The generic model of a cable with small bending stiffness and anchored to flexible supports in rotation and translation is considered. An asymptotic analysis of the natural frequencies of this generic model is derived and shows that, for small bending stiffness, the first few natural frequencies can be expressed as a function of the cable axial force, the small bending stiffness and a single dimensionless group collecting the information of all other problem parameters. This formulation is used to develop an identification procedure of the cable axial force. Two formulations are proposed, one numerical and one semi-analytical based on a simple linear regression model. Both methods do not attempt at separately identifying the problem parameters since the observability analysis has revealed that only the cable axial force, the bending stiffness and the dimensionless group can be identified. In particular, the second method is very simple to implement and provides estimates of the cable axial force which account for the flexibility of the support. The proposed method can therefore be seen as an extension of usual identification techniques based on linear regressions of natural frequencies vs. mode number relations, by considering at the same time the bending stiffness and the deformability of supports. Being simple and robust as shown by means of an uncertainty quantification analysis, the proposed method can be conveniently embedded in the framework of a continuous monitoring strategy.

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