suspended cable tension

Professional Engineer & PE Exam Forum

Help Support Professional Engineer & PE Exam Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
N

ngandy1000

a coworker asked me if i knew how to select a steel cable that will be suspended at different elevations and calculate the tension caused by its own weight. i said that i didn't and felt really stupid even though my specialty was water resources. does anyone here know how to do this?

 
that was my first thought at well, but i think that's only true if the cable was just being hung from one end. i'm looking to select a cable thickness based on a certain distance and anchored at two elevations.

 
:brick:

This is a catenary problem. Here is a spreadsheet to calculate the tension in the cable. Chapter 41 in CERM has a little discussion on cables.

:MIG:

 
i think that was what i was looking for. did you make that spreadsheet yourself or is there a resource to get others like it? really appreciate it!

 
Back
Top