Bungee Cord stops

[Isaac]

I am relatively inexperienced in rigging so bear with me on this one.

My director would like to see an approx. 40lb object come crashing down from 15ft. (yet not hit the floor) on two pieces of 1/16 aircraft cable. I have been toying with the idea of using bungee cords to slow the travel at the end and prevent shock loading the cable too much.
I have some background in physics and so I have been looking for physical data but have failed to find anything useful.

So, my question is, is this at all a reasonable idea and if so how do I go about calculating the length of cord and validating that I won't overload my cable.

 

[kicknargel]

I have to say, this is a non-standard rig that can probably be done safely, but needs to be designed and installed by an experienced, professional rigger. Success of failure is going to lie in myriad of details and procedures, and not just the math of the physics.

In terms of the math, I don't know if you're going to find it anywhere. Your pro rigger might need to get different materials to test, and make a mock rig with a dynamometer in line. Then select equipment with a breaking strength at least 10x the max force measured.

 

[What Rigger?]

Yeah, Isaac, I have to say you must not do this yourself. You will need to hire someone familiar with this sort of thing. Putting bungee into a gag is a whole different level of difficulty. It can be done, I use a similar gag in my show- but it was put together with the help of a stunt company and a boat load of math.

 

[LavaASU]

I am relatively inexperienced in rigging so bear with me on this one.

My director would like to see an approx. 40lb object come crashing down from 15ft. (yet not hit the floor) on two pieces of 1/16 aircraft cable. I have been toying with the idea of using bungee cords to slow the travel at the end and prevent shock loading the cable too much.
I have some background in physics and so I have been looking for physical data but have failed to find anything useful.

So, my question is, is this at all a reasonable idea and if so how do I go about calculating the length of cord and validating that I won't overload my cable.

How bout using a dynamic climbing rope instead? Still need a qualified rigger of course as theres lots to go wrong with that if done wrong. Won't look as cool... but less complicated...