Time-Dependent Analysis of Prestressed Cable Nets

In this paper, time-dependent nonlinear numerical and analytical computational models suitable for rheological analysis of prestressed cable nets subjected to creep effects are presented. The principal aim of this contribution is to describe a developed design computational tool for a theoretical simulation of the time-dependent behavior of cable nets and predict their rheological characteristics. For this purpose, a modified finite-element method for the time-dependent analysis of materially linear and geometrically nonlinear cable nets is proposed. Creep constitutive equations in the logarithmic form are incorporated into the finite-element model to express the current lengths of cables as the functions of creep strain increments. As an extension of the Irvine approach, a geometrically nonlinear time-dependent analytical static solution of taut flat cable nets over an orthogonal square plan is presented. The cable net is replaced by an equivalent membrane. Creep strain is incorporated into the c...