#catenary

[nickdewolfarchive]

boston area september 1959

trolleybus wires

photograph by nick dewolf https://www.flickr.com/photos/dboo/16818177937

[alwayswonderingandwandering]

catenary

[autistobrat]

Infodump of the day bc why not

when you hold your necklace loose

and flip it so it's like the picture on the right

it is the same with the arc on the bridge

When you hold a necklace loosely, it naturally hangs into a catenary curve. When you flip it vertically, you get the same shape as a suspension bridge arch, or even better, a catenary arch.

A bit detailed explanation incoming:

A hanging chain like a necklace forms a catenary, from the Latin catena, that means chain.

Mathematically, this curve is:

y = a cosh (x/a)

where cosh is the hyperbolic cosine.

When you flip the necklace vertically, you get the inverted catenary.

And it is the shape that perfectly distributes compressive forces.

In bridges or arches, that is the best structure it can have.

If you want a self-supporting arch, it should be in the shape of an inverted catenary, because it makes all forces compressive.

[isomorphismes]

Every arc of a catenary, is itself a catenary!

[sfmuniphotos]

Overhead Muni light-rail and trolleybus wires criss-cross at the corner of Duboce Avenue and Church Street near the tunnel portal.

[metrocentric]

Leigh on Sea

[realismoutopico]

Álvaro Siza Vieira / Portuguese National Pavilion / 1998 / via Divisare / ArchDaily / Image © Giovanni Nardi

[ultimatepad]

‘Catenary Waves,’

Design and Visualization by Javier Valero