You have likely seen the RecurDyn nonlinear flexible body capability used to simulated the flexible behavior of solid geometry or sheet bodies. Less well known is that RecurDyn’s nonlinear flexible body capability includes the ability to simulate a flexible wire or cable, whether interacting with other rigid or flexible geometry.
FunctionBay has provided a YouTube video (see below) that shows the steps of creating a RecurDyn model that simulates the dynamics of a mass hanging from a wire that wraps around a cylinder, as shown in the figure.
Below is a step-by-step explanation about how to create and analyze a flexible wire easily.
Step One
Basically, a flexible wire is created as a series of beam elements. In this model we will create a 2D Curve within the RecurDyn Body Edit Mode.
Step Two
Select the body that contains the created 2D Curve, click the right mouse button and select the Mesh mode to start Auto Mesh. Set the Mesh Type to Beam element.
Step Three
In the Material Property window of the generated beam body, enter the properties based on the wire you desire to analyze.
Step Four
Finally, model the contacts and constraints according to the analysis conditions for the wire created as shown in the video below.