Isogeometrical approach for cable type structures allowing large sliding contact

A special combination of two finite elements approaches is considered in order to derive a formulation suitable for cable type structures. First, a finite beam element allowing arbitrarily large rotations together with a high order approximation technique including a C 1 ‐continuous approximation is used to model cable behavior. Afterwards, a covariant approach for a curve‐to‐curve contact is exploited to incorporate contact between a pair of cable elements. This leads to a cable type element with contact. In numerical examples both “soft” and “hard” cables are represented. (© 2009 Wiley‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)