Investigating the rotation of cable bolts during pull out tests

Cable bolts are part of a more general category of structural elements known as wire ropes. Complexities of designing and manufacturing cable bolts have shrouded many mysteries in their performance both in academia and industry. Due to the compound nature of a cable, cables are known to rotate under axial load. This study has summarized and presented the observations and theories regarding the rotational tendency of cable bolts based on large-scale and small-scale laboratory pull out campaigns on various types of cable bolts encapsulated with a cementitious grout and two resins in monotonic and cyclic testing regimes. The results suggested that the role of rotation in reducing the axial capacity of the system is not as severe as once thought. Moreover, the results portray that an absolutes zero rotation test is an unrealistic scenario. Instead, the practitioner should take advantage of the unique failure mechanism of cable bolt systems in favour of the design.