London Eye (ferris wheel): what are these things? 1

[kingnero]

London Eye overview:

http://files.engineering.com/getfile.aspx?folder=47cbda96-ca76-47bc-af79-326bbf9b33b8&file=eye01.jpg

base for cables:

http://files.engineering.com/getfile.aspx?folder=4d5826e3-7967-43ac-bbda-15355b6abe6f&file=eye02.jpg

The London Eye is held in place by means of six large cables, which you can see in the thumbnail pics above.
On those cables, a special "weight"-like sort of thing is attached (see full res pic:

http://files.engineering.com/getfile.aspx?folder=1ac3ddc3-e75a-484c-b405-3026c3d18a3e&file=eye03.jpg

).

Anyone knows what they are/what they are for?
I've been looking at those for quite some time, and besides they're nicely aligned I have no idea whatsoever what they do...
only reasonable explanation I can come up with, is that they will rotate along the axis of the cables if they should loosen or unwind, but even that is very unlikely, besides there are other visible markers for that sort of things...

Thanks in advance...

kn.

 

[Ron]

Vibration dampers

 

[kingnero]

I'm not familiar with anything vibration related, but do they actually work, that close to the fixed end?
Cables are around 40 m long, and these are attached at ~2.5 m height.
Also, their weight seems negligible compared to the weight of the cable.

However, I suppose (and I sincerely hope, as I took a ride on the thing) that the people who designed this knew what they were doing...

 

[kingnero]

edit above: length of the cables should be around 80 m !

 

[Qshake]

Ron is right...but how did I know that in advance!

Anyway the website below shows a similar if not the same product.

http://www.indiamart.com/kse-electricals/transmission-line-materials.html

Regards,
Qshake

Eng-Tips Forums:Real Solutions for Real Problems Really Quick.

 

[MikeHalloran]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockbridge_damper

Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA