Loading of Rolling Cart in Track???

[DgenR8]

Hey All,

I'm trying to analyze an assembly that consists of a rolling cart contained in two tracks. More specifcally, its a rectangle cart with steel wheels protruding from the sides. These wheels are captured between the flanges on two I-beams.

Maybe I can get a pic to work...

The mounts underneath are connected to a hydraulic cylinder, and the upper mounts are connected to a rigid load, so the farces along the track are equal and opposite. So, these mounts create a moment on the cart which is resisted by the wheels. How would you go about modeling a rolling but trapped system like this?

Thanks for any help...

 

[Sarnath]

Are the wheels guided on both sides as if it were in a C section, on either side or is it travelling on a flat plane?

 

[DgenR8]

Its in a C-channel on both sides. So, its trapped in two-dimensions. It can only roll back-and-forth in the channels. Its this back-and-forth freedom that I'm having trouble with.

I thought that maybe a "remote load" would do it. I think that I'd like to create a moment between the mounts on the cart and oppose that moment using the wheels.

 

[Sarnath]

for any analysis there should be 0 deg of freedom hence the moment created has to be calculated only by defining restraints. so you can define immovable constraint at one set of wheels and restraint in the normal to travel direction for the other set of wheels.
reason:
the wheels cannot move in the normal direction, it is restricted by the channel,
the above given restraints are for a beam with hinge at one end and roller at the other end.
hope am clear