Appendix J

Inclined Span Module

Descprition of variables and symbols.

The following descriptive picture appears in every Inclined Span printout.

Below is a list of all the key concepts in the figure above:

Lower Tower
The tower structure with the lower elevation. Its cable support point defines the coordinate origin (0,0) for the
calculations.
Upper Tower
The tower structure with the higher elevation. Its cable support point defines the horizontal and vertical tower
separation values.
Inclined Span Line
The theoretical line that connects the two support points of the towers. It is the hypotenuse of the triangle defined by
the horizontal and vertical separation of the towers.
Catenary Curve
The shape of the cable between the two support points.
Sag Point
The point on the catenary which is the furtherst away from the inclined span line. This is typically very close to the
mid span point.
Lowest Point
The lowest point on the catenary curve. Sometimes this point is not between the two towers if the tensions are too
high.
Clearance Point
A user defined arbitrary point which is used to check for clearance under the catenary curve.
Below is a list of all the variables used:
S
Horizontal Separation of Towers.
h
Vertical Separation of Towers.
w
The weight of the cable.
(xd,yd)
Horizontal and Vertical coordinates of the sag point.
(xc,yc)
Horizontal and Vertical coordinates of the lowest point.
(xp,yp)
Horizontal and Vertical coordinates of the user defined clearance point.
TL
Total Cable Tension on the Lower Tower.
TR
Total Cable Tension on the Upper Tower.
H
Horizontal Tension of cable. This value is a constant throughout the catenary curve.
VL
Vertical Tension of cable on the Lower Tower. A positive value indicates an upward force applied to the tower which may
result in tower uplift. This occurs when the lowest point does not lie in between the two towers.
VR
Vertical Tension of cable on the Upper Tower. This value should always be negative indicating that the cable is pushing the
tower downwards.
a
The catenary constant. Later it will be defined as a=H/w.
SL
The length of the Inclined Span.
L
The total cable length. This value should always be larger than inclined span length.
L-SL
The cable slack is the difference between the actual length and the inclined span length.
D
The cable sag. Defined as the vertical separation between the sag point and the the inclined span line.
C
The clearance distance. Defined as the vertical separation between the clearance point the and catenary curve.
Pav
The average tension value on the cable that can be used for Sag & Tension calculations in Alcoa SAG10 while approximating
the inclined span as a level span.
There are two ways of calculating this value.
The first is an estimate using the following rule of thumb: Pav=(TL+TR)/2-w*D/2
The second is a weighted average across the catenary averaging out multiple small segments each with its own internal
tension.

Alcoa SAG10 White Papers

Appendix J

Inclined Span Module

Estimating the Sag and Clearance of an Uneven Span.

Problem: An ACSR DRAKE conductor is subjected to NESC Heavy Loading. The horizontal separation between the towers is 1800 ft, while
the difference in elevation is 460 ft. The horizontal tension in the conductor is 8000 lbs and the conductor must clear a structure which is
between the two towers by at least 30 ft. The horizontal distance of the structure from the lower tower is 1250 ft. The highest point on on the
tower is 175 ft higher than the cable support point of the lower tower.
To analyze this situation enter the following information in the inclined spans module.
Horizontal Tension
8000 lbs
Cable Weight
2.509 lbs/ft (bare+NESC+K)
Horizontal Separation
1800 ft
Vertical Separation
460 ft
Clearance Point
x=
1250 ft
y=
175 ft
When the [Calculate] button is pressed the following is displayed.
Inclined Span
SL=
1857.8 ft
Total Cable Length
L=
1881.1 ft
Cable Slack
L-SL=
23.26 ft
Average Tension
Pav=
8374.6 lbs (weighted average)
Lowest Point
xc=
104.2 ft
yc=
-1.7 ft
Sag Point
xd=
910.4 ft
yd=
100.8 ft
Sag Value
D=
131.88 ft
Lower Tower
TL=
8004 lbs VL=
-261 lbs
Upper Tower
TR=
9158 lbs VR=
-4458 lbs
Clearance Point
xp=
1250 ft
yp=
175 ft
Clearance Value
C=
31.4 ft ( more than the required 30ft)

Using the Level Span Approximation for Sag & Tension Calculations with an Uneven Span.
From the calculation above use the inclined span length of 1857.8 ft as a ruling span of a level span. Then set the design condition by assigning
the conductor tension in the loadings table equal to the average tension in the uneven span ( 8374.6 lbs). The calculated sag in the level span
approximation will be 132.07 ft (a 3 inch deviation) at the design condition. Now stringing tables can be created for the conductor
approximating its behavior as a level span.

Checking for Tower Uplift.

In the example above the vertical tension on the lower tower was -261 lbs. The negative value indicates that the cable is pulling the tower
downwards. If the tension in the cable was much higher then the vertical tension may become a positive value. For example, enter 10000 lbs
as horizontal tension and press the [Calculate] button. The vertical tension on the lower tower is +250 lbs indicating an upward pull of the
tower from the cable.

Alcoa SAG10 White Papers

Appendix J

Inclined Span Module

Equations Used
BACKGROUND
The general shape of the hanging cable is described by the differential equation

d2y 1
dy
= 1
2
dx
a
dx

where

a=

H
w

(1)

where a is the catenary constant, H is the horizontal tension, w is tha cable weight and y=f(x) is the catenary curve that describes the
geometry of any uniform cable. This equation is solved by separation of variables by assigning the curve slope with a new variable f=dy/dx
such that

1+ f 2
df
=
dx
a
a sinh

( f ) = x xC

a
1+ f 2

df = dx

f =

dy
x xC
= sinh

dx
a

x xC
y ( x ) = y C + a cosh
1
a

(2)

(3)

(4)

where x C and yC the integration constants. From (3) it is evident that when x=x C the slope of the curve is zero and since the 2nd derivative is
always positive this point represents the minimum of the curve. In fact when x=x C (4) becomes y=yC and thus the coordinate point (x C , yC) is
the lowest point on the catenary curve. Hence, once the lowest point on the curve is calculated the entire catenary curve is defined. To
calculate the coordinates for the lowest point the tower supports are used as fixed points on the curve.

END SUPPORTS
The two end supports represent two constraints for equation (4) which can be used to from a system of two equations. Solving this system
yields the coordinates for the lowest point C. If each support has a set of coordinates (0 , 0) & (S , h) that the curve must pass through, the
following two constraints must be enforced.

x
0 = y C + a cosh C 1
a

(5)

S xC
h = yC + a cosh
1
a

(6)

SIMPLIFICATION & SOLUTION

Simplifying equations (5) and (6) and separating yC from x C yields

yC
x
= cosh C 1
a
a
h yC
S xC
= cosh
1
a
a

(7)

(8)

with x C and yC the two unknowns. By subtracting (7) from (8) we get

h
S xC
x
= cosh
cosh C
a
a
a

(9)

which is solved for x C as

xC =

S
+ a sinh
2

S /a
h
e
a 1 e S /a

(10)

Equation (7) is solved for y C as

x
y C = a cosh C 1
a

(11)

Now the shape of the catenary curve is completely defined since the lowest point (x C , yC) is defined and equation (4) can be used directly for
it is shape.

Alcoa SAG10 White Papers

Appendix J

Inclined Span Module

CATENARY CURVE ALGORITHM

Below are the steps needed to define the catenary function y(x) given S,h
1. Calculate the catenary constant a=H/w
2. Define a temporary variable z=h*sqrt(exp(S/a))/(a*(1-exp(S/a)))
3. Calculate x C = S/2+a*sinh-1(z) = S/2+a*ln(z+sqrt(1+z^2))
4. Calculate yC = -a*(cosh(-x C/a)-1)
5. Define the function y(x) = yC+a*(cosh((x-x C)/a)-1)

(equation 1)
(from equation 10)
(equation 10)
(equation 11)
(equation 4)

SAG CALCULATION
Sag is defined as the maximum distance between the catenary curve and the inclined span line (the line connecting the tower supports). The
catenary curve y(x) is defined in the previous paragraph. The inclined span line Y(x) is defined as

Y ( x) = (h / S ) x

(12)

The vertical separation between Y(x) and y(x) is

D( x ) = Y ( x) y ( x) =

x xC
= (h / S ) x yC a cosh
1
a

(13)

The maximum of D(x) is the root x D of the slope function

dD( x )
h
x xC
= sinh D
dx x = x D S
a

=0

(14)

Solving for x D yields the sag points horizontal coordinate

1 h
x D = xC + a sinh
S

(15)

The vertical coordinate yD is calculated from (4) the catenary curve such as yD = y( x D ). The sag value is calculated from (13) using x=x D
yielding

D=

h
S

S2 + h2 S
1 h
x
+
a
sinh

y
+
a

C
C

S
S

(16)

In the limiting case where h=0 then the sag value is

S
Dh= 0 = y C = a cosh 1
2a

(17)

CLEARANCE CALCULATION
Once the catenary curve is defined then given any clearance point (x P , yP ) the clearance value is

x xC
C = y( x P ) y P = y C + a cosh P
1 y P
a

Alcoa SAG10 White Papers

(18)

Appendix J

Inclined Span Module

LENGTH AND STRAIN

The length of the inclined span catenary curve is
2

L=

dy
1 + dx
dx

(19)

which simplifies to

S xC
x
L = a sinh
+ sinh C
a
a

(20)

Correspondingly, the cable strain is

L
h2 + S 2

(21)

CABLE TENSION
Given the horizontal tension H and the cable weight w the vertical tension on the cable is always equal to

V ( x) = H

dy
x xC
= H sinh

dx
a

(22)

The net tension T(x) is the vector sum of H and V(x)

x xC
x xC
T ( x) = H 1 + sinh 2
= H cosh

a
a

(23)

At the lower and upper support points the tension simplifies to

T L = H w yC

TR = H + w (h yC )

&

(24)

AVERAGE TENSION
To get an accurate average cable tension the cable must be split up into N segments each of length Li and calculate the weighted average of
the internal tension Ti of each segment such that

Pav = Li Ti
i=1

L
i =1

(25)

In practice, such a complex calculation is not necessary since the result is always very close to the average tension between the supports
minus half the sag weight. As a rule of thumb then, the average tension is

Pav = (TL + TR ) / 2 w D / 3

(26)

In the inclined span module of sag10 there is the option to compute the average tension with either the weighted average method (25), or the
approximation in (26).

Alcoa SAG10 White Papers