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Solution


Suspension Bridge Wire Rope Testing

Suspension bridges rely on massive wire ropes or cables to support their entire structure. These cables carry the weight of the bridge deck, vehicles, wind loads, and other environmental stresses. Wire rope testing is done to assess the tensile strength, elasticity, tension distribution, and structural integrity of these ropes to ensure the bridge remains safe and operational.


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SuspensionBridgeWireRope Graphic

Summary

  • Customer Need / Challenge

    Suspension bridges rely on massive wire ropes or cables to support their entire structure. These cables carry the weight of the bridge deck, vehicles, wind loads, and other environmental stresses. Wire rope testing is done to assess the tensile strength, elasticity, tension distribution, and structural integrity of these ropes to ensure the bridge remains safe and operational.

  • Interface Solution

    Multiple of Interface’s 2160 High Capacity Column Load Cells are attached directly in-line to a tensioned cable. One end is attached to an custom made anchoring system, and the other end is attached to the cable. The 2160’s measure the reactive compressive forces caused by the cable tension of the bridge. Customer can display, graph, and log results when connected to the INF-USB3 Universal Serial Bus Single Channel PC Interface Module.

  • Results

    Interface’s 2160 High Capacity Column Load Cells integrated into a custom anchoring system with points successfully measured the tension forces of the suspension bridge’s wire ropes.

Materials


  • Multiple 2160 High Capacity Column Load Cells
  • INF-USB3 Universal Serial Bus Single Channel PC Interface Module with supplied software
  • Customer computer

How it Works


  1. Multiple 2160 High Capacity Column Load Cells are attached on one end to a custom build anchoring system for the suspension bridge. The other end is attached wire ropes holding a load during the wire rope test.
  2. The reactive compressive forces caused by the cable tension is collected by the 2160’s.
  3. The customer was able to measure and record the tension forces of the wire ropes during the tension testing phase. Customer can display, graph, and log results when connected to the INF-USB3 Universal Serial Bus Single Channel PC Interface Module.

Download PDF


Suspension Bridge Wire Rope Testing App Note Download PDF

Products Used in this App Note

2160

2160 High Capacity Column Load Cell
INF USB3

INF-USB3 Universal Serial Bus Single Channel PC Interface Module