Faculty of Civil Engineering, Architecture and Geodesy ; Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture
Abstract
A method for calculating displacements and stresses of prestressed tensile cable structures is presented. The developed numerical model takes into account the material and geometric nonlinearities. The behavior of the structure under an increasing load, from zero up to the final value is described. The load is usually applied in two
phases: the first phase is prestressing, and the second phase is loading by dead and live gravity loads. An incremental approach with the successive application of the Total Lagrange formulation with small displacements is used to solve the problem of large displacements. The spatial discretization of the system is performed by two-noded beam
elements. The fiber discretization of the cross-section is performed by triangular elements, where the mechanical properties of each fiber are presented by the stress-strain curve. The described model represents a practical way of implementing the large displacements theory for finding the appropriate form and stresses in prestressed cable structures
