A design method for cable network structures considering the flexibility of supporting structures

This study proposes a design method for cable network structures considering the flexibility of supporting structures. Tensions in cables are designed by the force density method. Subsequently, the designed tensions of the cables are modified to achieve the objective shapes for the cable-network structures using the proposed method, while the supporting structure is deformed. The conventional design method using an iteration technique is also considered. A number of numerical simulations are carried out. The cable network structures are designed using the proposed method, conventional method, and force density method without the modification of the cable tensions, and compared using these numerical simulations. From the comparison, it is observed that the accuracy of the shapes of cable network structures is improved and the standard deviation of the cable tensions is decreased using the proposed and the conventional methods. The results show that the cable network structures can be satisfactorily designed using the proposed method without the need for iterations. Therefore, it can be concluded that the proposed method is efficient.