CABLE-PULLEY ELEMENT IN FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS OF CABLEWAY ERECTION SYSTEM

In order to model the pulley in structures, a new element is developed for the pulley and its supported cable segment, with the radius of pulley taken into consideration. This new three-node element, which is called the pulley element, takes the center of the pulley as the middle node, and the cable ends at each side of the pulley as the other two nodes. The new element simplifies computations by automatically adjusting the cable on each side of the pulley to maintain equilibrium. The derivation is based on the basic principles of finite element analysis, and the relation of the forces in the element at the equilibrium state is used. The related algorithms are described, and examples confirm their validity. The new element can be incorporated into conventional finite element analysisschemes. The final example shows the effectiveness and simplicity in of using the new element structural analysis of cable structures with pulleys.