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A comparative study of the principal methods for the analytical formulation and the numerical solution of the equations of motion of rigid multibody systems

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Abstract

The goal of this investigation is to perform a comparative analysis of the principal methodologies employed for the analytical formulation and the numerical solution of the equations of motion of rigid multibody mechanical systems. In particular, three formulation approaches are considered in this work for the analytical formulation of the equations of motion. The multibody formulation strategies discussed in this paper are the Reference Point Coordinate Formulation with Euler Angles (RPCF-EA), the Reference Point Coordinate Formulation with Euler Parameters (RPCF-EP), and the Natural Absolute Coordinate Formulation (NACF). Moreover, five computational algorithms are considered in this investigation for the development of effective and efficient solution procedures suitable for the numerical solution of the equations of motion. The multibody computational algorithms discussed in this paper are the Augmented Formulation (AF), the Embedding Technique (ET), the Amalgamated Formulation (AMF), the Projection Method (PM), and the Udwadia-Kalaba Equations (UKE). The multibody formulation approaches and solution procedures analyzed in this work are compared in terms of generality, versatility, ease of implementation, accuracy, effectiveness, and efficiency. In order to perform a general comparative study, four benchmark multibody systems are considered as numerical examples. The comparative study carried out in this paper demonstrates that all the methodologies considered can handle general multibody problems, are computationally effective and efficient, and lead to consistent numerical solutions.

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  1. Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Salerno, Via Giovanni Paolo II, 132, 84084, Fisciano, Salerno, Italy

    Carmine Maria Pappalardo & Domenico Guida

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  1. Carmine Maria Pappalardo
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This research paper was principally developed by the first author (Carmine M. Pappalardo). The detailed review carried out by the second author (Domenico Guida) considerably improved the quality of the work.

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Correspondence to Carmine Maria Pappalardo.

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Pappalardo, C.M., Guida, D. A comparative study of the principal methods for the analytical formulation and the numerical solution of the equations of motion of rigid multibody systems. Arch Appl Mech 88, 2153–2177 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00419-018-1441-3

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