Modelling of inextensible cable dynamics with experiments

Abstract The recognition of very stiff axial elastic motion compared to the motion in the transverse direction for cable dynamics motivates separation of the axial and transversal dynamics. For certain applications, e.g. real-time model-based control, fast calculation of the transverse motion may be of high importance, motivating the development of numerically efficient software code. Separation of axial dynamics renders possible neglection or simplification of the axial dynamics if appropriate for the system studied. A model is proposed with the assumption of axial inextensible material and negligible bending, torsion and shear stiffness in the cable. Experiments are carried out to verify the model, and the results are compared with simulations. The comparison between the experiments and numerical simulations showed good agreement up to the second frequency range with resonant behavior and the corresponding motion amplitudes.