An Accurate Measurement Method for Tension Force of Short Cable by Additional Mass Block

The equivalent effective length parameter is introduced into the vibration equation of short cable; that is, the boundary condition that affects the test accuracy of short cable force is equivalent to the calculated length of cable. By attaching an additional mass block to the cable, new parameters are introduced to identify the tension force. Vibration differential equations are established for cable with and without addition mass block, taking new parameters into account, such as equivalent effective length and added mass. By solving the equations using the RITZ method, the analytical relationship between the natural frequency of cable and equivalent effective length before and after a mass block is added can be developed. It can also develop an analytical method to identify the equivalent effective length depending on whether the added mass block is attached. Then, tension force of short length cable can be evaluated by measuring its natural frequency based on equivalent effective length. The method is verified by field tests. The tests results indicate the new method mentioned in this paper is going to largely improve the accuracy of tension force measurement of short length cable.