Elongation and Creeping of Cables in Buildings

After steel wires and steel cables have been discovered for the construction of long span bridges in the middle of the 19^th century, it took another century to establish the use of cables for other buildings. In Europe the Olympic Game roof in Munich for the 1972 Olympics was not the first building with cables, but inspired many clients, architects and engineers to cover large spaces with cable structures. In the 1990s many stadium roofs have been designed using cable structures with only 20 – 30 % of the steel weight compared to conventional steel girders. Also for office buildings and skyscrapers stainless steel cables are now used as tension framework in transparent, almost invisible glass curtain walls. Exhibitions halls, airport terminals, railway stations, museums and concert halls are further applications for the extreme lightness and strength of structural cables. Still bridges challenge engineers and downtown locations ask for landmark designs with architecturally pleasing details, without visible threaded rods or other bulky anchorages. Advanced cable structure specialists can engineer and manufacture cable structures without length adjustment within the cable system. Due to the fabrication to very small tolerances in the factory, ready to install components can be supplied to the construction site.