Free vibration analysis of cable network structures using dynamic element method

A new type of exact element method for calculation of natural frequencies of tightly stretched cable network structures was presented. Some of the theoretical aspects of the dynamic element method (DEM) were considered. Then the element formulation of dynamic element method of taut string was presented. Only motions in the vertical cable plane were regarded. The global matrices were assembled by a summation process the same as the conventional finite element method. Three illustrative cable network structures were discussed to demonstrate the implementation of the current method. Solutions show that the results by using the DEM are more accurate than those with the conventional finite element method, especially at high order frequencies.