tow cable modeling program
tow cable modeling program
(OP)
Hi, I'm attempting to write as simple program to analyze the forces acting on a tow cable that is being pulled through the water by a ship. To serve as a very simple model, I want to assume that the ship is not moving up and down and the motion is in a single direction (only 2D motion, no turning). For modeling, I want to split the cable into many rigid links that are connected to each other. At the end of the cable, I would just put a weight (instead of a towfish). Again, I would like to take a small bite by making a simple model that analyzes the forces acting on a set of connected rigid links. Some of the forces that I can identify acting on each link is gravitational force, boyant force, drag force, and forces acting on it by adjacent links.
This is a project that I've decided to do for my computational physics course, and we've only been given about three weeks to come up with something. I'm a pretty experienced C programmer and I've successdully modeled the trajectory of baseballs and rockets using the Runga Kutta 4th order method, so I was thinking about using that somehow. Any suggestions as to resources or how to go about doing this would be great!
This is a project that I've decided to do for my computational physics course, and we've only been given about three weeks to come up with something. I'm a pretty experienced C programmer and I've successdully modeled the trajectory of baseballs and rockets using the Runga Kutta 4th order method, so I was thinking about using that somehow. Any suggestions as to resources or how to go about doing this would be great!





RE: tow cable modeling program
I'd also make sure each link has an associated axial stiffness, damping and mass.
You'll run into a bit of bother when it comes to working out the drag force, when the axis of the link is not paralllel to the direction of motion.
Cheers
Greg Locock
Please see FAQ731-376 for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips.