Modelling a rope in Solidworks 2006/ 2007

[dudeSW]

I am trying to model a braided rope in Solidworks. Can anyone advise me on how to do this. I have tried many things and have been unsuccesful. If anyone has any suggestions please let me know.

Thank you!!

 

[EEnd]

Regardless of if you could accurately model an object like that one, could you trust the results of a FEA analysis of it.

The actual response of that material to a load will depend a lot on factors which will be hard to capture in an FEA program. Specifically the wires may or may not slide against one another depending on friction and the applied load. Additionally there could be significant change in the orientation / configuration of the strands with respect to the load.

You may have more success experimentally determining the behavior of the rope and applying appropriate material properties to a geometrically simpler shape for further analysis.

Eric

 

[ShaggyPE]

Regardless of if you could accurately model an object like that one, could you trust the results of a FEA analysis of it.

The actual response of that material to a load will depend a lot on factors which will be hard to capture in an FEA program. Specifically the wires may or may not slide against one another depending on friction and the applied load. Additionally there could be significant change in the orientation / configuration of the strands with respect to the load.

You may have more success experimentally determining the behavior of the rope and applying appropriate material properties to a geometrically simpler shape for further analysis.

I agree 1-million % with EEnd. You are way better off performing some real world tests.

-Dustin
Professional Engineer
Certified SolidWorks Professional
Certified COSMOSWorks Designer Specialist

 

[dudeSW]

Regardless, I am still interested in trying to figure out how to model something like this. I appreciate all the responses but still welcome suggestions on how to accurately model something like this.

Thank you.

 

[ctopher]

All of the above suggestions...and practice.

Chris
SolidWorks/PDMWorks 08 3.1
AutoCAD 06/08
ctopher's home (updated Jul 13, 2008)
ctopher's blog

 

[SnowCrash]

Model rope? Fraid not.
"found at the end"

--
Hardie "Crashj" Johnson
SW 2008 SP4
Nvidia Quadro FX 1000
AMD Athalon 1.8 GHz 2 Gig RAM