An Internal Damping Model for the Absolute Nodal Coordinate Formulation

Introducing internal damping in multibody system simulations is important as real-life systems usually exhibit this type of energy dissipation mechanism. When using an inertial coordinate method such as the absolute nodal coordinate formulation, damping forces must be carefully formulated in order not to damp rigid body motion, as both this and deformation are described by the same set of absolute nodal coordinates. This paper presents an internal damping model based on linear viscoelasticity for the absolute nodal coordinate formulation. A practical procedure for estimating the parameters that govern the dissipation of energy is proposed. The absence of energy dissipation under rigid body motion is demonstrated both analytically and numerically. Geometric nonlinearity is accounted for as deformations and deformation rates are evaluated by using the Green–Lagrange strain–displacement relationship. In addition, the resulting damping forces are functions of some constant matrices that can be calculated in advance, thereby avoiding the integration over the element volume each time the damping force vector is evaluated.     

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.     

Analysis of Thin Beams and Cables Using the Absolute Nodal Co-ordinate Formulation

The purpose of this paper is to present formulations for beam elements based on the absolute nodal co-ordinate formulation that can be effectively and efficiently used in the case of thin structural applications. The numerically stiff behaviour resulting from shear terms in existing absolute nodal co-ordinate formulation beam elements that employ the continuum mechanics approach to formulate the elastic forces and the resulting locking phenomenon make these elements less attractive for slender stiff structures. In this investigation, additional shape functions are introduced for an existing spatial absolute nodal co-ordinate formulation beam element in order to obtain higher accuracy when the continuum mechanics approach is used to formulate the elastic forces. For thin structures where bending stiffness can be important in some applications, a lower order cable element is introduced and the performance of this cable element is evaluated by comparing it with existing formulations using several examples. Cables that experience low tension or catenary systems where bending stiffness has an effect on the wave propagation are examples in which the low order cable element can be used. The cable element, which does not have torsional stiffness, can be effectively used in many problems such as in the formulation of the sliding joints in applications such as the spatial pantograph/catenary systems. The numerical study presented in this paper shows that the use of existing implicit time integration methods enables the simulation of multibody systems with a moderate number of thin and stiff finite elements in reasonable CPU time.     

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.     

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.     

On the Use of Implicit Integration Methods and the Absolute Nodal Coordinate Formulation in the Analysis of Elasto-Plastic Deformation Problems

In the general theory of continuum mechanics, the state of rotation and deformation of material points can be uniquely defined from the displacement field by using the nine independent components of the displacement gradients. For this reason, the use of the absolute rotation parameters as nodal coordinates, without relating them to the displacement gradients, leads to coordinate redundancy that leads to numerical and fundamental problems in many existing large rotation finite element formulations. Because of this fundamental problem, special measures that require modifications of the numerical integration methods were proposed in the literature in order to satisfy the principle of work and energy. As demonstrated in this paper, no such measures need to be taken when the finite element absolute nodal coordinate formulation is used since the principle of work and energy are automatically satisfied. This formulation does not suffer from the problem of coordinate redundancy and ensures the continuity of stresses and strains at the nodal points. In this study, the use of the implicit integration methods with the consistent Lagrangian elasto-plastic tangent moduli is examined when the absolute nodal coordinate formulation is used. The performance of different numerical integration methods in the dynamic analysis of large elasto-plastic deformation problems is investigated. It is shown that all these methods, in the case of convergence, yield a solution that satisfies the principle of work and energy without the need of taking any special measures. Semi-implicit integration methods, however, can lead to numerical difficulties in the case of very stiff problems due to the linearization made in these methods in order to avoid the iterative Newton--Raphson procedure. It is also demonstrated that the use of the consistent Lagrangian-plastic tangent moduli derived in this investigation using the absolute nodal coordinate formulation leads to better convergence of the iterative Newton--Raphson procedure used in the implicit integration methods.     

Large Oscillations of a Thin Cantilever Beam: Physical Experiments and Simulation Using the Absolute Nodal Coordinate Formulation

Many papers have studied computer-aided simulations of elastic bodies undergoing large deflections and large deformations. But there have not been many attempts to check the validity of the numerical formulations used in these studies. The main aim of this paper is to demonstrate the validity of one such numerical formulation, the absolute nodal coordinate formulation (ANCF), by comparing the results it generates with the results of real experiments. Large oscillations of a thin cantilever beam are studied in this paper to numerically model the beam, which also accounts for the effects of an attached end-point weight and damping forces. The experiments were carried out using a high-speed camera and a data acquisition system.     

小内力平板弹性波散射问题的摄动方法

基于平板小挠度弯曲波动方程,采用摄动方法具有纵向内力作用下的平板开孔弹性波的散射问题进行了研究,得么了传播稳态波时此种平板弯曲波动问题的分析解,分析了均匀纵向内力对弹性波散射结果的影响,作为算例,本文给出了平板圆形开孔的动应力集中系数的数值结果,并对计算结果进行了讨论。     

Regularization and stability of the constraints in the dynamics of multibody systems

In the analysis of multibody dynamics, we are often required to deal with singularity problems where the constraint Jacobian matrix may become less than full rank at some instantancous configurations. This creates numerical instability which will affect the performance of the mechanical system. A modification procedure of the constraints when they vanish or become linearly dependent is proposed to regularize the dynamics of the system. A distinction between the asymptotic stability due to the representation of the constraints (at the velocity and acceleration level), and the one due to the singularity is discussed in full in this paper. It is shown that Baumgarte technique could be extended to accommodate the representation of the constraints in the neighborhood of singularity. A two link planar manipulator undergoing large motion and passing through a singular configuration is used to illustrate the proposed stability technique.     

Local Symmetry Group in the General Theory of Elastic Shells

We establish the local symmetry group of the dynamically and kinematically exact theory of elastic shells. The group consists of an ordered triple of tensors which make the shell strain energy density invariant under change of the reference placement. Definitions of the fluid shell, the solid shell, and the membrane shell are introduced in terms of members of the symmetry group. Within solid shells we discuss in more detail the isotropic, hemitropic, and orthotropic shells and corresponding invariant properties of the strain energy density. For the physically linear shells, when the density becomes a quadratic function of the shell strain and bending tensors, reduced representations of the density are established for orthotropic, cubic-symmetric, and isotropic shells. The reduced representations contain much less independent material constants to be found from experiments.     

Configurational Forces and the Dynamics of Planar Cracks in Three-Dimensional Bodies

This paper develops a three-dimensional framework for the evolution of planar cracks, concentrating on the derivation of balances and constitutive equations that describe the motion of the crack tip. The theory is based on the notion of configurational forces in conjunction with a mechanical version of the second law. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Unsteady Motion of a Maxwellian Fluid Droplet in a Maxwellian Medium under the Action of Monotonic and Periodic Forces

Unsteady motion of a Maxwellian fluid droplet, which arises in a quiescent Maxwellian medium under the action of monotonic and periodic forces, is considered. In the initial period of time smaller than the relaxation time, the droplet is affected by elastic forces on the part of the fluid; moreover, the droplet itself is a viscoelastic material. A solution of the problem in the first approximation is found. The dependence of the amplitude of droplet velocity and the shift of the phase of oscillations on the relaxation time of the external and internal media and also on the frequency of oscillations of the driving force is analyzed. The passage to the limit in terms of density and viscosity of the internal medium is performed.__________Translated from Prikladnaya Mekhanika i Tekhnicheskaya Fizika, Vol. 46, No. 4, pp. 55–65, July–August, 2005.     

Effect of the order of the finite element and selection of the constrained modes in deformable body dynamics

Finite elements with different orders can be used in the analysis of constrained deformable bodies that undergo large rigid body displacements. The constrained mode shapes resulting from the use of finite elements with different orders differ in the way the stiffness of the body bending and extension are defined. The constrained modes also depend on the selection of the boundary conditions. Using the same type of finite element, different sets of boundary conditions lead to different sets of constrained modes. In this investigation, the effect of the order of the element as well as the selection of the constrained mode shapes is examined numerically. To this end, the constant strain three node triangular element and the quadratic six node triangular element are used. The results obtained using the three node triangular element are compared with the higher order six node triangular element. The equations of motion for the three and six node triangular elements are formulated from assumed linear and quadratic displacement fields, respectively. Both assumed displacement fields can describe large rigid body translational and rotational displacements. Consequently, the dynamic formulation presented in this investigation can also be used in the large deformation analysis. Using the finite element displacement field, the mass, stiffness, and inertia invariants of the three and six-node triangular elements are formulated. Standard finite element assembly techniques are used to formulate the differential equations of motion for mechanical systems consisting of interconnected deformable bodies. Using a multibody four bar mechanism, numerical results of the different elements and their respective performance are presented. These results indicate that the three node triangular element does not perform well in bending modes of deformation.     

有限宽板孔边弹塑性变形测试

测量应变集中区域的弹塑性变形，对于研究材料损伤或微裂纹的产生，以预防宏观裂纹的产生及扩展具有重要的意义。为给航空发动机轮盘的损伤容限设计研究提供相关材料的力学实验参数，做了两个有限宽中心带孔试件的拉伸试验。试验中，采用单调逐级加、卸栽的循环加栽方式，并应用自动网格法和数字图像相关技术测量了孔用的全场位移分布。再应用最小二乘法将离散的位移分量拟合成二元多项式函数，求解出拉伸方向的应变分布，并给出孔边应力σ与孔边应变εy的关系曲线。