Wire Rope Sag And Tension Calculation

Have you contacted any wire rope suppliers?

Looked on the web for, "Wire rope sag and tension calculation" sites?

I just did and found 71,300 results.

You should try it.

If you are not successful, maybe some member will help you.

Home | Dyneema ®

A free-hanging rope suspended between two anchors responds to mathematical analysis. The shape function is the hyperbolic cosine.

Most textbooks on Mechanics contain at least some reference or analysis. Get reading!

The supports at each end will have an upward component equal to the weight of the cable and the wire rope. The tension component you are specifying as 20% of maximum breaking strength. This gives you the angle of the cable at each support, arcsin(.5*wt/tension).

The curve the sagging cable makes will be a catenary or hyperbolic cosine. The derivative (slope) of the hyperbolic cosine is the hyperbolic sine, which you know as the angle of the cable at the support.

Take the inverse hyperbolic sine of the slope, and then the hyperbolic cosine of that value to find the vertical distance from the support to the minimum point of the cable sag.

That's the best I can tell you without a drawing.

Find equations for a catenary. I don't have them handy anymore, but those will provide what you need. Is this an outdoors installation? If so, don't forget about the loading due to ice and wind, and wind on ice covered cable. Temperature will affect the tension.