Dynamic modeling and simulation of rigid-flexible coupling cable system by absolute nodal coordinate formulation

Area of Science:

• Mechanical Engineering
• Computational Mechanics
• Dynamics and Control

Background:

• Large deformation analysis of coupled rigid-flexible cable systems is crucial for understanding complex dynamic behaviors.
• Existing numerical methods may face challenges in accurately simulating these systems.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and analyze a numerical strategy for simulating rigid-flexible coupling cable systems under large deformations.
• To investigate the influence of system parameters on the dynamic stability and motion of flexible cable bodies.

Main Methods:

• Utilized beam elements from absolute node coordinate formulation to model the flexible cable.
• Proposed an integration strategy combining Implicit Euler with the Minimum Residual Method (MINRES) for numerical solutions.
• Performed simulations to analyze the effects of rigid component distribution and flexible element length.

Main Results:

• Increasing the number and uniform distribution of rigid components enhances the stability of the flexible cable's swing.
• Increasing the number of flexible beam elements, with constant total cable length, amplifies nonlinear dynamics and reduces stability.
• System dynamics are significantly influenced by the configuration and number of rigid components and flexible element discretization.

Conclusions:

• The proposed Implicit Euler-MINRES integration strategy effectively simulates large deformation rigid-flexible cable systems.
• System design parameters, specifically the number and placement of rigid components, are critical for controlling flexible cable dynamics.
• Optimizing the discretization of flexible elements is essential for maintaining stability in dynamic analyses.