Circus physics problem (chinese pole)

[oflocksley]

Hey everyone, so we are in the process of trying to create a rigging system for a chinese pole that does not involve fixed anchor points for performances. Our current idea is to use heavy enough objects to rig the chinese pole but we don't know how heavy to make these objects. This is a fun physics problem as it isn't exactly straightforward. So, a chinese pole is an 18 foot tall steel pole that is placed vertically. It is held in place by tension from three cables from the top of the pole moving outward to anchor points on the ground to create an equilateral triangle with sides of 25 feet or more. Traditionally, the anchor points would be bolted into the ground however, we will be in theaters where we won't have anchor points. Our solution is to create boxes with rubber bottoms to connect the top of the pole to. The question is how heavy do these boxes need to be at minimum so that they will maintain tension on the pole as we perform acrobatics. At most, we will have three acrobats on the pole at the same time near the top of the pole each weighing an average of 175 lbs. Currently, we are just going to purchase or rent a crane scale to measure the peak force applied to any given point. I'm curious if anyone wants to try and tackle this as a physics problem? How far away should our boxes be places and how heavy should they be to keep the pole upright? Keep in mind, it is only the tension of the three cables from the top of the pole to the ground that keeps the pole upright.

Here is an example to give a better idea of the type of things we do on said thing.

 

[Dale]

I am sorry, but given the risk of injury here it is absolutely essential that you hire a qualified professional engineer to do this design work. Such an engineer will charge you a fair rate for the design work, and then will stand behind the safety of the resulting design.

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