A Coordinate Reduction Technique for Dynamic Analysis of Spatial Substructures with Large Angular Rotations∗

A substructuring technique is presented for transient dynamic analysis of systems composed of interconnected rigid and elastic bodies that undergo large angular displacements. Displacement of elastic bodies is represented by superposition of local linear elastic deformation on large displacement of body reference coordinate systems. Elastic bodies are thus represented by combined sets of reference and local elastic generalized coordinates. Modal analysis and substructuring of individual elastic components allow for elimination of insignificant modes. Equations of motion and constraint are formulated in terms of mixed sets of modal and reference generalized coordinates. Planar and spatial linkages with flexible elements are presented to illustrate use of the method developed.     

Control structure interaction in the nonlinear analysis of flexible mechanical systems

The effect of the control structure interaction on the feedforward control law as well as the dynamics of flexible mechanical systems is examined in this investigation. An inverse dynamics procedure is developed for the analysis of the dynamic motion of interconnected rigid and flexible bodies. This method is used to examine the effect of the elastic deformation on the driving forces in flexible mechanical systems. The driving forces are expressed in terms of the specified motion trajectories and the deformations of the elastic members. The system equations of motion are formulated using Lagrange's equation. A finite element discretization of the flexible bodies is used to define the deformation degrees of freedom. The algebraic constraint equations that describe the motion trajectories and joint constraints between adjacent bodies are adjoined to the system differential equations of motion using the vector of Lagrange multipliers. A unique displacement field is then identified by imposing an appropriate set of reference conditions. The effect of the nonlinear centrifugal and Coriolis forces that depend on the body displacements and velocities are taken into consideration. A direct numerical integration method coupled with a Newton-Raphson algorithm is used to solve the resulting nonlinear differential and algebraic equations of motion. The formulation obtained for the flexible mechanical system is compared with the rigid body dynamic formulation. The effect of the sampling time, number of vibration modes, the viscous damping, and the selection of the constrained modes are examined. The results presented in this numerical study demonstrate that the use of the driving forees obtained using the rigid body analysis can lead to a significant error when these forces are used as the feedforward control law for the flexible mechanical system. The analysis presented in this investigation differs significantly from previously published work in many ways. It includes the effect of the structural flexibility on the centrifugal and Coriolis forces, it accounts for all inertia nonlinearities resulting from the coupling between the rigid body and elastic displacements, it uses a precise definition of the equipollent systems of forces in flexible body dynamics, it demonstrates the use of general purpose multibody computer codes in the feedforward control of flexible mechanical systems, and it demonstrates numerically the effect of the selected set of constrained modes on the feedforward control law.     

Symbolic computations in flexible multibody systems

The need for computer aided engineering in the analysis of machines and mechanisms led to a wide variety of general purpose programs for the dynamical analysis of multibody systems. The use of more lightweight structures and an increasing demand of high-precision mechanisms, such as robots, led to the incorporation of flexible bodies in this methodology. This paper presents a formalism for flexible multibody systems based on a minimum set of generalized coordinates and symbolic computation. A standardized object oriented data model is used for the time-invariant system matrices describing the elastodynamic behaviour of the flexible bodies. Consequently, the equations of motion are derived in a form independent of the chosen modelling technique for the elastic bodies. They are generated in a symbolic form using the symbolic formalismNEWEUL and the computer algebra systemMAPLE. Two examples, a rotating beam and a flexible robot, are presented in this paper in order to demonstrate the formalism.     

Quasi-Euler-Poinsot motion of a rigid body

The phase-plane method of nonlinear oscillation is used to discuss the influence of the small dissipation upon the Euler-Poinsot motion of a rigid body about a fixed point. The equations of phase coordinates are applied instead of Eulerian equations, and the global characteristics of the motion of rigid body are analysed according to the distribution and the type of the singular points. A Chaplygin's sphere on a rough plane, a rigid body in viscous medium and one with a cavity filled with viscous fluid are discussed as examples. It is shown that the motions of rigid bodies dissipated by various physical factors have a common qualitative character. The rigid body tends to make a permanent rotation about the principal axis of the largest moment of inertia. The transitive process can change from oscillatory to aperiodic with the decrease in dissipation.     

刚柔耦合约束多体系统的动力分析

本文提出了描述多体系统的牵连坐标轴系统。该坐标轴系统由惯性参考系、牵连坐标系、物体坐标系及单元坐标系组成，从而实现了对刚体平动、刚体转动及弹性运动的分解，较好地消除了由于刚体大角度转动而产生的刚弹耦合非线性特性，以有限元方法为基础，应用拉格朗日方程建立了在该坐标系下的刚弹耦合约束多体系统的动力方程。该方程具有形式简洁、易于推导和编程等优点，本文并对方程的数值解法进行了研究，提出求解的广义坐标分块法，最后给出了一个典型多体系统的数值算例。     

A nonlinear finite-element approach for kineto-static analysis of multibody systems

Methods that treat rigid/flexible multibody systems undergoing large motion as well as deformations are often accompanied with inefficiencies and instabilities in the numerical solution due to the large number of state variables, differences in the magnitudes of the rigid and flexible body coordinates, and the time dependencies of the mass and stiffness matrices. The kineto-static methodology of this paper treats a multibody mechanical system to consist of two collections of bulky (rigid) bodies and relatively flexible ones. A mixed boundary condition nonlinear finite element problem is then formulated at each time step whose known quantities are the displacements of the nodes at the boundary of rigid and flexible bodies and its unknowns are the deformed shape of the entire structure and the loads (forces and moments) at the boundary. Partitioning techniques are used to solve the systems of equations for the unknowns, and the numerical solution of the rigid multibody system governing equations of motion is carried out. The methodology is very much suitable in modelling and predicting the impact responses of multibody system since both nonlinear and large gross motion as well as deformations are encountered. Therefore, it has been adopted for the studies of the dynamic responses of ground vehicle or aircraft occupants in different crash scenarios. The kineto-static methodology is used to determine the large motion of the rigid segments of the occupant such as the limbs and the small deformations of the flexible bodies such as the spinal column. One of the most dangerous modes of injury is the amount of compressive load that the spine experiences. Based on the developed method, a mathematical model of the occupant with a nonlinear finite element model of the lumbar spine is developed for a Hybrid II (Part 572) anthropomorphic test dummy. The lumbar spine model is then incorporated into a gross motion occupant model. The analytical results are correlated with the experimental results from the impact sled test of the dummy/seat/restraint system. With this extended occupant model containing the lumbar spine, the gross motion of occupant segments, including displacements, velocities and accelerations as well as spinal axial loads, bending moments, shear forces, internal forces, nodal forces, and deformation time histories are evaluated. This detailed information helps in assessing the level of spinal injury, determining mechanisms of spinal injury, and designing better occupant safety devices.     

DYNAMIC ANALYSIS OF A SPATIAL COUPLED TIMOSHENKO ROTATING SHAFT WITH LARGE DISPLACEMENTS

ＩｎｔｒｏｄｕｃｔｉｏｎＲｏｔａｔｉｎｇｓｈａｆｔｓａｒｅｔｈｅｍｏｓｔｖｉｔａｌｃｏｍｐｏｎｅｎｔｓｏｆｍｏｄｅｒｎｉｎｄｕｓｔｒｉａｌａｎｄｐｏｗｅｒｇｅｎｅｒａｔｉｏｎｆａｃｉｌｉｔｉｅｓ.ＤｕｅｔｏｔｈｅｉｍｐｏｒｔａｎｃｅｏｆｔｈｅｓｅｃｏｍｐｏｎｅｎｔｓｔｈｅｒｅｗｅｒｅｗｉｄｅｌｙｓｔｕｄｉｅｓｏｎｔｈｅｖｉｂｒａｔｉｏｎｂｅｈａｖｉｏｒｏｆＥｕｌｅｒ＿Ｂｅｒｎｏｕｌｌｉｒｏｔａｔｉｎｇｓｈａｆｔｓｕｓｉｎｇａｎａｌｙｔｉｃａｌａｎｄｎｕｍｅｒｉｃａｌｍｅｔｈｏｄｓ[1- 4 ].Ｈｏｗｅ…     

A Variational Approach to Dynamics of Flexible Multibody Systems

Abstract

This paper presents a variational formulation of constrained dynamics of flexible multibody systems, using a vector-variational calculus approach. Body reference frames are used to define global position and orientation of individual bodies in the system, located and oriented by position of its origin and Euler parameters, respectively. Small strain linear elastic deformation of individual components, relative to their body reference frames, is defined by linear combinations of deformation modes that are induced by constraint reaction forces and normal modes of vibration. A library of kinematic couplings between flexible and/or rigid bodies is defined and analyzed. Variational equations of motion for multibody systems are obtained and reduced to mixed differential-algebraic equations of motion. A space structure that must deform during deployment is analyzed, to illustrate use of the methods developed     

Dynamics of flexible multibody systems with tree topologies

The dynamic equations of flexible multibody systems with tree topological configuration are derived by using the Jourdain's principle. The independent joint coordinates are introduced to describe the large displacements of the bodies, and the modal coordinates are used to describe small deformations of flexible bodies based on the consistent mass finite element method and normal vibration mode analysis. The minimum differential equations are developed, which are compatible with the equations of multi-rigid body systems or structural dynamics. The stiff problem in the numerical integration is thus alleviated effectively. The method used in this paper can be extended to deal with systems with other topological configurations. Finally, the validity and feasibility of the presented mathematical model are demonstrated by a numerical example of a manipulator with two elastic links. The project supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China     

The Method of Averaging for Euler's Equations of Rigid Body Motion

We formulate the method of averaging for perturbations of Euler's equations of rotational motion. Euler's equations are three strongly nonlinear coupled differential equations that can be viewed as a three dimensional oscillator. The method of averaging is used to determine the long-term influence of perturbation terms on the motion by averaging about the nominal rigid body motion. The treatment is applicable to a large class of motions including precession with large nutation – it is not restricted to small motions about simple spins or nearly axi-symmetric bodies. Three examples are shown that demonstrate the accuracy of the method's predictions.     

考虑刚弹耦合作用的柔性多体连续系统动力学建模

基于Ｈａｍｉｌｔｏｎ原理建立起一般柔性体连续系统的动力学建模方法,进而以水平面内作大范围回转运动的柔性梁为例,在Ｅｕｌｅｒ－Ｂｅｒｎｏｕｌｌｉ梁模型的假设前提下,根据轴向不可伸长的柔性梁的几何约束条件;推导出作大范围刚体运动的柔性梁连续系统的一致线性化振动微分方程．采用假设模态法对其离散化,导出考虑刚弹耦合作用的柔性梁有限维离散化动力学模型．最后给出仿真算例,验证了该方法的有效性．     

Finite element modeling of contact conditions in multibody system dynamics

In this paper a new method is developed for the dynamic analysis of contact conditions in flexible multibody systems undergoing a rolling type of motion. The relative motion between the two contacting bodies is treated as a constraint condition describing their kinematic and geometric relations. Equations of motion of the system are presented in a matrix form making use of Kane's equations and finite element method. The method developed has been implemented in a general purpose program called DARS and applied to the simulation and analysis of a rotating wheel on a track. Both the bodies are assumed flexible and discretized using a three dimensional 8-noded isoparametric elements. The time variant constraint conditions are imposed on the nodal points located at the peripheral surfaces of the bodies under consideration. The simulation is carried out under two different boundary conditions describing the support of the track. The subsequent constraint forces associated with the generalized coordinates of the system are computed and plotted. The effects of friction are also discussed.     

Finite amplitude, free vibrations of an axisymmetric load supported by a highly elastic tubular shear spring

The finite amplitude, free vibrational characteristics of a simple mechanical system consisting of an axisymmetric rigid body supported by a highly elastic tubular shear spring subjected to axial, rotational, and coupled shearing motions are studied. Two classes of elastic tube materials are considered: a compressible material whose shear response is constant, and an incompressible material whose shear response is a quadratic function of the total amount of shear. The class of materials with constant shear response includes the incompressible Mooney-Rivlin material and certain compressible Blatz-Ko, Hadamard, and other general kinds of models. For each material class, the quasi-static elasticity problem is solved to determine the telescopic and gyratory shearing deformation functions needed to evaluate the elastic tube restoring force and torque exerted on the body. For all materials with constant shear response, the differential equations of motion are uncoupled equations typical of simple harmonic oscillators. Hence, exact solutions for the forced vibration of the system can be readily obtained; and for this class, engineering design formulae for the load-deflection relations are discussed and compared with experimental results of others'. For the quadratic material, however, the general motion of the body is characterized by a formidable, coupled system of nonlinear equations. The free, coupled shearing motion for which either the axial or the azimuthal shear deformation may be small is governed by a pair of equations of the Duffing and Hill types. On the other hand, the finite amplitude, pure axial and pure rotational motions of the load are described by the classical, nonlinear Duffing equation alone. A variety of problems are solved exactly for these separate free vibrational modes, and a number of physical results are presented throughout.     

Nonlinear dynamics of an elastic rod with frictional impact

A model is presented for the impact with friction of a flexible body in translation and rotation. This model consists of a system of nonlinear differential equations which considers the multiple collisions as well as frictional effects at the contacting end, and allows one to predict the rigid and elastic body motion after the impact. The kinetic energy is derived by utilizing a generalized velocity field theory for elastic solids. The model uses a dry coefficient of friction and a nonlinear contact force. We introduce a finite number of vibrational modes to take into account the vibrational behavior of the body during impact. The vibrations, the multiple collisions, and the angle of incidence angle, are found to be important factors for the kinematics of frictional impact. Analytical and experimental results were compared to establish the accuracy of the model.     

A chassis-based kinematic formulation for flexible multi-body vehicle dynamics

This research proposed an efficient implicit integration method for the real-time simulation of flexible multi-body vehicle dynamics models. The equations of motion for the flexible bodies were formulated with respect to the moving chassis-body reference frame instead of the fixed inertial reference frame. The proposed approach does not require evaluation of system Jacobian and its LU-decomposition in time loof of simulation. This is one of the key aspects that enable high computational efficiency of the proposed method. The numerical simulation results of the proposed approach were matched up with those of the conventional approach but the computation time can be reduced by applying the proposed method. The joint constraint and generalized force equations are the same as the equations for rigid vehicle dynamics models because the joints and forces between flexible bodies are connected by the RBE (rigid body element). On the various driving conditions, the numerical simulation results show that the proposed approach yields almost exact solutions compared to the conventional approach. And the proposed approach spends only 22.9% of conventional approach on computation time under CPU 3.2 GHz personal computer.     

Evolution of a heavy rigid body rotation under the action of unsteady restoring and perturbation torques

The paper develops an approximate solution to the system of Euler’s equations with additional perturbation term for dynamically symmetric rotating rigid body. The perturbed motions of a rigid body, close to Lagrange’s case, under the action of restoring and perturbation torques that are slowly varying in time are investigated. We describe an averaging procedure for slow variables of a rigid body perturbed motion, similar to Lagrange top. Conditions for the possibility of averaging the equations of motion with respect to the nutation phase angle are presented. The averaging technique reduces the system order from 6 to 3 and does not contain fast oscillations. An example of motion of the body using linearly dissipative torques is worked out to demonstrate the use of general equations. The numerical integration of the averaged system of equations is conducted of the body motion. The graphical presentations of the solutions are represented and discussed. A new class of rotations of a dynamically symmetric rigid body about a fixed point with account for a nonstationary perturbation torque, as well as for a restoring torque that slowly varies with time, is studied. The main objective of this paper is to extend the previous results for problem of the dynamic motion of a symmetric rigid body subjected to perturbation and restoring torques. The proposed averaging method is implemented to receive the averaging system of equations of motion. The graphical representations of the solutions are presented and discussed. The attained results are a generalization of our former works where µ and M_i are independent of the slow time τ and M_i depend on the slow time only.

     

Flexible Multibody Simulation and Choice of Shape Functions

The approach most widely used for the modelling of flexible bodies in multibody systems has been called the floating frame of reference formulation. In this methodology the flexible body motion is subdivided into a reference motion and deformation. The displacement field due to deformation is approximated by the Ritz method as a product of known shape functions and unknown coordinates depending on time only. The shape functions may be obtained using finite-element-models of flexible bodies in multibody systems, resulting in a detailed system representation and a high number of system equations. The number of system equations of such a nodal approach can be reduced considerably using a modal representation of deformation. This modal approach, however, leads to the fundamental problem of selecting the shape functions.The floating frame of reference formulation is reviewed here using a generic flexible body model, from which the various body models used in multibody simulations may be derived by formulation of specific constraint equations. Special attention is given in this investigation to the following subjects: The separation of flexible body motion into a reference motion and deformation requires the definition of a body reference frame, which in turn affects the choice of shape functions. Some alternatives will be outlined together with their advantages and disadvantages. Assuming the body deformation to be small, the system equations can be linearized. This may require considering geometric stiffening terms. The problem of how to compute these terms has been solved in literature on the instability of structures under critical loads. For finite element models the geometric stiffening terms are obtained from the tangential stiffness matrix. The generality of the flexible body model allows the definition of an object oriented data base to describe the system bodies. Such a data base includes a general interface between multibody- and finite-element-codes. By combining eigenfunctions and static deformation modes to represent body deformation one obtains a set of so-called quasi-comparison functions. When selected properly these functions can be shown to improve the representation of stresses significantly.