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3.15.3 Rigid Cable
A rigid cable can be used to apply a load to a series of rigid bodies that are connected at fixed points (fixed with respect to the rigid body). The cable runs through these points and the user can prescribe the force at the end of the cable. The rigid cable requires the following parameters.
force The magnitude of the force applied at the end of the cable.
force_direction The direction of the force (FEBio will normalize this vector if needed.)
relative If set to 1 the coordinates of the fixed points are relative to the rigid body frame of reference, otherwise they are in global coordinates.
point For each fixed point, enter the coordinates of the point. This tag requires the rb attribute to denote the rigid body it is attached to.
The following shows an example.
<rigid_cable>
<force lc="1">1000</force> <force_direction>0,0,-1</force_direction> <relative>1</relative> <point rb="1">0,0,0</point> <point rb="2">0,0,0</point>
</rigid_cable>
This example defines a cable that runs through the centers of mass of two rigid bodies. The force is applied in the -z direction at the end of the cable (i.e. point 2).