Numerical and experimental studies on impact dynamics of a planar flexible multibody system

In this paper a computational methodology on impact dynamics of the flexible multibody system is presented. First, the floating frame of reference approach and nodal coordinates on the basis of finite element formulation are used to describe the kinematics of planar deformable bodies. According to the kinematic description of contact conditions, the contact constraint equations of planar flexible bodies are derived. Based on the varying topology technique the impact dynamic equations for a planar multibody system are established. Then the initial conditions of the equations in each contact stage are determined according to the discontinuity theory in continuum mechanics. The experiments between the aluminum rods are performed to check the correctness of the proposed method. Through the comparison between the numerical and experimental results the proposed method is validated. Experimental results also show that the impulse momentum method cannot accurately predict the complex impact dynamic phenomena and the continuous model may lead to a serious error when used to simulate the impact problems with significant wave propagation effects.

Multibody dynamic analysis using a rotation-free shell element with corotational frame

Rotation-free shell formulation is a simple and effective method to model a shell with large deformation. Moreover, it can be compatible with the existing theories of finite element method. However, a rotation-free shell is seldom employed in multibody systems. Using a derivative of rigid body motion, an efficient nonlinear shell model is proposed based on the rotation-free shell element and corotational frame. The bending and membrane strains of the shell have been simplified by isolating deformational displacements from the detailed description of rigid body motion. The consistent stiffness matrix can be obtained easily in this form of shell model. To model the multibody system consisting of the presented shells, joint kinematic constraints including translational and rotational constraints are deduced in the context of geometric nonlinear rotation-free element. A simple node-to-surface contact discretization and penalty method are adopted for contacts between shells. A series of analyses for multibody system dynamics are presented to validate the proposed formulation. Furthermore,the deployment of a large scaled solar array is presented to verify the comprehensive performance of the nonlinear shell model.

Development of flexible telescopic boom model using ANCF sliding joint constraints with LuGre friction

In this investigation, a modeling procedure of a telescopic boom of cranes is developed using the absolute nodal coordinate formulation together with the sliding joint constraints. Since telescopic booms are extracted and retracted under various operating conditions, the overall length of the boom changes dynamically, leading to the time-variant vibration characteristics. For modeling the telescopic structure of booms, a special care needs to be exercised since the location of the sliding contact point moves Mong the deformable axis of the flexible boom and the solution to a moving boundary problem is required. This issue indeed makes the modeling of the telescopic boom difficult, despite the significant needs for the analysis. It is, therefore, the objective of this investigation to develop a modeling procedure for the flexible telescopic boom by considering the sliding contact condition with the dynamic frictional effect. To this end, the sliding joint constraint developed for the absolute nodal coordinate formulation is employed for describing relative sliding motion between flexible booms, while flexible booms are modeled using the beam element of the absolute nodal coordinate formulation, which allows for modeling the large rotation and deformation of the structure.

A GENERAL PROCEDURE TO CAPTURE THE "DYNAMIC STIFFNESS

A general procedure to capture the 'dynanmic Stiffness' is presented in this paper. The governing equations of motion are formulated for an arbitrary flexible body in large overall motion based on Kane's equations . The linearization is performed peroperly by means of geometrically nonlinear straindisplacement relations and the nonlinear expression of angular velocity so that the 'dynamical stiffness' terms can be captured naturally in a general tcase. The concept and formulations of partial velocity and angular velocity arrays of Huston's method are extended to the flexible body and form the basis of the analysis. The validity and generality of the procedure presented in the paper are verified by numerical results of its application in both the beam and plate models.

COMPUTER AIDED ANALYSIS OF FLEXI－BLE MEMBER IN CONSIDERATION OF THE EFFECTS OF DYNAMIC STI－FFEN－ING

A recently developed procedure to capture the dynamic stiffening of an arbitrary flexiblemember in large overall motion accompanied by small elastic vibrations is presented. A mechanicalsystem that consists of one or more flexible members is called a flexible mechanical system. If thesystem is considered as a multibody system, the flexiblemember can be considered as a flexible bodyin a flexible multibody system. Having retained the nonlinearitites up to an appropriate point in theanalysis, the linearization is then performed properiy so that the dynamic stiffening terms can befound naturally, while the explicit formulation of the governing equations for the deformation mo-tion is ultimately linear. Based on the procedure, the effects of dynamic stiffening are investigatedqualitatively and quantitatively with analytical and numerical examples. The results are useful incomputer aid analysis of the dynamic behavior of flexible mechanical systems.