Estudio estático de un cable homogéneo bajo la acción de su propio peso: catenaria

Abstract

In this paper we design one-easy to assembly and low-cost lab-experience to study experimentally the equilibrium of a cable under an uniform distributed load along its length. The load is its own weight and the curve is the well known catenary. From the experimental study of the catenary it is possible to obtain information about the internal strength along the cable, as in particular, the tension at the lowest point. A chain composed of little metallic marbles has been used as a cable and the theoretical and experimental catenaries have been compared in various cases, observing a good agreement between both of them.