Engr Muhammad Irfan

UNIVERSITY OF SARGODHA
THEORY OF STRUCTURES

CABLE AND ARCHES

CABLES:
Cables are used in engineering structures for Support
and to transmit loads from one member to another. when
cables are used to support suspension roofs bridges and
trolley wheels cables form the main load carrying
element in the structure.
Weight of cable neglected during analysis. However
when cables are used as radio antennas, and
transmission line the weight of cables is an important
and must be considered.
CABLES:
CABLES:
When deriving the necessary relation between the
force in the cable and its slope. We will made two
assumptions that the

Cable offers is perfectly flexible and Inextensible.

Due to 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.
CABLES:
LOAD ON CABLES:
Cable subjected to concentrated loads.
When a cable of negligible weight supports several
concentrated loads the cable takes the form of several
straight segments each of which is subjected to a constant
tensile force.
Cable subjected to a uniform distributed load.
Cables provide a very effective means of supporting the
dead weight of girders or bridge decks having very long
spans. A suspension bridge is a typical example in which the
deck is suspended from the cable using a series of close and
equally spaced hangers.
LOAD ON CABLES:
LOAD ON CABLES:
ARCHES
Like cables arches can be used to reduce the bending moment
in long span structures. Arch act as an inverted cables so it
receives its load mainly in compression although because of
its rigidity it must also resist some bending and shear
depending upon how it is loaded and shaped.
In particular if the arch has a parabolic shape and it is
subjected to a uniform horizontally distributed vertical load
then the analysis of cables it follows that only compression
forces will be resisted by arch. Under these conditions the
arch shape is called a funicular arch because no bending or
shear forces occur within the arch.
TYPES OF ARCH

Fixed arch Two hinged arch

TYPES OF ARCH

Three hinged arch Tied arch

Example 5-1

Determine the tension in each segment of the cable shown in the figure
below. Also, what is the dimension h ?

2m
h D
B
C 2m

3 kN
8 kN
2m 2m 1.5 m

15
SOLUTION Ay
Ax A
TCD
2m
h D5 4
B 3
C

3 kN
8 kN
2m 2m 1.5 m

+ MA = 0:

TCD(3/5)(2 m) + TCD(4/5)(5.5 m) - 3kN(2 m) - 8 kN(4 m) = 0

TCD = 6.79 kN
 y
Joint C
TCD = 6.79 kN + Fx = 0: 6.79(3/5) - T cos = 0
CB BC
TCB C 5 4
x + Fy = 0: 6.79(4/5) - 8 + TCB sin CB = 0
BC 3
8 kN BC = 32.3o TCB = 4.82 kN

y
Joint B
TBA
B 32.3o + Fx = 0: - TBA cos BA + 4.82cos 32.3o = 0
BA
x
TBC = 4.82 kN + Fy = 0: TBA sin BA - 4.82sin 32.3o -3 = 0
3 kN
BA = 53.8o TBA = 6.90 kN

h = 2tanBA = 2tan53.8o = 2.74 m

Cable Subjected to Distributed Load

y T

T
W

To x To
W
x=L
T cos = To = FH = Constant

T sin = W
dy W
tan
dx To
Parabolic Cable: Subjected to Linear Uniform distributed Load

wo = force / horizontal distance T wo x

x
y To
B
dy wx
tan o
A dx To

wo x
x y dx
To
L
2
0
x wo x
y C1
y wo x 2To
x
2 wo x 2
To
2y
T
x at x = L , T = TB = Tmax Tmax woL
To x
2
x Tmax To ( wo L) 2

To
 wo(x) x
2
y
T + T
wo O
h y
s
x T x
x
x
L

+ Fx = 0: -Tcos + (T + T) cos ( + ) = 0

+ Fy = 0: -Tsin + wo(x) + (T + T)sin ( + ) = 0

+ MO = 0: wo(x)(x/2) - T cos y - T sin(x) = 0

Dividing each of these equations by x and taking the limit as x 0, and hence
y 0, 0, and T 0, we obtain

d (T cos )
0 ----------(5-1)
dx
d (T sin )
wo ----------(5-2)
dx
dy
tan ----------(5-3)
dx

Integrating Eq. 5-1, where T = FH at x = 0, we have:

T cos FH ----------(5-4)

Integrating Eq. 5-2, where T sin = 0 at x = 0, gives

T sin wo x ----------(5-5)

Dividing Eq. 5-5 Eq. 5-4 eliminates T. Then using Eq. 5-3, we can obtain the slope
at any point,

dy wo x
tan ----------(5-6)
dx FH
 Performing a second integration with y = 0 at x = 0 yields
wo 2
y x ----------(5-7)
2 FH

This is the equation of a parabola. The constant FH may be obtained by using the
boundary condition y = h at x = L. Thus,
wo L2
FH ----------(5-8)
2h

Finally, substituting into Eq. 5-7 yeilds

h 2
y 2
x ----------(5-9)
L

From Eq. 5-4, the maximum tension in the cable occurs when is maximum; i.e., at
x = L. Hence, from Eqs. 5-4 and 5-5,

Tmax FH 2 ( wo L) 2 ----------(5-10)

Or, using Eq. 5-8, we can express Tmax in terms of wo, i.e.,

Tmax wo L 1 ( L / 2h) 2 ----------(5-11)

Practice Problems
Chapter 5

Structural Analysis by R. C. Hibbeler

Examples and Exercise

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YOU