Dynamic Simulation - Cable / Rope Catenary

[amirandaL4VAC]

I've seen several versions of this question on the forums, but never a full answer. I'm trying to model a catenary (or sagging) cable / rope in dynamic simulation. It wraps around a pulley at it's highest point, and it's attached to a weight at the bottom, which is simultaneously attached to another cable on a trolley system. The picture below shows the setup.

I have it working treating the cables as rigid rods, but it's clear that the cable on the right will experience some sag. I have a few ideas on how to approach this.

1. Segment the cables into a hundred smaller cables and link them all together
2. Use the catenary equation and adaptivity to have the curve change as it moves (does adaptivity work with dynamic simulation?)
3. Use a sort of spring / damper if it has the ability to sag (least fleshed out idea)

If anyone has another idea how to approach this, or can back up / eliminate one of the ideas above, it would be greatly appreciated.

[admaiora · Accepted solution]

Hi, you can't simulate big rope stuff in dynamic simulation.

The best approach is with rigid links, to lighten the study you can maybe approach a 2d dynamic study (sketch parts)