Cable Structures (Structural Mechanics)

Cable Structures is the first extensive survey of its subject from the point of view of the practicing engineer. Cable-structures—cable-stayed and suspension bridges, cable roofs, transmission lines and guyed masts, and various kinds of inflatable structures—are appearing with increasing frequency as traditional materials become scarcer and building costs continue to rise. Since such structures can span extended lengths and cover large areas with little material weight, they are structurally efficient and economical in almost every application. Furthermore, cable structures have an inherent beauty of line and a graceful lightness of aspect. Few books on structural mechanics deal even in passing with cable structures, and almost none is exclusively devoted to the exposition of the subject. Cable Structures has been carefully organized to meet this need. It can be directly consulted by the practicing engineer—who may be confronted with a mooring-line problem or called on to provide a dynamic analysis of a cable-suspended roof—but although practical applications are stressed, the level of mathematical rigor is such that the book can also serve as a basic text at the graduate level and as a reference for researchers at the vanguard of the field. Much of the material in the book was developed by the author, both in the course of his own research and from his experience as a consulting engineer. Although matrix methods of solution and computational techniques that require computer implementation are presented in those cases where simpler methods are inadequate or exact solutions are necessary, the emphasis throughout is on approximate analytical results obtainable by hand. As Irvine states, "the vast majority of problems in cable structures are best attempted by hand, at least for preliminary purposes.... By and large, cable structures are simple—the layman as well as the engineer can see how they work—so simple hand techniques, wisely used, are hardly out of place." The book's five chapters cover (among other topics) the historical development of the field and the classical (or exact) theories of the static responses of single cables to various loads (a little arch theory has been included as well); engineering approximations to the classical theory; dynamic responses; guyed masts, cable trusses, and suspension bridges; three-dimensional surfaces, in the form of tension membranes of revolution; and static and dynamic response of cable networks that cover regular platforms. Numerous worked examples and exercise sets are presented throughout.