Computational Dynamics In Multibody Systems

This volume contains the edited version of selected papers presented at the Nato Advanced Study Institute on "Computer Aided Analysis of Rigid and Flexible Mechanical Systems", held in Portugal, from the 27 June to 9 July, 1994. The present volume can be viewed as a natural extension of the material addressed in the Institute which was published by KLUWER in the NATO ASI Series, Vol. 268, in 1994. The requirements for accurate and efficient analysis tools for design of large and lightweight mechanical systems has driven a strong interest in the challenging problem of multibody dynamics. The development of new analysis and design formulations for multi body systems has been more recently motivated with the need to include general features such as: real-time simulation capabilities, active control of machine flexibilities and advanced numerical methods related to time integration of the dynamic systems equations. In addition to the presentation of some basic formulations and methodologies in dynamics of multibody systems, including computational aspects, major applications of developments to date are presented herein. The scope of applications is extended to vehicle dynamics, aerospace technology, robotics, mechanisms design, intermittent motion and crashworthiness analysis. Several of these applications are explored by many contributors with a constant objective to pace development and improve the dynamic performance of mechanical systems avoiding different mechanical limitations and difficult functional requirements, such as, for example, accurate positioning of manipulators.

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.

This volume provides the international multibody dynamics community with an up-to-date view on the state of the art in this rapidly growing field of research which now plays a central role in the modeling, analysis, simulation and optimization of mechanical systems in a variety of fields and for a wide range of industrial applications. This book contains selected contributions delivered at the ECCOMAS Thematic Conference on Multibody Dynamics, which was held in Brussels, Belgium and organized by the Université catholique de Louvain, from 4th to 7th July 2011. Each paper reflects the State-of-Art in the application of Multibody Dynamics to different areas of engineering. They are enlarged and revised versions of the communications, which were enhanced in terms of self-containment and tutorial quality by the authors. The result is a comprehensive text that constitutes a valuable reference for researchers and design engineers which helps to appraise the potential for the application of multibody dynamics methodologies to a wide range of areas of scientific and engineering relevance.

This book presents suitable methodologies for the dynamic analysis of multibody mechanical systems with joints. It contains studies and case studies of real and imperfect joints. The book is intended for researchers, engineers, and graduate students in applied and computational mechanics.

Computational Dynamics, 3rd edition, thoroughly revised and updated, provides logical coverage of both theory and numerical computation techniques for practical applications. The author introduces students to this advanced topic covering the concepts, definitions and techniques used in multi-body system dynamics including essential coverage of kinematics and dynamics of motion in three dimensions. He uses analytical tools including Lagrangian and Hamiltonian methods as well as Newton-Euler Equations. An educational version of multibody computer code is now included in this new edition www.wiley.com/go/shabana that can be used for instruction and demonstration of the theories and formulations presented in the book, and a new chapter is included to explain the use of this code in solving practical engineering problems. Most books treat the subject of dynamics from an analytical point of view, focusing on the techniques for analyzing the problems presented. This book is exceptional in that it covers the practical computational methods used to solve "real-world" problems. This makes it of particular interest not only for senior/ graduate courses in mechanical and aerospace engineering, but also to professional engineers. Modern and focused treatment of the mathematical techniques, physical theories and application of rigid body mechanics that emphasizes the fundamentals of the subject, stresses the importance of computational methods and offers a wide variety of examples. Each chapter features simple examples that show the main ideas and procedures, as well as straightforward problem sets that facilitate learning and help readers build problem-solving skills

Large-scale mechanical systems such as automobiles consist of interconnected rigid and deformable components. These multibody systems present complex problems. This introduction to multibody dynamics emphasises flexible body dynamics. It discusses basic kinematics and dynamics, modeling, and newer computational techniques.

In this work, outstanding, recent developments in various disciplines, such as structural dynamics, multiphysic mechanics, computational mathematics, control theory, biomechanics, and computer science, are merged together in order to provide academicians and professionals with methods and tools for the virtual prototyping of complex mechanical systems. Each chapter of the work represents an important contribution to multibody dynamics, a discipline that plays a central role in the modelling, analysis, simulation and optimization of mechanical systems in a variety of fields and for a wide range of applications.

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.