Finite element modeling of guyed back spars in cable logging

In this study a finite element model of a back spar system was developed with three guylines opposing the skyline strap tension. In this paper the allowable skyline strap tension is the tension in the skyline strap that results in the maximum normal stress on a transverse cross section of the tree being equal to an assumed allowable stress. An iterative routine was developed to find the allowable skyline strap tension, and this routine was found to converge rapidly from initial values that were below and above the allowable skyline strap tension. Two algorithms were developed for finding the maximum normal stress on a transverse cross section of a tree, method 1 and method 2. If the plane that the tree displaced in was known a priori, then method 2 could be used, and it was found to be less sensitive to mesh coarseness. If the plane that the tree displaced in was not known a priori, then method 1 had to be used with a less coarse mesh. It was found that the stress concentrations due to simplified cable connections were not significant for rigging configurations that allowed a larger rigging point displacement. The rigging configurations that allowed larger rigging point displacements have stress fields that are dominated by bending, while for rigging configurations that allow only small rigging point displacements, the stress fields are dominated by axial compression.