equation (13) reduces to
(s)
x
s
(s) = H
0
, (s)
y
s
(s) = K
0
,

s
_
(s)
z
s
_
= q
z
(s), (18)
with
(s
0
) =

H
2
0
+K
2
0
+
_
V
0

_
s
0
0
q
z
ds
ds
0
ds
0
_
2
=

H
2
0
+K
2
0
+
_
V
0

W
L
0
s
0
_
2
=

_
1 +
_
V
0

W
L
0
s
0

_
2
,
(19)
where =
_
H
2
0
+K
2
0
and W is the total weight of the cable, that in virtue of the mass
conservation can be represented W =
_
L
0
q
z
ds =
_
L
0
0
q
z
ds
ds
0
ds
0
=
_
L
0
0
q
z,0
ds
0
. Integrating the
preceding equations on the Lagrangian conguration we have
x(s
0
) =
_
s
0
0
H
0
(s
0
)
ds
ds
0
ds
0
+ x
0
y(s
0
) =
_
s
0
0
K
0
(s
0
)
ds
ds
0
ds
0
+ y
0
z(s
0
) =
_
s
0
0
V
0

W
L
0
s
0
(s
0
)
ds
ds
0
ds
0
+ z
0
.
(20)
Considering that = (
ds
ds
0
1) and assuming a linear constitutive relation = EA
0
_
ds
ds
0
1
_
we have
ds
ds
0
=

EA
0
+ 1, then the previous equations become
x(s
0
) = H
0
_
s
0
0
_
1
EA
0
+
1
(s
0
)
_
ds
0
+ x
0
y(s
0
) = K
0
_
s
0
0
_
1
EA
0
+
1
(s
0
)
_
ds
0
+ y
0
z(s
0
) =
_
s
0
0
V
0

W
L
0
s
0
(s
0
)
_
(s
0
)
EA
0
+ 1
_
ds
0
+ z
0
(21)
and integrating we have
x(s
0
) x
0
=
H
0
s
0
EA
0
+
H
0
L
0
W
_
Sinh
1
_
V
0

_
Sinh
1
_
V
0

W
L
0
s
0

__
(22)
5
L. Greco, B. O. Fazio and M. Cuomo
y(s
0
) y
0
=
K
0
s
0
EA
0
+
K
0
L
0
W
_
Sinh
1
_
V
0

_
Sinh
1
_
V
0

W
L
0
s
0

__
(23)
and
z(s
0
) z
0
=
s
0
EA
0
_
V
0

1
2
W
L
0
s
0
_
+
+
L
0
W
_

_
V
0

_
2
+ 1

_
_
V
0

W
L
0
s
0

_
2
+ 1
_

_
.
(24)
The components of the vector joining the ends of the elastic catenary element are described by
equations (22),(23) and (24), which are summarised as
(P P
0
) e
x
= l
x
= x(L
0
) x
0
= f
x
(H
0
, K
0
, V
0
, L
0
)
(P P
0
) e
y
= l
y
= y(L
0
) y
0
= f
y
(H
0
, K
0
, V
0
, L
0
)
(P P
0
) e
z
= h = z(L
0
) z
0
= g(H
0
, K
0
, V
0
, L
0
).
(25)

Figure 1: The catenary on the plane z-.
The total length of the deformed catenary is given by the sum of the undeformed length L
0
and the total elongation L
L(, V
0
, L
0
) = L
0
+ L(, V
0
, L
0
) = L
0
+
_
L
0
0
_

EA
0
_
ds
0
. (26)
Using the relation (19) and integrating we obtain the expression for the global elongation of the
cable
L(, V
0
, L
0
) =
1
2EAq
z
_
V
0
_

2
+V
2
0
(V
0
q
z
L
0
)
_

2
+ (V
0
q
z
L
0
)
2
+
+
2
Log
_
V
0
+
_

2
+V
2
0
(V
0
q
z
L
0
) +
_

2
+ (V
0
q
z
L
0
)
2
__
.
(27)
6
L. Greco, B. O. Fazio and M. Cuomo
The global elongation can be also represents by expression
L(, V
0
, L
0
) =
1
2EAq
z
_
V
0
_
V
2
0
+
2
(V
0
q
z
L
0
)
_
(V
0
q
z
L
0
)
2
+
2
+
+
2
ArcSinh
_
V
0

2
ArcSinh
_
V
0
q
z
L
0

__
.
(28)
In the case of non extensible cable in the equations (20) the ratio
ds
ds
0
= 1 so that the parametric
equations of the undeformable catenary element are obtained for equations (22), (23) and (24)
in the limit EA
0

x(s
0
) x
0
=
H
0
L
0
W
_
Sinh
1
_
V
0

_
Sinh
1
_
V
0

W
L
0
s
0

__
(29)
y(s
0
) y
0
=
K
0
L
0
W
_
Sinh
1
_
V
0

_
Sinh
1
_
V
0

W
L
0
s
0

__
(30)
and
z(s
0
) z
0
=
L
0
W
_

_
V
0

_
2
+ 1

_
_
V
0

W
L
0
s
0

_
2
+ 1
_

_
. (31)
4 FORMULATION OF A SLACK CABLE ELEMENT
Squaring and adding the rst two of the catenary equilibrium relations (18), we have
d
ds
=

=
_
H
2
0
+ K
2
0

,
dV
ds
= q
z
(32)
where ds =

d
2
+ dz
2
, with d =
_
dx
2
+ dy
2
, manipulating we have
ds
d
=

1 +
_
dz
d
_
2
, =

_
1 +
_
dz
d
_
2
. (33)
Similarly
dV
d
= q
z
_
1 +
_
dz
d
_
2
and remembering the denition of V =
dz
d
d
ds
, nally we have
d
d
_
_
dz
d

_
1 +
_
dz
d
_
2
_
_
= q
z

1 +
_
dz
d
_
2
(34)
using equation (33) nally, considering that is constant, we have an alternative cartesian
representation of the equilibrium equation along the z direction

d
2
z
d
2
= q
z

1 +
_
dz
d
_
2
(35)
with [0, l], with l =
_
l
2
x
+ l
2
y
. Letting
dz
d
= f() the previous equation assumes the form
df
d
=
q
z

_
1 + f()
2
that has the solution
dz
d
= Sinh
_
q
z

c
1
_
(36)
7
L. Greco, B. O. Fazio and M. Cuomo
and observing that
dz
d
=
V

V() = Sinh
_
q
z

c
1
_
(37)
so it is found that
V
0
= Sinh[c
1
]. (38)
Integrating equation (36) we obtain the cartesian representation of the catenary
z() =

q
z
Cosh
_
q
z

c
1
_
+ c
2
(39)
with boundary conditions, for = 0 and for = l
z
0
=

q
z
Cosh [c
1
] + c
2
or V(0) =
dz
d

=0
= V
0
z(l) =

q
z
Cosh
_
q
z
l

c
1
_
+ c
2
or V(l) =
dz
d

=l
= V
L
.
(40)
In the case of xed supports, subtracting the rst to the second equation we have
z(l) z
0
=

q
z
_
Cosh
_
q
z
l

c
1
_
Cosh [c
1
]
_
= l
_
2
q
z
l
_
Sinh
_
c
1

q
z
l
2
_
Sinh
_
q
z
l
2
_
=
l

Sinh [c
1
] Sinh[]
(41)
where =
q
z
l
2
. From the last relation it is possible to obtain the constants c
1
and c
2
c
1
= Sinh
1
_

Sinh []
z(L
0
) z
0
l
_
+ . (42)
and
c
2
= z
0
+
l
2
_
_
Cosh[]

1 +
_

Sinh[]
h
l
_
2
+
h
l
_
_
. (43)
Note that, since > 0, for any value of , h and l, c
1
is a positive constant. Therefore the
equation of the catenary is
z() = z
0
+
1
q
z
_
2Sinh
_

l
_
Sinh
_

_
1

l
_
+ ArcSinh
_
h
l
Csch[]
___
. (44)
From the equation (38) we have after simplifying
V
0
=
q
z
L
0
2
+
q
z
h
2
Cosh[]
Sinh[]
(45)
and the shear at the second extremity is given by
V(L
0
) =
q
z
L
0
2
+
q
z
h
2
Cosh[]
Sinsh[]
(46)
8
L. Greco, B. O. Fazio and M. Cuomo
Similar relations can be founded in [4], [5] and [6]. The length of the catenary, (for deformable
and undeformable case), is given by the relation L =
_
l
0
_
1 +
_
dz
d
_
2
d, where l is the horizon-
tal span of catenary. Remembering the representation of
dz
d
=
V()

= Sinh[
q
z

c
1
] and the
expression of the constant c
1
, integrating and manipulating the expressions we have
L
2
=
l
2

2
Sinh
2
[] + h
2
. (47)
The general relation for the length of the catenary is
(L
0
+ L)
2
=
l
2

2
Sinh
2
[] + h
2
(48)
in the case of the undeformable case L = 0 then we have
L
2
0
=
l
2

2
Sinh
2
[] + h
2
. (49)
4.1 Approximated parabolic element
The expressions (44), (45) and (46) are useful for obtaining approximated forms of the rel-
evant parameters of the cable. These expressions of the catenary depend on the parameter
=
q
z
l
2
, the ratio between the weight of the cale and the horizontal thrust. Then in the limit as
0 we can expand expression (44) in Taylor series at rst order in
lin[z()] = z
0
+ d

(z())
= z
0
+ h

l
+

l
2
+ h
2
_
1

l
_

l
(50)
analogously for the expression (37) of the shear, expanding it at the rst order in
lin[V()] = V()|
=0
+ d

V()
=
h
l
+

l
2
+ h
2
l

_
1 2

l
_

(51)
The shears at the ends of the cable are then given by
lin[V
0
] =
h
l
+

l
2
+ h
2
l
=
h
l
+
q
z

l
2
+ h
2
2
(52)
lin[V
0
] =
h
l

l
2
+ h
2
l
=
h
l

q
z

l
2
+ h
2
2
(53)
OBSERVATION The same results (50)-(53) can be obtained linearizing the catenary equa-
tion (35) for small sagging of the cable, in which case we have:

d
2
z
d
2
=
q
z

_
l
2
+ h
2
l
2
=
q
z

k
l
= 2
k
l
2
(54)
the solution of which can be expressed in the parametric forms
x() =
H
0

+ x
0
, y() =
K
0

+ y
0
, z() = k
_

l
_
2
+ (h + k)

l
+ z
0
. (55)
9
L. Greco, B. O. Fazio and M. Cuomo
In this work we have also used a second order approximated parabolic model in which for
the length of the parabola, in place of equation (47) the current length of the parabola itself is
used, given by
L =
_
l
0

1 +
_
dz
d
_
2
d (56)
in which z() is given by the expression (55). Performing the integral the length assumes the
form
L
0
=
l
4k
_
_
l
2
+ (h k)
2
l
2
(k h) +
_
l
2
+ (h + k)
2
l
2
(k + h) +
+l Arcsinh
_
h + k
l
_
l Arcsinh
_
h k
l
__
(57)
In this approximation the shear components at the ends are given by
V
0
=
q
z
L
0
2
+
h
l
, V(L
0
) =
q
z
L
0
2
+
h
l
. (58)
In the case of a deformable parabolic element the length becomes
L = L
0
+ L, L =
1
EA
_
L
0
0
_

2
+ (V
0
q
z
s
0
)
2
ds
0
(59)
4.2 The straight cable element
If q
z
0, i.e. light cable net, the equilibrium equation becomes
d
2
z
d
2
0, z() =
h
l
+ z
0
, V
0
= V(l) =
h
l
. (60)
4.3 The straight cable element
If q
z
0, i.e. light cable net, the equilibrium equation becomes
d
2
z
d
2
0, z() =
h
l
+ z
0
, V
0
= V(l) =
h
l
. (61)
5 THE FORCE DENSITY METHOD
The force density method was developed by by Schek [8] and successively developed in the
case of constrained force density method. In the standard force density method the cables are
assumed straight, adopting approximation (61). In this work we generalize this condition and
consider a force density method for cable nets with slack cables. The solution sought in this
way is an exact one, so it can be used as starting point of an incremental analysis.
Let i be the generic free node of the net, identied by the (unknown) position vector P
i
. Let
r be the number of cable elements attached to the i-th node and, as done previously, indicate by
k
j
= P
i
P
j
the length of the segment joining the element ends.
The forces acting at the ith extremity of the cable have the components H, K, V. Recalling
that = H
0
e
x
+ K
0
e
y
, and using the expressions for the shear found previously (equations
10
L. Greco, B. O. Fazio and M. Cuomo
(61), (52), (45) for the straight cable approximation, parabolic approximation, exact catenary
respectively), the cartesian projection of the equilibrium equations are
r

j=1

j
x
i
x
j
l
j
= p
x,i
r

j=1

j
y
i
y
j
l
j
= p
y,i
r

j=1

c
(q
z
L
0
)
j
2
+f
j

z
i
z
j
l
j
. .
V
0
j
= p
z,i
.
(62)
where the traction force f
j
is given for the truss, parabolic and catenary elements, respectively,
by
f
j,t
=
j
, f
j,p
=
j
, f
j,c
=
j

Cosh[]
Sinh[]
(63)
and in the truss approximation the self weight is omitted (
c
= 0 for the truss,
c
= 1 otherwise).
In equations (62) there appear two force density quantities, the ratio Q

=

l
and the ratio
Q
V
=
f
l
, where
Q
V,t
=

l
, Q
V,p
=

l
, Q
V,c
=

l

Cosh[]
Sinh[]
(64)
In this way we get three versions of the FDM. The truss approximation is the standard FDM
in which the length L
0
= k =

l
2
+ h
2
, and the self weight is neglected. In the case of
small but nite self weight, we obtain the (P-FDM) parabolic form of the force density method
in which the length L
0
can assume any of the forms (56) or (57). In these two force density
methods appears only one kind of force density. Finally we call the more general case, the
catenary force density method (C-FDM), in which case we have two kinds of force densities,
the horizontal force density Q

and the vertical force density Q

V
.
The equilibrium equations in terms of force densities are
r

j=1
Q

j
(x
i
x
j
) = p
x,i
r

j=1
Q

j
(y
i
y
j
) = p
y,i
r

j=1

(q
z
L
0
)
j
2
+ Q
V
j
(z
i
z
j
) = p
z,i
.
(65)
5.1 Strategy of solution
In this section it is dscribed a strategy for form nding of catenary slack cable nets. To this
aim we start examining a standard linear force densities methods (FDM).
The standard linear FDM In the linear FDM we assign the force densities Q

j
=

j
l
j
and
11
L. Greco, B. O. Fazio and M. Cuomo
let q
z
j
= 0 everywhere; in this manner the equations (65) reduce to a set of linear equations
r

j=1
Q

j
(x
i
x
j
) = p
x,i
r

j=1
Q

j
(y
i
y
j
) = p
y,i
r

j=1
Q

j
(z
i
z
j
) = p
z,i
.
(66)
Solving the equations (66) we obtain for each free node j an initial position {x
0
, y
0
, z
0
}
LFDM
j
,
from which is possible to dene the linear length L
LFDM
0
of each cables. An usual strategy
adopted is to choose Q

j
constant everywhere except in the boundary cables, where it is chosen
one order of magnitude larger.
The nonlinear standard FDM The previous solution is used to initialize the non linear force
density method (nlFDM) dened by the equations
r

j=1

j
l
j
(x
i
x
j
) = p
x,i
r

j=1

j
l
j
(y
i
y
j
) = p
y,i
r

j=1

q
z
j
L
0
j
2
+

j
l
j
(z
i
z
j
) = p
z,i
.
(67)
where the lengths are dened only by relative positions of the free nodes by means of the
relations
L
0
j
=
_
l
2
j
+ h
2
j
, l
2
j
=
_
l
2
x
j
+ l
2
y
j
(68)
with auxiliary conditions on the force densities
Q

j
=

j
l
j
(69)
We have 3j+n equations in 3j+n variables, the 3j equilibrium equations, with the n conditions
on the force densities Q

j
, in the 3j independent variables {x, y, z}
j
and the n independent
variables
j
. We adopt a Newton-Raphson strategy to solve these equations, in which the initial
solution is represented by the LFDM-solution. The solution of the nlFDM is represented by the
set of values {x, y, x}
nlFDM
j
and
nlFDM
j
, while the lengths L
nlFDM
0
j
are successively dened.
This solution represent the initializing solution of the non linear parabolic FDM.
The (non linear) parabolic FDM The parabolic force density method is dened by the
equilibrium equations (67) in which the length of the element coincides with the length of the
12
L. Greco, B. O. Fazio and M. Cuomo
parabola (57) then we have the equilibrium equations
r

j=1

j
l
j
(x
i
x
j
) = p
x,i
r

j=1

j
l
j
(y
i
y
j
) = p
y,i
r

j=1

q
z
j
L
0
j
2
+

j
l
j
(z
i
z
j
) = p
z,i
.
(70)
the auxiliary equations on the length (here written in an alternative form to (57))
L
0
j
=
_
4l
2

2
+ (lq
z
L
0
2h)
2
8q
z
L
0
_
q
z
L
0

2
h
l
_
+
+
_
4l
2

2
+ (lq
z
L
0
+ 2h)
2
8q
z
L
0
_
L
0
q
z

+ 2
h
l
_
+

l
2q
z
L
0
_
Sinh
1
_
h
l

q
z
L
0
2
_
Sinh
1
_
h
l
+
q
z
L
0
2
__
.
(71)
and the expressions of the force densities
Q

j
=

j
l
j
(72)
We have 3j + 2n equations in 3j + 2n variables, the 3j equilibrium equations, with the n
conditions on the force densities Q

j
and n conditions on the length L
0
j
, in the 3j independent
variables {x, y, z}
j
and the n independent variables
j
and n variables L
0
j
. We adopt a Newton-
Raphson strategy to resolve these equations, in which the initial solution is represented by the
nlFDM-solution. The solution of the P-FDM is represented by the set of values {x, y, x}
PFDM
j
with
PFDM
j
and the length L
PFDM
0
j
. This solution represents the initializing guess of the
non linear catenary FDM.
The (non linear) catenary FDM In the standard version of the FDM as well as in the P-
FDM the relevant variable is the force density Q

that, however, is not a dimensionless quantity,

therefore its numerical value depends on the units adopted, and this leads to different results in
the case the self weight is considered, as in the nlFDM method. In the general case (C-FDM),
it is desirable then to use a dimensionless form of the equilibrium equations, in which the force
density is replaced by the dimensionless parameter = q
z
l/2, that is equal to one half of
the ratio between the unit weight of the cable and the standard force density. In this way the
equilibrium equations (65) become:
r

j=1

j
x
i
x
j

i
= 2
p
x,i
q
ref
r

j=1

j
y
i
y
j

j
= 2
p
y,i
q
ref
r

j=1

j
_
L
0
j
+
Cosh[
j
]
Sinh[
j
]
(z
i
z
j
)
_
= 2
p
z,i
q
ref
.
(73)
13
L. Greco, B. O. Fazio and M. Cuomo
where
j
=
q
z
,j
q
r
ef
is the ratio between the unit weight of the cable and a reference unit weight
(for instance, the unit weight of the lightest cable adopted).
The length of the catenary is given by equation (47). The strategy is then to choose the
dimension of the cables, so that the quantities
j
and q
z
, j are assigned, and to choose the
ratios
j
between the thrust and the weight of the cable, that are determined on technological
motivations.
We have 3j + n equations in 3j + n variables: the 3j equilibrium equations and the n
conditions on the length L
0
j
, in the 3j independent variables {x, y, z}
j
and the n independent
variables L
0
j
. We adopt a Newton-Raphson strategy to solve these equations, in which the initial
solution is represented by the P-FDM-solution. Once the unknowns have been determined, the
thrusts
j
are obtained from the denition
j
=
q
z
l
j
2
j
.
This strategy permits to generate a set of equilibrated catenary cable nets zero congurations
as generalizations of the standard FDM for the case of heavy slack elements. They can be used
as starting point of incremental solution processes. The C-FDM solution gives also the exact
non linear distribution of the nodal forces accounting for the geometric non linearity.
The latter observation allows to improve the C-FDM method, since, manipulating the cate-
nary parametric equations, it is easy to evaluate the axial force in any point of the cable in its
exact equilibrium conguration, as a function of the parameter . Therefore, it is possible to
add to the equilibrium conditions (73) a set of constraints enforcing that in the generic cable
the limit value of the axial load is never exceeded. In this it is possible to introduce the cable
dimension as additional variables, obtained from a constrained optimization procedure. This
will be object of a forthcoming paper.
6 NUMERICAL EXAMPLES
6.1 A simple 3D 5-cable net
For simplicity of exposition we rst consider a simple 3D net composed by ve unde-
formable cables, EA . The force densities are initially set to Q

= Q
V
= 1 [kg/m]
for every cable. The free nodes are P
3
and P
5
, while the other nodes are xed, and the table
reports their coordinates (see gure 2(a)).
[m] x y z
P
1
0 0 0
P
2
1 0 0
P
4
0 1 0
P
6
1 1 1
(74)
14
L. Greco, B. O. Fazio and M. Cuomo
The solution for the coordinates of the free nodes, listed in the following table, have been
obtained in four steps.
node x [m] y [m] z [m]
3 0.5 0.25 0.125
5 0.5 0.75 0.375
3 0.5 0.25 -0.381649
5 0.5 0.75 -0.202515
3 0.499718 0.245642 -0.381078
5 0.499133 0.748151 -0.203851
3 0.5 0.25 -0.406012
5 0.5 0.75 -0.226113
cable t [kg] H [kg] K [kg] V
0
[kg] V(L
0
) [kg] [kg] L
0
[m]
1 0.572822 0.5 0.25 0.125 - 0.559017 0.572822
2 0.572822 -0.5 0.25 0.125 - 0.559017 0.572822
3 0.559017 0.0 -0.50 -0.250 - 0.500000 0.559017
4 0.673146 0.5 -0.25 0.375 - 0.559017 0.673146
5 0.838525 -0.5 -0.25 -0.625 - 0.559017 0.838525
1 0.676872 0.5 0.25 -0.720085 - 0.559017 0.676872
2 0.676872 -0.5 0.25 -0.720085 - 0.559017 0.676872
3 0.531121 0.0 -0.50 -0.444695 - 0.500000 0.531121
4 0.594569 0.5 -0.25 -0.499799 - 0.559017 0.594569
5 1.326100 -0.5 -0.25 -1.86556 - 0.559017 1.326100
1 0.694235 0.514154 0.252738 -0.728196 -0.0339605 0.572914 0.694235
2 0.694676 -0.514742 0.252742 -0.728416 -0.0337402 0.573444 0.694676
3 0.535997 0.000588 -0.50548 -0.445225 0.0907716 0.505481 0.535997
4 0.598570 0.502062 -0.253327 -0.503136 0.0954336 0.562353 0.598570
5 1.329600 -0.501474 -0.252154 -1.86865 -0.539053 0.561300 1.329600
1 0.690902 0.45512 0.22756 -0.763108 -0.0489167 0.508839 0.714191
2 0.690902 -0.45512 0.22756 -0.763108 -0.0489167 0.508839 0.714191
3 0.531379 0.0 -0.45512 -0.457632 0.0978335 0.455120 0.555466
4 0.603015 0.45512 -0.22756 -0.540895 0.0886688 0.508839 0.629563
5 1.347540 -0.45512 -0.22756 -1.905920 -0.546301 0.508839 1.359620
15
L. Greco, B. O. Fazio and M. Cuomo

1
2
3
4
5
(a)

1
2
3
4
5
(b)

1
2
3
4
5
(c)

1
2
3
4
5
(d)
Figure 2: In this gure we report the various steps of numeric strategy, gure-2(a) represents the solution of
the linear force density method, (FDM); gure-2(b) represents the solution of the non linear force density method,
(nlFDM); gure-2(c) represents the solution of the parabolic force density method, (P-FDM); gure-2(d) represents
the solution of the catenary force density method, (C-FDM).
16
L. Greco, B. O. Fazio and M. Cuomo
The rst step corresponds to the linear FDM; it is used as initial guess of the subsequent
nl-FDM solution, and, successively, for the P-FDM and nally for the C-FDM solutions.
Similarly, third table reports for every step and every cable the length and the relevant static
quantities. In the rst column is listed the values of the quantity t
j
=
_

j
l
j
k
j
_

j
Cosh[
j
]
Sinh[
j
]
, that,
as can be seen from expressions (63), represents the force acting in the direction of the line
joining the cable ends in the case of he parabolic approximation, whose horizontal component
is the thrust.
The C-FDM yields a conguration that is quite far from the one obtained with the l-FDM.
In comparison with the solution of the P-FDM, the coordinates of the nodes do not change
signicantly, but the shears at the ends grow, since the length of the catenary elements is greater
than the length of the equivalent parabola. Therefore there is an improvement in the equilibrium.
17
L. Greco, B. O. Fazio and M. Cuomo
6.2 Form nding of a complex net with the C-FDM
In this case we consider a large span membrane roof of a complex form. The membrane is
modeled by a catenary cable net. The initial non equilibrated starting geometry is shown in the
gure where the xed points are indicated by a box. The coordinates of the xed point are
(a)
(b)
Figure 3: Figure-3(a) represents the plan view of the net; Figure-3(b) represents the back axonometric view of the
net.
[m] x y z
P
1
-32 -9.5 0
P
2
-27 -16.5 -5
P
3
-16 -24.5 10
P
4
0 -28 5
P
5
-8 0 0
P
6
-19 5.5 0
(75)
18
L. Greco, B. O. Fazio and M. Cuomo
The adopted density force are: for the internal cables it is set everywhere q = 50. With reference
to the plant of the structure, for the back boundary cables we have adopted q
1
= 100 for the
up central cable q
2
= 1000 and for the up lateral cable q
3
= 200, while for the right end left
boundary cable q
4
= 100.
The nal catenary form of the net is compared in the gure-4 with the initial starting form.
(a)
(b)
(c)
Figure 4: In this gure we report the various view of the nal equilibrium for obtained by C-FDM; gure-4(a)
represent the plan view, gure-4(b) is the front view and gure-4(c) is an axonometric view.
19
L. Greco, B. O. Fazio and M. Cuomo
7 CONCLUSIONS
The paper has shown an improvement of the force density method for form nding of an
heavy cable net. The method proposed satises equilibrium exactly, and can be easily extended
to deformable cables. The relevance of the proposal is in the fact that it allows to implement
an incremental procedure for the analysis of the structure under environmental loads, starting
from an exact conguration. Moreover, in the case of slack elements, it has been shown that the
prediction of the approximated FDM yield lengths of the cables that are substantially smaller
than the exact ones, and consequently, values of the thrust that are greater than the real ones.
In the paper have been indicated several improvements of the method proposed, that will be
described in subsequent works.
REFERENCES
[1] A. S. Day. An introduction to dynamic relaxation. The Engineer, 219, 218221, 1965.
[2] A. S. Day. A general computer analysis for form nding of tension structures. In IASS
Conf. on Shells and Spatial Structures, H. Mang N. Bicanic G. Meschke, R. de Borst,
editor, Morgantown, WV, 1978.
[3] K-U. Bletzinger and E. Ramm. A general nite element approach to the form nding of ten-
sile structures by the updated reference strategy. International Journal of Space Structures,
14(2), 131146, 1999.
[4] G. Tibert. Numerical analyses of cable roof structures. Royal Institute of Technology,
Department of Structural Engineering, Se-10044 Stockholm ON, , 1998.
[5] H. B. Jayaraman and W. C. Knudson. A curved element for the analysis of cable structures.
Computer and Structures, 14(3-4), 325333, 1981.
[6] K. Ahmadi-Kashani and A. J. Bell. The analysis of cables subject to uniformly distributed
loads. Eng. Struct., 10, 174184, July 1981.
[7] A. H. Peyrot and A. M. Goulois. Analysis of cable structures. Comput. Structures, 10(5),
805813, 1979.
[8] H. J. Schek. The force density method for form nding and computation of general net-
works. Computational Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering, 3, 115134, 1974.
20