A model for contact and friction between beams under large deformation and sheaves

Abstract This work focuses on the modeling of contact between sheaves and flexible axially moving beams. A two-dimensional beam finite element is employed, based on the absolute nodal coordinate formulation (ANCF) with an improved selective reduced integration for the virtual work of elastic and viscous damping forces. For the efficient modeling of contact between flexible axially moving beams and sheaves in systems such as belt-drives or reeving systems, a number of newly developed algorithms is presented. The computation of normal contact is based on a penalty formulation using a spring-damper model, while for the efficient contact detection a bounding box which fits the exact dimensions of the finite elements is employed. For the detection and computation of contact, the beam elements are divided into linear segments. The modeling of tangential contact is based on a bristle model for friction extended for being compatible with an implicit time integration. A numerical example of a belt drive showed good convergence and agreement with analytical solutions.