Multibody Mechanics and Visualization is designed to appeal to computer-savvy students who will acquire significant skills in mathematical and physical modelling of mechanical systems in the process of producing attractive computer simulations and animations. The emphasis here is on general skills with all-round applicability rather than the ability to solve "cooked-up” problems. The approachable style and clear presentation of this text will help you grasp the essentials of: modeling the kinematics and dynamics of arbitrary multibody mechanisms; formulating a mathematical description of general motions of such mechanisms; implementing the description in a computer-graphics application for the animation/visualization of the movement. Multibody Mechanics and Visualization plays down the prediction of dynamics by formal analysis of differential equations while preparing its students to perform such analyses with greater understanding later. The text relies on the following principles for effective tuition: an inductive approach to learning - discerning general patterns from particular observations; repetition and review of important principles to reinforce your learning through numerous examples; obvious visual guidance that shows you at a glance which information you need for different levels of understanding; computer tools, visual representations and elements of active learning integrated into the text to suit the way you want to learn. Supported in the text in parallel with the theoretical presentation is the simulation and animation application Mambo. In contrast with existing commercially available educational software tools, Mambo requires detailed input from you in order to define the specific geometry of a mechanism as well as the differential equations governing its behavior while allowing you to visualize the results of your efforts. The Mambo toolbox enables you to provide these specifications for mechanisms that would pose insurmountable algebraic challenges to manual calculation. With these tools, you will be able to see the implications of decisions made throughout the modeling process, to check your mathematical analyses, and to enjoy the fruit of your labor! Mambo can be freely downloaded from the author's website and runs under any version of MS Windows®. The toolbox is compatible with the MapleTM software environment and the Matlab® extended symbolic toolbox.

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.

A rigorous analysis and description of general motion in mechanical systems, which includes over 400 figures illustrating every concept, and a large collection of useful exercises. Ideal for students studying mechanical engineering, and as a reference for graduate students and researchers.

The book presents innovative methods for the solution of multibody descriptor models. It emphasizes the interdependence of modeling and numerical solution of the arising system of differential-algebraic equations (DAE). Here, it is shown that modifications of non-stiff ODE-solvers are very effective for a large class of multibody systems. In particular, implicit methods are found to dovetail optimally with the linearly implicit structure of the model equations, allowing an inverse dynamics approach for their solution. Furthermore, the book stresses the importance of software development in scientific computing and thus presents a complete example of an interdisciplinary problem solution for an important field of application from technical mechanics.

This book develops the fundamentals of multibody dynamics from the principles of elementary mechanics. It is written in a tutorial style with numerous examples and an emphasis upon computational methods. This book should be accessible to anyone with a basic knowledge of elementary mechanics and analysis. Multibody Dynamics examines the behavior of systems of bodies subjected to forces or constraints. The bodies may be securely or loosely connected, and flexible or rigid. Such generality allows the use of multibody systems to model an increasing number of physical systems ranging from robots, biosystems (human body models), satellite booms, large structures, chains and cables. Until recently, analyses of such systems were virtually intractable. With the availability of high-speed digital computers, however, and with corresponding advances in analysis methods, multibody dynamics analyses are not only feasible, they are also practical, and applicable, to these important physical systems.

Planar Multibody Dynamics: Formulation, Programming with MATLAB®, and Applications, Second Edition, provides sets of methodologies for analyzing the dynamics of mechanical systems, such as mechanisms and machineries, with coverage of both classical and modern principles. Using clear and concise language, the text introduces fundamental theories, computational methods, and program development for analyzing simple to complex systems. MATLAB is used throughout, with examples beginning with basic commands before introducing students to more advanced programming techniques. The simple programs developed in each chapter come together to form complete programs for different types of analysis. Features Two new chapters on free-body diagram and vector-loop concepts demonstrate that the modern computational techniques of formulating the equations of motion is merely an organized and systematic interpretation of the classical methods A new chapter on modeling impact between rigid bodies is based on two concepts known as continuous and piecewise methods A thorough discussion on modeling friction and the associated computational issues The short MATLAB® programs that are listed in the book can be downloaded from a companion website Several other MATLAB® programs and their user manuals can be downloaded from the companion website including: a general purpose program for kinematic, inverse dynamic, and forward dynamic analysis; a semi-general-purpose program that allows student to experiment with his or her own formulation of equations of motion; a special-purpose program for kinematic and inverse dynamic analysis of four-bar mechanisms The preceding three sets of programs contain animation capabilities for easy visualization of the simulated motion A greater range of examples, problems, and projects