Abstract
Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) is an advanced composite material with the advantages of high strength, lightweight, no corrosion and excellent fatigue resistance. Therefore, unidirectional CFRP has great potential for cables and to replace steel cables in cable structures. However, CFRP is a typical orthotropic material and its strength and modulus perpendicular to the fiber direction are much lower than those in the fiber direction, which brings a challenge for anchoring CFRP cables. This paper presents an overview of application of CFRP cables in cable structures, including historical review, state of the art and prospects for the future. After introducing properties of carbon fibers, mechanical characteristics and structural forms of CFRP cables, existing CFRP cable structures in the world (all of them are cable bridges) are reviewed. Especially, their CFRP cable anchorages are presented in detail. New applications for CFRP cables, i.e., cable roofs and cable facades, are also presented, including the introduction of a prototype CFRP cable roof and the conceptual design of a novel structure—CFRP Continuous Band Winding System. In addition, other challenges that impede widespread application of CFRP cable structures are briefly introduced.
Highlights
A cable structure can be defined as a structure in which a cable or a system of cables is used as the visible and primary load bearing structural element [1].The history of human built cable structures can be traced back to the Stone Age
The availability of high-strength steel cables allows the construction of long-span cable structures like modern suspension bridges with spans of more than 1000 m; it makes the construction of cable structures with new forms become reality, such as cable roofs and cable facades
In orthogonally loaded cable structures, such as many cable roofs and cable facades, the structural stiffness is mainly comprised of the geometric stiffness, which is controlled by the pre-tension force of cables, instead of the elastic stiffness controlled by the elastic modulus of cables
Summary
A cable structure can be defined as a structure in which a cable or a system of cables is used as the visible and primary load bearing structural element [1]. TThhee ttyyppiiccaall ssttrruuccttuurree ooff CCFFRRPP ccaann bbee iilllluussttrraatteedd aass FFiigguurree 22. TThhee ppoollyymmeerr rreessiinnss ffoorr CCFFRRPP aarree ooff ttwwoo mmaaiinn ttyyppeess,, nnaammeellyy,, tthheerrmmooppllaassttiicc rreessiinn aanndd tthheerrmmoosseettttiinngg rreessiinn. TThhee mmoolleeccuullaarr ssttrruuccttuurreess ooff tthheessee ttwwoo ppoollyymmeerr rreessiinnss aarree iilllluussttrraatteedd iinn FFiigguurree 44 [[1133]]. IInn tthhee ffiibbeerr ddiirreeccttiioonn,, CCFFRRPP mmaaiinnllyy eexxhhiibbiittss tthhee mmeecchhaanniiccaall pprrooppeerrttiieess ooff tthhee ccaarrbboonn fifibbeerr,, ii..ee..,, rreellaattiivveellyy hhiigghh ssttrreennggtthh aanndd hhiigghh mmoodduulluuss. BBuutt iinn tthhee ddiirreeccttiioonn ppeerrppeennddiiccuullaarr ttoo tthhee fifibbeerr aaxxiiss,, CCFFRRPP mmaaiinnllyy eexxhhiibbiittss tthhee mmeecchhaanniiccaall pprrooppeerrttiieess ooff tthhee ppoollyymmeerr rreessiinn,, ii..ee..,, rreellaattiivveellyy llooww ssttrreennggtthh aanndd llooww mmoodduulluuss. The photo and sketch of Laroin CFRP Footbridge are shown in Figure 15 [29]. The CFRP cable used is a non-laminated p1in3-loaded strip-loop (see Figure 23b).
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
