Elasto-magnetic(EM) tension sensing technology has many advantages in the tensile monitoring of flexible cable. However, the problem excites that the component under test cannot be fully magnetized by the excitation coils when this method is used to the solid round steel suspender. Herein, we analyze the magnetization process of the round steel hanger, according to its structure and mechanical characteristics. Then, the excitation coils of the sensors are optimized by modeling and simulation. Two kinds of sensors are developed for the conventional round steel suspender with a diameter of Φ85 mm, and a larger one with a diameter of Φ120 mm. The performance of two sensors are tested thought the static loading experiments. And the conventional strain gauges are used for comparation. Experimental results show that the optimized excitation coil can fully magnetize the Φ85 mm round steel suspender. The full-scale error of EM-sensors is less than 2% (average value -0. 15% ), which is significantly better than the result of the strain gauge (average value -1. 95% ). Experimental results demonstrate the superiors of EM sensors in linearity and repeatability, which meets requirements of the tension measurement of the conventional diameter solid round steel. The excitation coil for Φ120 mm round steel suspender should be further optimized for the guarantee of the accuracy and robustness of the sensor.