Affiliations: The Charles E. Via, Jr. Department of Civil and
Environmental Engineering, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University,
Blacksburg, VA 24061-0105, USA
Note: [] Corresponding author: Prof. Raymond H. Plaut, The Charles E.
Via, Jr., Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Virginia Tech,
Blacksburg, VA 24061-0105, USA. Tel.: +1 540 231 6072; Fax: +1 540 231 7532;
E-mail: rplaut@vt.edu
Abstract: Large tensile forces, known as snap loads, can occur when a slack
rope becomes taut. Such forces may damage the rope or masses connected to it.
Experiments are described in which one end of a rope is attached to the top of
a drop tower and the bottom end is attached to a weight. The weight is raised
to a certain height and then released. The force at the top of the rope and the
acceleration of the weight are recorded during the first snap load that occurs.
Repeated drop tests are performed on each rope. The effects of the type of
rope, drop height, drop weight, whether the rope has been subjected to static
precycling, and the number of previous dynamic tests are examined. A
mathematical model is proposed for the rope force as a function of the
displacement and velocity of the weight.
