TY - GEN
T1 - Polyester rope, an alternative to steel cable for pedestrian suspended bridges
AU - Segal, E. M.
AU - Adriaenssens, Sigrid M.
AU - Zoli, T. P.
AU - Flory, J. F.
PY - 2013
Y1 - 2013
N2 - This paper demonstrates that polyester rope has potential as an alternative to steel cable for pedestrian suspended bridges (for spans up to 50 m) in rural parts of the developing world. The specific objectives are to show that (1) polyester is the most viable synthetic rope material for this application, (2) pedestrian, polyester-rope suspended bridges can meet static dead and live load strength and serviceability criteria, and (3) different design strategies than those used to design steel-cable bridges are required to take advantage of polyester rope's low material stiffness. To fulfill the first objective, cost and material properties of synthetic rope materials are compared. To satisfy the second and third objectives, a preliminary design for a 1-m wide, 46-m span pedestrian, polyester-rope suspended bridge is presented and compared to a steel-cable design. Calculations were performed using an approximate theory for flat cables and with a geometric nonlinear static finite element solver.
AB - This paper demonstrates that polyester rope has potential as an alternative to steel cable for pedestrian suspended bridges (for spans up to 50 m) in rural parts of the developing world. The specific objectives are to show that (1) polyester is the most viable synthetic rope material for this application, (2) pedestrian, polyester-rope suspended bridges can meet static dead and live load strength and serviceability criteria, and (3) different design strategies than those used to design steel-cable bridges are required to take advantage of polyester rope's low material stiffness. To fulfill the first objective, cost and material properties of synthetic rope materials are compared. To satisfy the second and third objectives, a preliminary design for a 1-m wide, 46-m span pedestrian, polyester-rope suspended bridge is presented and compared to a steel-cable design. Calculations were performed using an approximate theory for flat cables and with a geometric nonlinear static finite element solver.
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U2 - 10.1061/9780784412848.247
DO - 10.1061/9780784412848.247
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:84885395426
SN - 9780784412848
T3 - Structures Congress 2013: Bridging Your Passion with Your Profession - Proceedings of the 2013 Structures Congress
SP - 2837
EP - 2847
BT - Structures Congress 2013
PB - American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)
T2 - Structures Congress 2013: Bridging Your Passion with Your Profession
Y2 - 2 May 2013 through 4 May 2013
ER -