ASCE/SEI 19-16

Empirical equations that predict cable fatigue life have been developed that are simple to use, but are rope- or strand-specific. For six-strand wire rope, Paton et al. (2001) proposed the equation:

in which N = fatigue life in cycles and R = the fluctuating axial load range expressed as a percentage of minimum breaking strength. Also, the American Petroleum Institute, in API Recommended Practice 2FP1 (API 1993), for cable systems for wire rope moorings provides the equation:

in which P = ratio (not percentage) of load range to minimum breaking strength. API recommends dividing the calculated fatigue life N by 3.0 to arrive at a design service life.

As further sources, the Post-Tensioning Institute (PTI 2012, 2006) and the British Standards Institution (2006), in BS-EN 1993-1-11, “Eurocode 3: Design of steel structures, Part 2: design of structures with tension components,” treat cable fatigue.