Statics of shallow inclined elastic cables under general vertical loads: A perturbation approach

Abstract

The static problem for elastic shallow cables suspended at points at different levels under general vertical loads is addressed. The cases of both suspended and taut cables are considered. The funicular equation and the compatibility condition, well known in literature, are here shortly re-derived, and the commonly accepted simplified hypotheses are recalled. Furthermore, with the aim of obtaining simple asymptotic expressions with a desired degree of accuracy, a perturbation method is designed, using the taut string solution as the generator system. The method is able to solve the static problem for any distributions of vertical loads and shows that the usual, simplified analysis is just the first step of the perturbation procedure proposed here.