A velocity transformation method for the nonlinear dynamic simulation of railroad vehicle systems

The solution of the constrained multibody system equations of motion using the generalized coordinate partitioning method requires the identification of the dependent and independent coordinates. Using this approach, only the independent accelerations are integrated forward in time in order to determine the independent coordinates and velocities. Dependent coordinates are determined by solving the nonlinear constraint equations at the position level. If the constraint equations are highly nonlinear, numerical difficulties can be encountered or more Newton–Raphson iterations may be required in order to achieve convergence for the dependent variables. In this paper, a velocity transformation method is proposed for railroad vehicle systems in order to deal with the nonlinearity of the constraint equations when the vehicles negotiate curved tracks. In this formulation, two different sets of coordinates are simultaneously used. The first set is the absolute Cartesian coordinates which are widely used in general multibody system computer formulations. These coordinates lead to a simple form of the equations of motion which has a sparse matrix structure. The second set is the trajectory coordinates which are widely used in specialized railroad vehicle system formulations. The trajectory coordinates can be used to obtain simple formulations of the specified motion trajectory constraint equations in the case of railroad vehicle systems. While the equations of motion are formulated in terms of the absolute Cartesian coordinates, the trajectory accelerations are the ones which are integrated forward in time. The problems associated with the higher degree of differentiability required when the trajectory coordinates are used are discussed. Numerical examples are presented in order to examine the performance of the hybrid coordinate formulation proposed in this paper in the analysis of multibody railroad vehicle systems.     

Dynamic modelling of the double wishbone motor-vehicle suspension system

In this paper the dynamic analysis of the double wishbone motor-vehicle suspension system using the point-joint coordinates formulation is presented. The mechanical system is replaced by an equivalent constrained system of particles and then the laws of particle dynamics are used to derive the equations of motion. Due to the presence of large number of geometric and kinematic constraints the velocity transformation approach is used to eliminate some constraints. The equations of motion in terms of the Cartesian coordinates of the particles are transformed to a reduced set in terms of relative joint variables by defining differential-algebraic equations in terms of the joint variables are equal to the number of degrees of freedom of the whole system plus the number of cut-joint constraints corresponding to cut of kinematical closed loops. Use of both the Cartesian and relative joint variables produces an efficient set of equations without loss of generality. The chosen suspension includes open and closed loops with quarter-car model.     

Dynamic Analysis of Spatial Linkages: A Recursive Approach

In this paper, recursive equations of motion of spatial linkages are presented. The method uses the concepts of linear and angular momentums to generate the rigid body equations of motion in terms of the Cartesian coordinates of a dynamically equivalent constrained system of particles, without introducing any rotational coordinates and the corresponding rotational transformation matrix. For the open-chain system, the equations of motion are generated recursively along the serial chains. Closed-chain system is transformed to open-chain by cutting suitable kinematic joints and introducing cut–joint constraints. An example is chosen to demonstrate the generality and simplicity of the developed formulation.     

完全笛卡尔坐标描述的多体系统动力学

用完全笛卡尔坐标描述多体系统的运动学和动力学在提高计算效率方面有突出优点．导出用完全笛卡尔坐标表示的刚体及多体系统的动量和动量矩的解析式，给出与之对应的广义惯量矩阵概念，建立无力矩状态下用完全笛卡尔坐标描述的多体系统动力学的一阶微分方程组，用于多体航天器的姿态运动分析     

Computer Implementation of the Absolute Nodal Coordinate Formulation for Flexible Multibody Dynamics

Deformable components in multibody systems are subject to kinematic constraints that represent mechanical joints and specified motion trajectories. These constraints can, in general, be described using a set of nonlinear algebraic equations that depend on the system generalized coordinates and time. When the kinematic constraints are augmented to the differential equations of motion of the system, it is desirable to have a formulation that leads to a minimum number of non-zero coefficients for the unknown accelerations and constraint forces in order to be able to exploit efficient sparse matrix algorithms. This paper describes procedures for the computer implementation of the absolute nodal coordinate formulation' for flexible multibody applications. In the absolute nodal coordinate formulation, no infinitesimal or finite rotations are used as nodal coordinates. The configuration of the finite element is defined using global displacement coordinates and slopes. By using this mixed set of coordinates, beam and plate elements can be treated as isoparametric elements. As a consequence, the dynamic formulation of these widely used elements using the absolute nodal coordinate formulation leads to a constant mass matrix. It is the objective of this study to develop computational procedures that exploit this feature. In one of these procedures, an optimum sparse matrix structure is obtained for the deformable bodies using the QR decomposition. Using the fact that the element mass matrix is constant, a QR decomposition of a modified constant connectivity Jacobian matrix is obtained for the deformable body. A constant velocity transformation is used to obtain an identity generalized inertia matrix associated with the second derivatives of the generalized coordinates, thereby minimizing the number of non-zero entries of the coefficient matrix that appears in the augmented Lagrangian formulation of the equations of motion of the flexible multibody systems. An alternate computational procedure based on Cholesky decomposition is also presented in this paper. This alternate procedure, which has the same computational advantages as the one based on the QR decomposition, leads to a square velocity transformation matrix. The computational procedures proposed in this investigation can be used for the treatment of large deformation problems in flexible multibody systems. They have also the advantages of the algorithms based on the floating frame of reference formulations since they allow for easy addition of general nonlinear constraint and force functions.     

An index 0 differential-algebraic equation formulation for multibody dynamics: Nonholonomic constraints

A method is presented for formulating and numerically integrating index 0 differential-algebraic equations of motion for multibody systems with holonomic and nonholonomic constraints. Tangent space coordinates are defined in configuration and velocity spaces as independent generalized coordinates that serve as state variables in the formulation. Orthogonal dependent coordinates and velocities are used to enforce position, velocity, and acceleration constraints to within specified error tolerances. Explicit and implicit numerical integration algorithms are presented and used in solution of three examples: one planar and two spatial. Numerical results verify that accurate results are obtained, satisfying all three forms of kinematic constraint to within error tolerances embedded in the formulation.     

Numerical study of the noninertial systems: application to train coupler systems

Car coupler forces have a significant effect on the longitudinal train dynamics and stability. Because the coupler inertia is relatively small in comparison with the car inertia; the high stiffness associated with the coupler components can lead to high frequencies that adversely impact the computational efficiency of train models. The objective of this investigation is to study the effect of the coupler inertia on the train dynamics and on the computational efficiency as measured by the simulation time. To this end, two different models are developed for the car couplers; one model, called the inertial coupler model, includes the effect of the coupler inertia, while in the other model, called the noninertial model, the effect of the coupler inertia is neglected. Both inertial and noninertial coupler models used in this investigation are assumed to have the same coupler kinematic degrees of freedom that capture geometric nonlinearities and allow for the relative translation of the draft gears and end of car cushioning (EOC) devices as well as the relative rotation of the coupler shank. In both models, the coupler kinematic equations are expressed in terms of the car body and coupler coordinates. Both the inertial and noninertial models used in this study lead to a system of differential and algebraic equations that are solved simultaneously in order to determine the coordinates of the cars and couplers. In the case of the inertial model, the coupler kinematics is described using the absolute Cartesian coordinates, and the algebraic equations describe the kinematic constraints imposed on the motion of the system. In this case of the inertial model, the constraint equations are satisfied at the position, velocity, and acceleration levels. In the case of the noninertial model, the equations of motion are developed using the relative joint coordinates, thereby eliminating systematically the algebraic equations that represent the kinematic constraints. A quasistatic force analysis is used to determine a set of coupler nonlinear force algebraic equations for a given car configuration. These nonlinear force algebraic equations are solved iteratively to determine the coupler noninertial coordinates which enter into the formulation of the equations of motion of the train cars. The results obtained in this study showed that the neglect of the coupler inertia eliminates high frequency oscillations that can negatively impact the computational efficiency. The effect of these high frequencies that are attributed to the coupler inertia on the simulation time is examined using frequency and eigenvalue analyses. While the neglect of the coupler inertia leads, as demonstrated in this investigation, to a much more efficient model, the results obtained using the inertial and noninertial coupler models show good agreement, demonstrating that the coupler inertia can be neglected without having an adverse effect on the accuracy of the solution.     

GAUSS PRINCIPLE OF LEAST CONSTRAINT IN GENERALIZED COORDINATES AND ITS GENERALIZATION

当采用广义坐标描述系统的运动时,相比质点形式的高斯最小拘束原理,通过广义坐标形式的高斯最小拘束原理来建立动力学优化模型,计算效率更高. 从高斯原理的变分形式出发推导了广义坐标形式的高斯最小拘束原理,并研究了非理想约束、单边约束及刚体碰撞情形下的高斯最小拘束原理的形式. 研究认为:对刚体碰撞情形下,高斯最小拘束原理不能取代碰撞恢复定律,碰撞恢复定律以碰撞后广义速度的约束方程形式起作用.     

Explosion Dynamics in Saturated Rocks and Solids

Non-elastic pore deformations and crack propagations are the principal causes of dynamic damage in rocks and soils. In the case of downhole blasting from wellbores, these two mechanisms compete with each other. Therefore, to carry out a mechanical analysis of rock blasting, a sufficiently complete model that takes these various mechanisms into account has to be developed. To address this issue, this paper proposes the use of an elastic–plastic model, which includes a yield condition with a non-associated plastic flow rule, the effects of pore fluid saturation, and a brittle failure criterion under extension. The results presented in this paper describe underground explosions with spherical motion (cavity growth under the internal pressure of detonated gases without leakage into the formation), typical for oil or water reservoirs. The governing equations are written in a Cartesian system of coordinates for the case of spatial dynamic medium deformation. For this case, Cartesian coordinates are more convenient than spherical coordinates because they avoid numerical difficulties connected with the non-divergent terms of the non-linear form of the Biot–Frenkel equations. The numerical method uses the Wilkins approach, which has been generalized for the model described in this paper. The dilatancy of the material during plastic deformation is neglected for simplicity. The numerical results show that, when using typical parameters for relatively “soft” porous skeleton, the plastic flow overcomes the brittle failure. An extension zone only appears near the cavity. The results also show the presence of the two Biot P-waves. The second Biot wave, however, is only seen in the case of an extremely high permeability rock. Furthermore, in the case of the first Biot wave, the saturating liquid and the solid skeleton particles are moving with different velocities in a 100 darcy rock and with the same velocity in a 0.01 darcy rock. Calculated radial particle velocities as a function of the scaled radius are close to measured velocities in rigid dense media but are larger than measured ones in clays. It is suggested that the difference is due to different levels of water saturation, assumed full saturation in the calculation, partial saturation in the experiments.     

多体系统指标2运动方程HHT方法违约校正1）

采用Cartesian绝对坐标建模方法,完整约束多体系统运动方程是指标3的微分--代数方程（differentialalgebraic equations,DAEs）,数值求解指标3的DAEs属于高指标问题,通过对位置约束方程求导,可使运动方程的指标降为2.位置约束方程求导得到的是速度约束方程.直接求解指标3的运动方程,速度约束方程得不到满足,而且高指标DAEs的数值求解存在一些问题.论文首先采用HHT（Hilber--Hughes--Taylor）直接积分方法求解降指标得到的指标2运动方程,此时速度约束方程参与离散计算,从机器精度上讲速度约束自然得到满足,而位置约束方程没有参与计算,存在“违约”.针对违约问题,采用基于Moore--Penrose广义逆理论的违约校正方法,消除位置约束方程的违约.指标2运动方程HHT方法违约校正,将HHT方法和违约校正方法很好地结合,在数值求解指标2运动方程的过程中,位置约束方程和速度约束方程都不存在违约问题,而且新方法没有引入新的未知数向量,离散得到的非线性方程组的方程数量与原指标2运动方程的方程数量相同,求解规模没有扩大.新方法的实用和有效性通过算例的数值实验得到验证,数值实验也说明新方法保持了HHT方法本身具有的数值阻尼可以控制和二阶精度的特性.最后从非线性方程组的求解规模和计算速度上与其他方法进行了比较分析,说明新方法的优势所在.     

Nonlinear formulation for flexible multibody system with large deformation

In this paper, nonlinear modeling for flexible multibody system with large deformation is investigated. Absolute nodal coordinates are employed to describe the displacement, and variational motion equations of a flexible body are derived on the basis of the geometric nonlinear theory, in which both the shear strain and the transverse normal strain are taken into account. By separating the inner and the boundary nodal coordinates, the motion equations of a flexible multibody system are assembled. The advantage of such formulation is that the constraint equations and the forward recursive equations become linear because the absolute nodal coordinates are used. A spatial double pendulum connected to the ground with a spherical joint is simulated to investigate the dynamic performance of flexible beams with large deformation. Finally, the resultant constant total energy validates the present formulation. The project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (10472066, 10372057). The English text was polished by Yunming Chen.     

Use of Cholesky Coordinates and the Absolute Nodal Coordinate Formulation in the Computer Simulation of Flexible Multibody Systems

In a previous publication, procedures that can be used with the absolute nodal coordinate formulation to solve the dynamic problems of flexible multibody systems were proposed. One of these procedures is based on the Cholesky decomposition. By utilizing the fact that the absolute nodal coordinate formulation leads to a constant mass matrix, a Cholesky decomposition is used to obtain a constant velocity transformation matrix. This velocity transformation is used to express the absolute nodal coordinates in terms of the generalized Cholesky coordinates. The inertia matrix associated with the Cholesky coordinates is the identity matrix, and therefore, an optimum sparse matrix structure can be obtained for the augmented multibody equations of motion. The implementation of a computer procedure based on the absolute nodal coordinate formulation and Cholesky coordinates is discussed in this paper. Numerical examples are presented in order to demonstrate the use of Cholesky coordinates in the simulation of the large deformations in flexible multibody applications.     

Nonstructural geometric discontinuities in finite element/multibody system analysis

Existing multibody system (MBS) algorithms treat articulated system components that are not rigidly connected as separate bodies connected by joints that are governed by nonlinear algebraic equations. As a consequence, these MBS algorithms lead to a highly nonlinear system of coupled differential and algebraic equations. Existing finite element (FE) algorithms, on the other hand, do not lead to a constant mesh inertia matrix in the case of arbitrarily large relative rigid body rotations. In this paper, new FE/MBS meshes that employ linear connectivity conditions and allow for arbitrarily large rigid body displacements between the finite elements are introduced. The large displacement FE absolute nodal coordinate formulation (ANCF) is used to obtain linear element connectivity conditions in the case of large relative rotations between the finite elements of a mesh. It is shown in this paper that a linear formulation of pin (revolute) joints that allow for finite relative rotations between two elements connected by the joint can be systematically obtained using ANCF finite elements. The algebraic joint constraint equations, which can be introduced at a preprocessing stage to efficiently eliminate redundant position coordinates, allow for deformation modes at the pin joint definition point, and therefore, this new joint formulation can be considered as a generalization of the pin joint formulation used in rigid MBS analysis. The new pin joint deformation modes that are the result of C ⁰ continuity conditions, allow for the calculations of the pin joint strains which can be discontinuous as the result of the finite relative rotation between the elements. This type of discontinuity is referred to in this paper as nonstructural discontinuity in order to distinguish it from the case of structural discontinuity in which the elements are rigidly connected. Because ANCF finite elements lead to a constant mass matrix, an identity generalized mass matrix can be obtained for the FE mesh despite the fact that the finite elements of the mesh are not rigidly connected. The relationship between the nonrational ANCF finite elements and the B-spline representation is used to shed light on the potential of using ANCF as the basis for the integration of computer aided design and analysis (I-CAD-A). When cubic interpolation is used in the FE/ANCF representation, C ⁰ continuity is equivalent to a knot multiplicity of three when computational geometry methods such as B-splines are used. C ² ANCF models which ensure the continuity of the curvature and correspond to B-spline knot multiplicity of one can also be obtained. Nonetheless, B-spline and NURBS representations cannot be used to effectively model T-junctions that can be systematically modeled using ANCF finite elements which employ gradient coordinates that can be conveniently used to define element orientations in the reference configuration. Numerical results are presented in order to demonstrate the use of the new formulation in developing new chain models.     

Formulation of Three-Dimensional Joint Constraints Using the Absolute Nodal Coordinates

A wide variety of mechanical and structural multibody systems consist ofvery flexible components subject to kinematic constraints. The widelyused floating frame of reference formulation that employs linear modelsto describe the local deformation leads to a highly nonlinear expressionfor the inertia forces and can be applied to only small deformationproblems. This paper is concerned with the formulation and computerimplementation of spatial joint constraints and forces using the largedeformation absolute nodal coordinate formulation. Unlike the floatingframe of reference formulation that employs a mixed set of absolutereference and local elastic coordinates, in the absolute nodalcoordinate formulation, global displacement and slope coordinates areused. The nonlinear kinematic constraint equations and generalized forceexpressions are expressed in terms of the absolute global displacementsand slopes. In particular, a new formulation for the sliding jointbetween two very flexible bodies is developed. A surface parameter isintroduced as an additional new variable in order to facilitate theformulation of this sliding joint. The constraint and force expressionsdeveloped in this paper are also expressed in terms of generalizedCholesky coordinates that lead to an identity inertia matrix. Severalexamples are presented in order to demonstrate the use of theformulations developed in the paper.     

Motion equations in redundant coordinates with application to inverse dynamics of constrained mechanical systems

The basis for any model-based control of dynamical systems is a numerically efficient formulation of the motion equations, preferably expressed in terms of a minimal set of independent coordinates. To this end the coordinates of a constrained system are commonly split into a set of dependent and independent ones. The drawback of such coordinate partitioning is that the splitting is not globally valid since an atlas of local charts is required to globally parameterize the configuration space. Therefore different formulations in redundant coordinates have been proposed. They usually involve the inverse of the mass matrix and are computationally rather complex. In this paper an efficient formulation of the motion equations in redundant coordinates is presented for general non-holonomic systems that is valid in any regular configuration. This gives rise to a globally valid system of redundant differential equations. It is tailored for solving the inverse dynamics problem, and an explicit inverse dynamics solution is presented for general full-actuated systems. Moreover, the proposed formulation gives rise to a non-redundant system of motion equations for non-redundantly full-actuated systems that do not exhibit input singularities.     

Verification of simulation for unwinding motion of cable in water by physical experiment

When a torpedo is launched from a mother ship, a fiber-optic cable that exchanges information between the torpedo and the mother ship is unwound from a spool so as to enhance the shoot-down performance. The unwinding motion of the fiber-optic cable has been numerically analyzed using steady- or transient-state equations of motion, but the simulation has not been verified by physical experiments. Therefore, in this study, the numerical results for the unwinding cable are verified with a lab-based physical experiment. The experiment considers realistic situations in which the cable is unwound from an outer spool package with three different unwinding velocities in water. The transient-state equation of motion is derived in a Cartesian coordinates system using Hamilton’s principle for an open system. In conclusion, the numerical results are similar to the motion of the unwinding cable in the physical experiment. Particularly, the numerical results indicate that the motion observed in the physical experiment coincides better with the simulation as the unwinding velocity decreases.     

RESEARCH ON MODELING AND NUMERICAL METHOD OF FREE STANDING BODY ON PLANAR RIGID MULTIBODY DYNAMICS

采用非光滑多体系统动力学的方法研究浮放物体与基础平台组成的多体系统,建立其非光滑接触的动力学方程与数值算法.浮放物体由主体部分和支撑腿组成,其间通过含黏弹性阻力偶的转动铰连接.支撑腿与基础平台间的接触力简化为接触点的法向接触力和摩擦力,采用扩展的赫兹接触力模型描述接触点的法向接触力,采用库伦干摩擦模型描述其摩擦力.采用笛卡尔坐标系下的位形坐标作为系统的广义坐标.首先,将基础平台运动看作非定常约束,用第一类拉格朗日方程建立系统的动力学方程,并采用鲍姆加藤约束稳定化的方法解决违约问题.随后给出基于事件驱动法和线性互补方法的数值算法.当相对切向速度为零时,构造静滑动摩擦力的正负余量和正、负向加速度的互补关系,从而将接触点黏滞——滑移切换的判断以及静滑动摩擦力的计算转化为线性互补问题进行求解,并采用Lemke算法求解线性互补问题.最后,通过数值仿真选择合适的步长;通过仿真结果说明浮放物体运动中存在的黏滞-滑移切换现象以及基础平台运动、质心位置对浮放物体运动的影响.     

A new approach for dynamic analysis of flexible manipulator systems

In this paper, a new approach for dynamic analysis of the flexible multibody manipulator systems is described. The organization of the computer implementations which are used to automatically construct and numerically solve the system of loosely coupled dynamic equations expressed in terms of the absolute, joint and elastic coordinates is discussed. The main processor source code consists of three main modules: constraint module, mass module and force module. The constraint module is used to numerically evaluate the relationship between the absolute and joint accelerations. The mass module is used to numerically evaluate the system mass matrix as well as the non-linear Coriolis and centrifugal forces associated with the absolute, joint and elastic coordinates. At the same time, the force module is used to numerically evaluate the generalized external and elastic forces associated with the absolute, joint and elastic coordinates. Computational efficiency is achieved by taking advantage of the structure of the resulting system of loosely coupled equations. The absolute, joint and elastic accelerations are integrated forward in time using direct numerical integration methods. The absolute positions and velocities can then be determined using the kinematic relationships. The flexible 2-DOF double-pendulum and spatial manipulator systems are used as illustrated examples to demonstrate and verify the application of the computational procedures discussed in this paper.