This volume examines the theoretical and practical needs on the subject of multibody system dynamics with emphasis on flexible systems and engineering applications. lt focuses on developing an all purpose algorithm for the dynamic simulation of flexible tree-like systems making use of matrix representation at all levels. The book covers new theories with engineering applications involved in broad fields which include; civil engineering, aerospace and robotics, as well as general and mechanical engineering. The applications include high temperature conditions, time variant contact conditions, biosystem analysis, vibration minimization and control.

This textbook – a result of the author’s many years of research and teaching – brings together diverse concepts of the versatile tool of multibody dynamics, combining the efforts of many researchers in the field of mechanics.

This volume examines the theoretical and practical needs on the subject of multibody system dynamics with emphasis on flexible systems and engineering applications. lt focuses on developing an all purpose algorithm for the dynamic simulation of flexible tree-like systems making use of matrix representation at all levels. The book covers new theories with engineering applications involved in broad fields which include; civil engineering, aerospace and robotics, as well as general and mechanical engineering. The applications include high temperature conditions, time variant contact conditions, biosystem analysis, vibration minimization and control.

The author developed this text over many years, teaching graduate courses in advanced dynamics and flexible multibody dynamics at the Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering of the Georgia Institute of Technology. The book presents a unified treatment of rigid body dynamics, analytical dynamics, constrained dynamics, and flexible multibody dynamics. A comprehensive review of numerical tools used to enforce both holonomic and nonholonomic constraints is presented. Advanced topics such as Maggi’s, index-1, null space, and Udwadia and Kalaba’s formulations are presented because of their fundamental importance in multibody dynamics. Methodologies for the parameterization of rotation and motion are discussed and contrasted. Geometrically exact beams and shells formulations, which have become the standard in flexible multibody dynamics, are presented and numerical aspects of their finite element implementation detailed. Methodologies for the direct solution of the index-3 differential-algebraic equations characteristic of constrained multibody systems are presented. It is shown that with the help of proper scaling procedures, such equations are not more difficult to integrate than ordinary differential equations. This book is illustrated with numerous examples and should prove valuable to both students and researchers in the fields of rigid and flexible multibody dynamics.

Flexible Multibody Dynamics comprehensively describes the numerical modelling of flexible multibody dynamics systems in space and aircraft structures, vehicles, and mechanical systems. A rigorous approach is followed to handle finite rotations in 3D, with a thorough discussion of the different alternatives for parametrization. Modelling of flexible bodies is treated following the Finite Element technique, a novel aspect in multibody systems simulation. Moreover, this book provides extensive coverage of the formulation of a general purpose software for flexible multibody dynamics analysis, based on an exhaustive treatment of large rotations and finite element modelling, and incorporating useful reference material. Features include different solution techniques such as: * time integration of differential-algebraic equations * non-linear substructuring * continuation methods * nonlinear bifurcation analysis. In essence, this is an ideal text for senior undergraduates, postgraduates and professionals in mechanical and aeronautical engineering, as well as mechanical design engineers and researchers, and engineers working in areas such as kinematics and dynamics of deployable structures, vehicle dynamics and mechanical design.

The German Research Council (DFG) decided 1987 to establish a nationwide five year research project devoted to dynamics of multibody systems. In this project universities and research centers cooperated with the goal to develop a general pur pose multibody system software package. This concept provides the opportunity to use a modular structure of the software, i.e. different multibody formalisms may be combined with different simulation programmes via standardized interfaces. For the DFG project the database RSYST was chosen using standard FORTRAN 77 and an object oriented multibody system datamodel was defined. The project included • research on the fundamentals of the method of multibody systems, • concepts for new formalisms of dynamical analysis, • development of efficient numerical algorithms and • realization of a powerful software package of multibody systems. These goals required an interdisciplinary cooperation between mathematics, compu ter science, mechanics, and control theory. ix X After a rigorous reviewing process the following research institutions participated in the project (under the responsibility of leading scientists): Technical University of Aachen (Prof. G. Sedlacek) Technical University of Darmstadt (Prof. P. Hagedorn) University of Duisburg M. Hiller) (Prof.

This enhanced fourth edition of Dynamics of Multibody Systems includes an additional chapter that provides explanations of some of the fundamental issues addressed in the book, as well as new detailed derivations of some important problems. Many common mechanisms such as automobiles, space structures, robots and micromachines have mechanical and structural systems that consist of interconnected rigid and deformable components. The dynamics of these large-scale multibody systems are highly nonlinear, presenting complex problems that in most cases can only be solved with computer-based techniques. The book begins with a review of the basic ideas of kinematics and the dynamics of rigid and deformable bodies before moving on to more advanced topics and computer implementation. The book's wealth of examples and practical applications will be useful to graduate students, researchers and practising engineers working on a wide variety of flexible multibody systems.