Motion of a Swinging Atwood’s Machine: Simulation and Analysis with Mathematica

A generalized model of the Atwood machine when one body is constrained to move along a vertical axis while the other one can swing in a plane is considered. Combining symbolic and numerical calculations, we have obtained equations of motion of the system and analyzed their solutions. We have shown that oscillation can completely modify a motion of the system while the simple Atwood machine demonstrates only the uniformly accelerated motion of the bodies. The validity of the results obtained is demonstrated by means of the simulation of motion of swinging Atwood’s machine with the computer algebra system Wolfram Mathematica.     

Ball on a viscoelastic plane

We consider dynamical problems arising in connection with the interaction of an absolutely rigid ball and a viscoelastic support plane. The support is a relatively stiff viscoelastic Kelvin-Voigt medium that coincides with the horizontal plane in the undeformed state. We also assume that under the deformation the support induces dry friction forces that are locally governed by the Coulomb law. We study the impact appearing when a ball falls on the plane. Another problem of our interest is the motion of a ball “along the plane.” A detailed analysis of various stages of the motion is presented. We also compare this model with classical models of interaction of solid bodies.     

The quasistatic motions of a three-body system on a plane

A controlled three-body system on a horizontal plane with dry friction is considered. The interaction forces between each pair of bodies are controls that are not subject to prior constraints but must be chosen in such a way that the motions of the system generated by them are quasistatic, that is, the total force acting on each of the bodies must be close to zero. All motions in which one body moves and the other two are fixed are found in the class of quasistatic motions. The problem of the optimal displacement of a moving body between two specified positions on a plane such that the absolute magnitude of the work of the friction forces along the trajectory is a minimum is solved. The quasistatic controllability of a three-body system is demonstrated and algorithms for bringing it into a specified position are discussed. The system considered simulates a mobile robot consisting of three bodies between which control forces act that can be realized by linear motors. The sizes of the bodies are assumed to be negligibly small compared with the distances between them so that the bodies are treated as particles.     

The dynamics of nonholonomic systems consisting of a spherical shell with a moving rigid body inside

In this paper we investigate two systems consisting of a spherical shell rolling without slipping on a plane and a moving rigid body fixed inside the shell by means of two different mechanisms. In the former case the rigid body is attached to the center of the ball on a spherical hinge. We show an isomorphism between the equations of motion for the inner body with those for the ball moving on a smooth plane. In the latter case the rigid body is fixed by means of a nonholonomic hinge. Equations of motion for this system have been obtained and new integrable cases found. A special feature of the set of tensor invariants of this system is that it leads to the Euler — Jacobi — Lie theorem, which is a new integration mechanism in nonholonomic mechanics. We also consider the problem of free motion of a bundle of two bodies connected by means of a nonholonomic hinge. For this system, integrable cases and various tensor invariants are found.     

On the dynamics of a rigid body carrying a material point

In this paper we consider a system consisting of an outer rigid body (a shell) and an inner body (a material point) which moves according to a given law along a curve rigidly attached to the body. The motion occurs in a uniform field of gravity over a fixed absolutely smooth horizontal plane. During motion the shell may collide with the plane. The coefficient of restitution for an impact is supposed to be arbitrary. We present a derivation of equations describing both the free motion of the system over the plane and the instances where collisions with the plane occur. Several special solutions to the equations of motion are found, and their stability is investigated in some cases. In the case of a dynamically symmetric body and a point moving along the symmetry axis according to an arbitrary law, a general solution to the equations of free motion of the body is found by quadratures. It generalizes the solution corresponding to the classical regular precession in Euler??s case. It is shown that the translational motion of the shell in the free flight regime exists in a general case if the material point moves relative to the body according to the law of areas.     

On a periodic motion of a rigid body carrying a material point in the presence of impacts with a horizontal plane

A material system consisting of an outer rigid body (a shell) and an inner body (a material point) is considered. The system moves in a uniform field of gravity over a fixed absolutely smooth horizontal plane. The central ellipsoid of inertia of the shell is an ellipsoid of rotation. The material point moves according to the harmonic law along a straight-line segment rigidly attached to the shell and lying on its axis of dynamical symmetry. During its motion, the shell may collide with the plane. The coefficient of restitution for an impact is supposed to be arbitrary. The periodic motion of the shell is found when its symmetry axis is situated along a fixed vertical, and the shell rotates around this vertical with an arbitrary constant angular velocity. The conditions for existence of this periodic motion are obtained, and its linear stability is studied.     

Characteristic features of the high-velocity motion of bodies in dense media

The characteristic features of the high-velocity motion of conical and pyramidal bodies are investigated when the force acting on their surface is described by a local interaction model. It is assumed that the pressure on the body surface is represented by a binomial formula that is quadratic in the velocity. Three friction models are used to represent the tangential stresses: constant friction, friction that is proportional to the pressure and mixed friction. Analytical solutions of problems of the plane inertial motion of slender bodies with a base contour in the form of a circle, a rhombus or a star consisting of four cycles are constructed for an unseparated flow past the bodies and small perturbations imposed on the parameters of the linear motion at the initial instant of time. A criterion for the stability of the motion is found that enables the perturbed motion of the body to be determined when the medium parameters and the velocity, mass and shape of the body are known. The analytical results are validated by a numerical solution of the Cauchy problem for a system of equations of motion obtained without simplifying assumptions.     

Oscillations of one-dimensional linear systems with mobile weights under the action of longitudinal impacts : PMM vol. 42, no. 6, 1978, pp. 1141–1145

Longitudinal osciallations of a one-dimensional system which can be represented by a rod interacting with various kinds of inertial mobile media, are considered. It is assumed that the media do not react with each other, can only move along the rod and, that there is no internal interaction between the elements of the media. The model can be used to study the oscillations of sufficiently long chains of rigid bodies to which other mobile bodies are attached by means of deformable elements, oscillations of one-dimensional systems of rigid bodies with cavities partially filled with fluid, etc. A transitional mode of motion in similar systems was studied in [1].     

Integral equation solution for the flow due to the motion of a body of arbitrary shape near a plane interface at small Reynolds number

The problem of determining the slow viscous flow due to an arbitrary motion of a particle of arbitrary shape near a plane interface is formulated exactly as a system of three linear Fredholm integral equations of the first kind, which is shown to have a unique solution. A numerical method based on these integral equations is proposed. In order to test this method valid for arbitrary particle shape, the problem of arbitrary motion of a sphere is worked out and compared with the available analytical solution. This technique can be also extended to low Reynolds number flow due to the motion of a finite number of bodies of arbitrary shape near a plane interface. As an example the case of two equal sized spheres moving parallel and perpendicular to the interface is solved in the limiting case of infinite viscosity ratio.     

Closed-form solution for the free axial-bending vibration problem of structures composed of rigid bodies and elastic beam segments

In this paper, the coupled axial-bending vibration of planar serial frame structures composed of rigid bodies and Euler-Bernoulli beam segments is considered. The corresponding mode orthogonality conditions for this kind of structures are derived. It is assumed that the mass centers of rigid bodies have both the transverse and the axial eccentricity with respect to beam neutral axes and that the mass centers are located in the plane in which the rigid bodies perform planar motion. The system responses to initial excitation in the case of distinct as well as repeated natural frequencies are considered. Theoretical considerations are accompanied by four numerical examples.     

Ein mechanisches Rechengerät zur Behandlung des ebenen Dreikörperproblems

Summary The project concerns the problem and principle of solving the three body problem by known mechanical means: function cylinders with a photoelectric follower, integrators, and adding machinery. The equations of motion each contain three terms (including the perturbation function); these are represented individually on the function cylinders, resolved along the axesx andy, and plotted in the working plane.One of the three bodies is held firm, and the apparatus then records automatically the relative paths of the other two.     

On bifurcation and stability of steady motions of two gravitating bodies

The plane motion of a system of two mutually gravitating bodies, one a sphere with a spherical mass distribution and the other a homogeneous rod, is considered. All steady motions of the system are found, and the conditions for their stability are obtained in both the secular sense and in the first-order approximation. The possibility of gyroscopic stabilization of steady motions with instability of degree two is noted. The results of the investigation are presented in the form of a bifurcation diagram.     

New cases of integrability in dynamics of a rigid body with the cone form of its shape interacting with a medium

The purpose of the activity is to elaborate the qualitative methods for studying the dynamics of rigid bodies interacting with a resisting medium under quasistationarity conditions. This material refers equally to the qualitative theory of ordinary differential equations and the dynamics of rigid bodies. We use the properties of body's motion in a medium under conditions of the jet flow past this body. We study the plane model problems of the motion of a body with the cone form of its shape in a resisting medium. The new families of phase portraits of variable dissipation systems are obtained, their absolute or relative roughness is demonstrated. The integrable cases of equations of motion of rigid bodies are found. (© 2009 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

The dynamics of pyramidal bodies within the framework of the local interaction model

Two-dimensional inertial motion of pyramidal bodies in a medium is investigated, on the assumption that the force exerted by the medium on their surface is described by the local interaction model. Assuming unseparated flow around the bodies and small perturbations applied at the initial time to the parameters of rectilinear motion, an analytical solution is constructed of the problem of the two-dimensional motion of slender bodies with bases whose contour is a rhombus or a star consisting of four symmetrical cycles. It is shown that the solution provides the basis for a complete parameterc analysis of the dynamics of the body and for evaluating the forces and torques experienced by the body along its trajectory. A criterion for the stability of the body is found, using which, knowing the velocity, mass and position of the body's centre of gravity, one can determine the form of the perturbed motion of the pyramidal body. It is shown that the body shape is one of the most important factors affecting the stability of motion, and that, of all bodies with the same shape and position of the centre of mass, those with the least mass have the largest reserve of stability. The analytical results are confirmed by numerical solution of the Cauchy problem for the system of equations of motion obtained without the simplifying assumptions.     

Nonlinear dynamics of a simplified engine-propeller system

This paper presents a procedure for studying dynamical behaviors of a simplified engine-propeller dynamical system consisting of a number of bodies of plane motions. The equation of motion of the complex system is obtained using the Lagrange equation and solved numerically using the 4th order Runge–Kutta method. Various simulations were performed to investigate the transient and steady state behaviors of the multiple body system while taking into consideration the engine pressure pulsations, nonlinear inertia of moving bodies, and nonlinear aerodynamic load. Sub-harmonics and super harmonics in the steady state responses for different power and propeller pitch settings are obtained using the fast Fourier transform. Numerical simulations indicate that the 1.5 order is the dominant order of harmonics in the steady state oscillatory motion of the crankshaft. The findings and procedure presented in the paper are useful to the aerospace industry in certifying reciprocating engines and propellers. The crankshaft oscillatory velocities obtained from the simplified rigid body model are in good agreement with the experimental data for a SAITO-450 engine and a SOLO propeller at a 6″ pitch setting.     

Analysis and optimization of the rectilinear motion of a two-body system

The rectilinear motion of a system of two interacting bodies when there is a dry friction force acting on both of them is considered. It is assumed that the relative velocity of the bodies can vary practically instantaneously, while the distance between them has upper and lower limits. The periodic motion of the system as a whole is constructed, and the mean velocity of motion and the energy costs per unit of path are determined. The optimum values of the parameters for which the highest mean velocity is reached with the superimposed limitations are obtained.     

The motion in a perfect fluid of a body containing a moving point mass

The motion of a system (a rigid body, symmetrical about three mutually perpendicular planes, plus a point mass situated inside the body) in an unbounded volume of a perfect fluid, which executes vortex-free motion and is at rest at infinity, is considered. The motion of the body occurs due to displacement of the point mass with respect to the body. Two cases are investigated: (a) there are no external forces, and (b) the system moves in a uniform gravity field. An analytical investigation of the dynamic equations under conditions when the point performs a specified plane periodic motion inside the body showed that in case (a) the system can be displaced as far as desired from the initial position. In case (b) it is proved that, due to the permanent addition of energy of the corresponding relative motion of the point, the body may float upwards. On the other hand, if the velocity of relative motion of the point is limited, the body will sink. The results of numerical calculations, when the point mass performs random walks along the sides of a plane square grid rigidly connected with the body, are presented.     

The control of a wheeled mechanical system

Non-holonomic systems with rolling or wheeled systems are investigated. The investigation is restricted to kinematic models and the dynamics of the drive mechanism of the system are taken into account. A control law is constructed which stabilizes the motion of a wheeled system along a specified trajectory (a plane smooth curve). For the basic variables of the system, the property of stabilizability is substantiated in the large.     

On the strong solutions of a regularized model of a nonlinear visco-elastic medium

We consider the initial boundary-value problem for the system of equations describing the motion of a nonlinear visco-elastic medium with memory along the trajectories of the velocity field; the system in question is a generalization of the system of Navier-Stokes equations. We establish existence and uniqueness theorems for strong solutions containing higher derivatives that are square-integrable in the plane case.     

The three-dimensional motion of optimalpyramidal bodies

The three-dimensional inertial motion of pyramidal bodies, optimal in their depth of penetration, formed from parts of planes tangential to a circular cone and having a base in the form of a rhombus or a star, consisting of four symmetrical cycles, is investigated using the numerical solution of the Cauchy problem of the complete system of equations of motion of a body. It is assumed that the force action of the medium on the body can be described within the framework of a local model, when the pressure on the body surface can be represented by a two-term formula, quadratic in the velocity, and the friction is constant. It is shown that the stability criterion, obtained previously for the rectilinear motion of a pyramidal body on the assumption that the perturbed motion of the body is planar, also enables one, in the case of an arbitrary specification of the small perturbations of the parameters leading to the tree-dimensional motion of the body, to determine the nature of development of these perturbations. It is shown that if the rectilinear motion of the body is stable, its perturbed three-dimensional motion can be represented in the form of the superposition of plane motions, and when investigating each of them, the analytical solution of the plane problem obtained earlier can be used.