Engineering Structures 23 (2001) 271279

www.elsevier.com/locate/engstruct

Simple model for dynamic analysis of cable supported structures

Y.M. Desai *, S. Punde
Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Powai, Mumbai 400 076, India
Received 30 August 1999; received in revised form 1 March 2000; accepted 10 March 2000

Abstract
A simple, nine degrees-of-freedom model has been presented to describe vibrations of an inclined cable by using a generalised
finite element approach. All three translations of a vibrating cable and of the support points have been included in the model for
its use over a wide range of cable supported structures. The model has been validated for free as well as forced responses of
inclined cables by comparing the results with analytical solutions. Some illustrative examples are considered to demonstrate the
applicability of the model for analysing vibrating cables and guyed towers subjected to gusty wind. It has been demonstrated that
the model can be utilised to expeditiously predict the dynamic response of cable supported structures. 2000 Elsevier Science
Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Cable dynamics; Generalised finite element model; Dynamics of cable supported structures

1. Introduction
Steel-alloy cables are used extensively to support long
span roofs, communication towers, suspension bridges,
offshore structures, etc. Such structures are often more
economical than conventional ones, because of the high
efficiency of steel in simple tension.
Various approaches to the analysis of the behaviour
of cable supported structures have been previously
reviewed extensively [14]. Analytical methods [57]
have been employed in the past mainly for quite simple
cable structures. Dean [8], Davenport and Steel [9], and
Veletsos and Darbre [10], for example, have presented
theoretical formulae for computing equivalent spring
constants for uniformly loaded cables. However, all the
resulting spring constants invariably assume that one end
of a cable is fixed. Consequently, the spring constants
cannot be used for all types of cable supported structures. Most numerical schemes [3,1115], on the other
hand, are based on discretisation of the equilibrium
expression followed by a solution of algebraic equations.
Naturally, many degrees-of-freedom would be required
in formulating such discrete models for a reasonable esti-

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +91-22-576-7333/576-7301; fax:

+91-22-576-7302/578-3480.

mate of the dynamic response and thus, such schemes

are usually computationally intensive.
It is often necessary, especially in the initial design
stage where different strategies are contemplated, to perform expeditious analysis for the dynamic loads imposed
on cable supported structures. Thus, it is advantageous
to have a computational model which can represent the
key structural aspects realistically by using a few
degrees-of-freedom. Of course, the number of primary
unknowns can be reduced by using techniques like substructuring for static analysis [16], and Guyan reduction
[17] for a dynamic analysis. However, it is always desirable to formulate the basic model itself in such a way
that the response can be obtained accurately with a few
degrees-of-freedom.
A simple cable model can be formulated by using the
transfer matrix method (e.g. Cheng and Perkins [18]) or
by formulating a dynamic stiffness matrix [19]. Alternatively, a generalised displacement based model can also
be expeditiously used [20] by employing analytical
mode shapes for the undamped free vibration of cables
(like those presented by Irvine [7] and Triantafyllous and
Grinfogel [21]) to obtain accurate results even with a
few degrees-of-freedom. Such a model can be easily
incorporated into any displacement based finite element
formulation to represent, say, a supporting cable in a
multi-level guyed tower or a suspension bridge. Thus,
components like a mast or bridge girder can be analysed

0141-0296/01/$ - see front matter 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0 1 4 1 - 0 2 9 6 ( 0 0 ) 0 0 0 3 5 - 3

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Y.M. Desai, S. Punde / Engineering Structures 23 (2001) 271279

Nomenclature
A
Area of cross section of cable
E
Modulus of elasticity
H
Horizontal component of tension in cable
h
Component of tension in cable along its chord
l
Span of a cable in the horizontal direction
L
Chord length of a cable
Le
Length of a cable along its centre line
r
Mass of a cable per unit volume
s
Intrinsic co-ordinate along cable axis
T
Pretension in the cable
ux, uy, uz Total local displacements along the inclined x, y and z directions, respectively
u, v, w Displacements of a point on the axis of a cable in the inclined x, y and z directions, respectively
x, y, z Co-ordinates along the inclined cable axes
X, Y, Z Co-ordinates along the global axes
q
Inclination of the chord with respect to the horizontal
{F}
Force vector for a cable
[C]
Damping matrix for a cable
[K]
Stiffness matrix for a cable
[M]
Mass matrix for a cable

more comprehensively with relatively fewer degrees-offreedom. Development of such simple cable models is
the focus of the present work.
Yu et al. [20] have developed a simple but efficient
model for describing motion of a vibrating cable used
in a transmission line. The model has been formulated
for a cable with end points at the same elevation, and
by neglecting inertia in the longitudinal direction.
Because the movements of the end points have been
restricted, the model cannot be applied to the analysis
of cable supported structures.
A simple cable model has been formulated in the
present work, which can be used effectively to analyse
a variety of cable supported structures like guyed towers,
suspension bridges, cable stayed bridges etc. The
dynamic response of an entire cable used in a structure
has been represented with the help of merely 9 degreesof-freedom, viz. three translations at each end and three
generalised co-ordinates for representing motion of an
intermediate point on a cable. Because the movements
of the end points are considered in the model, it can be
easily used with any displacement based, finite
element formulation.
The accuracy of the new formulation has been demonstrated by comparing the free and the forced responses
of cables with available analytical data. Further, guyed
masts have also been analysed for the free and the forced
responses, to demonstrate applicability of the cable
model to cable-supported structures.

2. Formulation of the model for an inclined cable

The model for an inclined cable is presented in Fig.
1. In the figure, the global horizontal and vertical axes
are denoted by X and Y, respectively, whereas the axes
along the chord of a cable and perpendicular to the
chord, are labelled x and y, respectively. The static profile between the end points 1 and 2 has been shown by
a dotted curve. The local co-ordinates (x, y, z) of a point
at rest are defined as
xX sec qY sin q

(1)

yY cos q

(2)

zZ

(3)

lL sec q

(4)

hH sec q

(5)

Here, L, H and q are, respectively, the chord length, the

horizontal component of tension, and the inclination of
the chord with respect to the horizontal.
The time dependent movement of the left and right
support is denoted by subscripts 1 and 2, respectively
for the cable model shown in Fig. 1. Thus, the dynamic
displacement at any point(s) along the curved length of
a cable, measured from the static configuration, can be
described by
ux(s,t)u1f1(s)u2f2(s)u(s,t)

(6)

Y.M. Desai, S. Punde / Engineering Structures 23 (2001) 271279

Fig. 1.

Inclined cable model.

uy(s,t)v1f1(s)v2f2(s)v(s,t)

(7)

uz(s,t)w1f1(s)w2f2(s)w(s,t)

(8)

Here, ux, uy and uz are the total displacements in the local

direction of the associated suffix whereas f1(s)=1
s/Le and f2(s)=s/Le. Further, s represents the intrinsic coordinate that indicates the distance of a reference cross
section from the left end of the cable model measured
along the centre of the cable line, Le is the total length
of the cable, and u, v and w are the generalised displacements of the axis of the cable in the x, y and z directions,
respectively. The displacements of the axis of the cable
u, v and w can be expressed as

u(s,t)

um(t)f3m(s)

(9)

v(s,t)

vm(t)f4m(s)

(10)

w(s,t)

wm(t)f5m(s)

273

(11)

where um, vm and wm are the generalised co-ordinates,

and the f3m, f4m and f5m are the associated mode shapes.
The m is a positive integer that indicates the number of
vibration loops per span of a cable.
The analytical mode shapes f3m, and f4m are given
by [7]

g2mL
1
1 gms
gm
tan 1
f3m 2 f1 f4m
l Le
2
gm Le
2

(12)

gms
gms
cos
sin
Le
Le
f4m1tan

gm gms
gms
sin cos
2
Le
Le

(13)

for m=1, 3, 5, or the symmetrical modes and

f3m 1

2s
2
mps
f4m
1cos
Le
mp
Le

(14)

mps
f4msin
Le

(15)

for m=2, 4, 6, or the anti-symmetrical modes. The

remaining mode shape f5m is assumed to be
mps
f5msin
Le

(16)

for m=1, 2, 3,.

Further,

gm g m 4 g m
tan 2
2 2 l 2
LL

s 3 py cos q Le

Le 8
h

(17)

s
s 2 4 s
2

Le
Le
3 Le

(18)

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Y.M. Desai, S. Punde / Engineering Structures 23 (2001) 271279

AE py cosql
hLe
h

l2l

(19)

where l represents the horizontal distance between supports along the chord and h represents the component of
the static tension T along the chord. On the other hand,
py is the vertical load per unit length of the cable, and
A and E are the cables cross sectional area and Youngs
modulus of elasticity, respectively. The non-dimensional
parameter l2 accounts for the geometric and elastic
effects and has been observed by Irvine [7] to be of fundamental importance in the static as well as dynamic
response of the suspended cable.
It may be noted from Eqs. (12)(16) that the modal
coupling between um and wm has been neglected because,
usually pypz, where pz represents the mean static wind
load per unit cable length in the z-direction. Thus, the
formulation is applicable to situations where in-plane
loading is dominant. In the following, only one mode
shape is retained in the formulation for each global variable and the generalised stiffness and mass matrices are
developed for the selected values of m.
The equations of motion are found by applying the
variational principle [17]

t2

t2

d(TkinVe)dt dWncdt0

t1

(20)

t1

where Tkin and Ve are the total kinetic and strain energies,
Wnc is the work done by the non-conservative forces,
and d indicates the first variation. Tkin is obtained from

Le

1
Tkin
2

r(u2x u2y u2z )dA ds

(21)

The r(y,z) in the above equation indicates the mass

density per unit volume of the cables material, and an
overdot indicates differentiation with respect to time, t.
By substituting Eqs. (6)(16) into Eq. (21), and performing the variation, following equation can be obtained.
dTkin{dq}T[M]{q}

{e}{es}

(25)

{s}[E]{e}

T
A

(26)

where s is the Lagrangian strain along s such that

x ux y uy z uz 1
es

s s s s s s 2

uz
s

(23)

Elements of [M] are given more conveniently in

Appendix A.
The first variation in the strain energy, dVe, required
in Eq. (20), is obtained from

Le

{de}T{s}dAds

0 A

(27)

By substituting Eqs. (25)(27) into Eq. (24), dVe can

be shown to be

Le

dVe [AEesdesTdes]ds

(28)

If the displacement derivatives up to quadratic order

are retained and Eqs. (6)(16), as well as Eqs. (25)(27)
are substituted into Eq. (28), the dVe from the static configuration takes the form
dVe{dq}T[K]{q}

(29)

Elements of the resulting 99 stiffness matrix, [K], are

presented in Appendix A.
The non-conservative forces are associated with the
distributed loads imposed on a cable (e.g. wind loads)
and the viscous damping. If wx, wy and wz are the intensities of the imposed loads per unit length in the direction of the chord, perpendicular to the chord and perpendicular to the plane of the cable, respectively, the
corresponding variation, dWnc, takes the form

Le

dWnc (wxduxwyduywzduz)ds{dq}T[C]{q}

(30)

where [C] is the Rayleigh damping matrix. By considering the variation, and by substituting Eqs. (6)(19) into
Eq. (30), it can be shown that
dWnc{dq}T{F}{dq}T[C]{q}

dVe

ux 2 uy

s
s

(22)

Here,
{q}T{u1u2uv1v2vw1w2w}

Here {e} and {s} are the strain and stress vectors,
respectively. These vectors are defined by

(24)

(31)

The elements of the force vector {F} are presented in

Appendix A.
By substituting Eqs. (22), (29) and (31) into Eqn. (20),
the equations of motion are obtained in the local directions for a cable as
[M]{q}[C]{q}[K]{q}{F}

(32)

Y.M. Desai, S. Punde / Engineering Structures 23 (2001) 271279

These equations can be directly utilised to analyse a

single cable. On the other hand, the standard co-ordinate
transformation can be applied to Eq. (32) and the results
can be assembled, along with the matrices stemming
from other structural elements of a cable supported structure, to formulate the global equations.

3. Numerical examples
The formulation presented in the previous section has
been coded in FORTRAN 77 and implemented on a personal computer for ready use. The code can be used to
analyse free as well as forced response analyses. A conventional eigenvalue solver has been utilised to compute
natural frequencies and the associated mode shapes
whereas the fourth order RungeKutta algorithm has
been employed to integrate ensuing equations of motion.
The code has been successfully applied to analyse
vibration of cables. The results are compared with the
available analytical and numerical results. Free
vibrations of a guyed tower are also analysed to demonstrate the applicability of the cable model to a variety
of cable supported structures. The applicability of the
simplified model is further illustrated by analysing a
three-dimensional guyed mast with guys at different
elevations for a gusty wind.
3.1. Example 1. Free vibrations of an inclined cable
The cable model is employed to compute natural frequencies of an inclined cable in this example. The displacements at the end points are restrained for comparing
the results with available analytical expressions by Irvine
[7]. The data tabulated under the second column of Table
1 have been used in the computation. The following
additional data have been considered.
Horizontal distance between end
=
21.0 m
points of the cable (l)
Difference in elevation between the =
36.0 m
end points
Table 1
Cable properties utilised in the illustrative examples
Property

Example 1

Example 2

Example 3

Cross sectional
area, A (m2)
Modulus of
elasticity, E
(MPa)
Pretension, T
(kN)
Mass per unit
length, rA
(kg/m)

9.025105

2.000104

9.025105

1.65105

1.50105

1.65105

30.00

30.00

18.15

0.795

2.548

0.795

275

Results for the first five natural frequencies are compared with the analytical solutions in Table 2 for the free
vibrations in the vertical y-direction and the lateral (outof-plane) z-direction.
It can be seen that the frequencies are in close agreement with the analytical solutions. Also, excellent agreement with the analytical results was obtained for the free
vibrations of horizontal cables (q=0) over a wide range
of parameters. (These results, however, have not been
produced here for brevity.) Hence, the cable model can
be used effectively for free vibration response of not
only horizontal but also inclined cables.
3.2. Example 2. Free vibrations of a guyed tower
The cable model is applied in this example to compute
the free response of a guyed tower as shown in Fig. 2(a).
The tower is supported by four clusters of guys, each
cluster consisting of three guys radiating out symmetrically in plan. The mast is modelled by using a conventional two-node space frame element, with 12 degreesof-freedom. Data pertaining to the guys have been
presented under the third column of Table 1 whereas the
mast properties are tabulated under the second column
of Table 3. A total of four mast elements has been used
for modelling the behaviour of the mast. On the other
hand, the cable model has been applied to each of the
guys in the structure by considering single loop oscillation (m=1). Eq. (32) has been applied to each guy in
its local co-ordinate system and the co-ordinate transformation has been applied. The resulting expressions
have been assembled along with the contribution from
the mast members to form the global equations.
Results have been presented for the first three predominantly mast modes. The time periods obtained from
the free response analysis are compared with those
obtained by Irvine [7] in Table 4, whereas the mode
shapes for the mast are shown in Fig. 3. (The guy movements are not shown in the figure for clarity.) It can be
observed that the results are in close agreement with
those presented by Irvine [7], who employed an analytical solution to each cluster of guys and analysed the
tower and the guys separately, and obtained the solution
for the guyed tower by enforcing the compatibility conditions in an iterative manner. No such iterations are
required in the displacement based formulation as the
compatibility conditions are satisfied automatically.
Thus, it can be tentatively concluded that the natural frequencies of the guyed mast can be expeditiously estimated, with fair accuracy, by using the simple model
for each guy (assuming single loop vibration, i.e. m=1).
Higher values of m (up to 4) were also used in the separate anlyses. However, the natural frequencies of the first
three predominatly mast modes were found to be insensitive to the assumed number of vibration loops per guy.
Such observations have also been reported by Irvine [7].

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Y.M. Desai, S. Punde / Engineering Structures 23 (2001) 271279

Table 2
The normalised natural frequencies (w/p) in the y and z-direction
Direction

y
z

m=1

m=2

m=3

m=4

m=5

Irvine [7]

Present
study

Irvine [7]

Present
study

Irvine [7]

Present
study

Irvine [7]

Present
study

Irvine [7]

Present
study

1.018
1.000

1.017
0.999

2.000
2.000

1.997
1.997

3.000
3.000

3.000
2.996

4.000
4.000

3.994
3.994

5.000
5.000

5.000
4.992

Fig. 2.

The guyed mast in Examples 2 and 3.

Table 4
Time periods for the first three modes of the guyed mast of Example 2

Table 3
Mast properties utilised in the illustrative examples
Property

Example 2

Example 3

Area, A (m2)
Modulus of elasticity, E (MPa)
Moment of inertia, Iyy (m4)
Moment of inertia, Izz (m4)
Mass per unit length (kg/m)

1.800103
2.1105
1.500103
1.500103
61.162

1.893103
2.1105
1.190104
1.134104
35.481

Mode 1

Mode 2

Mode 3

Irvine [7]

Present
study

Irvine [7]

Present
study

Irvine [7]

Present
study

0.43 s

0.43 s

0.34 s

0.34 s

0.22 s

0.21 s

Thus, for investigating free vibrations of the main structural components, it is indeed expeditious to represent
the cables by a simple model .

has been previously analysed by Iannuzzi and Spinelli

[22]. The cable and the mast data have been respectively
presented under columns 4 and 3 of Tables 1 and 3. The
following additional data have been used.

3.3. Example 3. Response of a guyed tower subjected

to wind in the x-direction

3.3.1. Mast
Shear modulus (G)

The guyed tower shown in Fig. 2(b) is analysed in

this example for the effects of gusty wind. The tower

Face area exposed to wind (AD)

8.001010
N/m2
0.1869
m2/m

Y.M. Desai, S. Punde / Engineering Structures 23 (2001) 271279

277

Fig. 3. The first three fundamental modes of the mast in Example 2.

Drag coefficient (CD)

2.80

3.3.2. Guy cables

Drag coefficient (CD)

1.20

The undamped forced response analysis has been performed in the present work by employing three space
frame elements to discretise the mast, and the cable
model has been used for each guy (with m=1).
The effect of gusty wind has been simulated by using
the single wind history as per the details given by Iannuzzi and Spinelli [22]. The peak response of the guyed
tower is compared with that obtained by Iannuzzi and
Spinelli [22], who used multiple time history and a number of finite elements for representing cable behaviour.
The response of the structure has been observed to be
predominantly in the direction of wind (referred to as the
x direction) and has been compared with the available
responses from Iannuzzi and Spinelli [22], which are
shown by different dashed and dotted lines (IS-1 through
IS-4) in Fig. 4. It is observed that that the results
obtained by using the simple model developed in the
present study compare well with those obtained by performing detailed time consuming finite element analyses.
Thus, it can be concluded, on the basis of the results,
that the cable model can be used to predict the response
of a cable supported structure reasonably well, in an
expeditious manner.

4. Conclusions
A simple but realistic, 9 degrees-of-freedom model of
a vibrating cable has been developed for expeditiously
analysing free as well as forced responses of cable supported structures. Analytical mode-shapes are used in the
formulation for improved results. The cable model has
been validated by comparing free and forced vibration

Fig. 4. The peak response of the guyed mast of Fig. 2(b) in the xdirection for wind along the x-direction.

278

Y.M. Desai, S. Punde / Engineering Structures 23 (2001) 271279

responses with available analytical results. The applicability of the model to cable supported structures has been
illustrated successfully by analysing free and forced
responses of three-dimensional guyed towers. It has been
demonstrated that the model can predict the responses
of cable supported structures reasonably well even with
fewer degrees-of-freedom, compared to more elaborate
analyses, involving finite element discretisation of cables.

Moreover,
gi,s =f1,s

for i=1,4,7

=f2,s

for i=2,5,8

=fp,s

for i=3,6,9

gj,s =f1,s

for j=1,4,7

=f2,s

for j=2,5,8

=fp,s

for j=3,6,9

fp,s =

Acknowledgements
The authors gratefully acknowledge the constructive
comments made by the reviewers.

(A4)

i
fp
, p= +2 for i=3,6,9
s
3

j
= +2
3

for j=3,6,9.

Here, e=1 for i=j=3, 6, 9 and e=0 for all other values of
i and j.
Appendix A. Elements of [M], [K], and vector {F}
for a cable
Elements of structural matrices [M], and [K], as well
as the load vector {F}, are summarised below for the 9
degrees-of-freedom model of a cable.
A.1. Consistent mass matrix [M]

The elements of the force vector are obtained as

Le

Fi wxfids for i1,2,3

Le

Fi+3 wyfids for i1,2

Le

(A1)

Le

F6 wyf4ds

where the indices n and p are

(A7)

Le

for i=1,2

Fi+6 wzfids for i1,2

n=k+2 for i=3

p=j

(A6)

M3(k1)+i,3(k1)+j rA fnfpds, i,j,k1,2,3,

n=i

(A5)

The non-zero elements of the symmetrical mass

matrix [M] are

A.3. Force vector {F}

(A8)

for j=1,2

Le

p=k+2 for j=3.

F9 wzf5ds

(A9)

A.2. Stiffness matrix [K]

The non-zero elements of the symmetrical stiffness
matrix [K] are given below.

Le

Le

Kij AE lilj gi,sgj,sdseh

0

s 2
(f )2ds,
x p,s

(A2)

i,j1,2,9
where li=1 for i=1,2,4,5,7,8 and
[l3 l6 l9]

x y z
s s s

(A3)

All the integrations appearing in the above equations

have been performed numerically.

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