Hi all,

The Abaqus manual mentions that a Cylindrical connector element outputs constraint forces: f2, f3 at the shaft/sleeve interface. But they come out as zero in my simulation. I tried both pre-defined and user-defined friction definitions for this connector. The constraint forces cannot physically be zero. Does anyone know how to get this information out?

What I am trying to model: a pulley with a cord running over it. Pulley is made up of two RETRACTOR connectors on either sides of a CYLINDRICAL connector (all nodes/wires coincident). Constraint forces at the shaft of the Cylindrical connector should satisfy static equilibrium (in translation) with the tensions in the cord. This means the constraint forces need to be non-zero but the history output shows them as zero.

[edit] The portions of the cord on either sides of the above arrangement are modelled using SLIP RING connectors. I have verified that mass flow into the first retractor is equal to the mass flow out of the second retractor. Everything works fine with constant friction in the cylindrical connector. Just the force constraint output is zero!

Thanks,

Harsha.