Cable Tension and Shape on a Suspension Bridge

by Eduardo Spinetti

Submitted : Fall 2011

To built a suspension-walk bridge, the shape of the main cable is needed, and the tension as a function of position. It was necessary to know the location of the point where the main cable hung the lowest, and the tension at that point. To solve the variant, a geometrical approach that gave 5 equations was used. Using a trial by error approach with these equations, all the variables were solved. Using the arc length integral, the unknown variables were tested; finally, the two graphs were plotted.

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