Strand7 Software:  Galleries:  Structural:  Cable tray

Cable tray

A stainless steel cable tray is loaded to failure. The tray is supported on a steel pipe at one end. One symmetric half is modelled. The Strand7 model consists of shell elements.

Close-up view of the pipe support. This is modelled using contact elements to allow the tray to roll on its support as it is loaded.

A nonlinear material and geometric analysis is used to determine the ultimate load carrying capacity of the tray. Shown here is the post-buckled shape.

The Von Mises stress plot clearly shows the regions of the tray that yield.

The automatic XY-plot produced by Strand7 shows the definite failure point of the structure.