Effective inelastic bending behavior of multi-wire cables using Finite Elements accounting for wire contact

This contribution focuses on the investigation of inelastic structural effects occurring during the bending deformation of cables using detailed finite element models of helix wire strands. Due to the complex structure of cables usually consisting of concentric layers of intertwined wires, shields and the outer jacket, inelastic deformation behaviour has to be expected. In this work, we model simplified cables as strands of helix wires discretised with quadratic beam elements to investigate the influence of geometric parameters such as the helix angle of the wires and the interactions of the wires by means of frictionless or frictional contact models. Starting at low model complexity, we use double wire and seven wire models to simulate pure bending of intertwined strands omitting material inelasticity to avoid superposition of structural and material effects. Different variations of contact states in the undeformed configuration of the seven wire strand are taken into account allowing for the direct observation of the influence of active contacts on the strand's bending response. First steps towards modelling the interactions between wires and objects relevant in cable bundle assembly, e.g. cable ties or clips, are presented for the double wire model. The presented models yield a valuable toolbox for the investigation of specific structural parameters affecting the deformation behaviour of cables.