Ball and Socket Simulation

[ptc-5291167]

Hi all,

I am trying to model a ball and socket type connection for a cable. The ball end slides into a cylindrical slot and tension is applied by turning a turnbuckle. I am concerned with the stresses on the contact surfaces between the ball and the slot.

For my first iteration, I have made the slot and the ball the same diameter. How would I go about constraining the ball in the slot? I see that there is a ball constraint, but I'm not certain of how to use it.

Ultimately I would like to get to analysing what is shown in capture 2, where the ball is slightly smaller than the slot, which would be closer to the real case.

Any help would be appreciated.

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[danderson]

I would add 3 almost no spring force springs (spring to ground type) to the cable assembly to stabilize the cable. This give the simulation a starting point to work from.

To define the relationship between the ball end and the groove it sits in.

I would define a contact surface to surface for every surface segment combination that could possibly make contact as load is applied. Should be somewere around 12 or so contacts to be defined.

Hope this give you a starting point.

Don Anderson