Hi all,

For a little while now I have been experimenting with running studies on the capabilities of a design of spreader beam that I have come up with. The only issue is I am experiencing difficulty with being able to constrain/define the "chains". At first I thought of modelling them as truss elements as axial loading was all that I was concerned about on the chains but I could not bond the end of the truss to the face of the shackle. The scope of my study is to see the maximum stress and displacement on the beams. The chain I have had to model crudely because I feel its impact would help to aid a more realistic approach to crushing the beam as it would in reality.

I am somewhat stuck at the moment, and any help would be greatly appreciated. I have ran some hand calcs on this and I know it can withstand the load but I would still like to simulate this in SOLIDWORKS. I have attached my model for reference.

The load is perfectly vertical on the bottom hole and the chains can flex but the top face I have attempted to fix with a 0 translation reference geometry fixture in all directions. I still wish it to rotate if necessary. Also I havent been getting symmetrical results which is concerning.