MULTIBODY DYNAMICS: BRIDGING

FOR MULTIDISCIPLINARY
APPLICATIONS
Jorge A.C. Ambr osio
IDMEC Instituto Superior Tecnico, Av. Rovisco Pais 1, 1049-001 Lisboa, Portugal
Abstract Simple or complex systems characterized by large relative motions be-
tween their components nd in the multibody dynamics formalisms the
most general and ecient computational tools for their analysis. Ini-
tially restricted to the treatment of rigid bodies, the multibody methods
are now widely used to describe the system components deformations,
regardless of their linear or nonlinear nature. The ease of including in
the multibody models dierent descriptions of the contact problems,
control paradigms or equations of equilibrium of other disciplines is
demonstrated here to show the suitability of these approaches to be
used in multidisciplinary applications
Keywords: Flexible multibody dynamics, contact, biomechanics, vehicle dynamics,
railway dynamics, crashworthiness.
1. Introduction
The design requirements of advanced mechanical and structural sys-
tems and the real-time simulation of complex systems exploit the ease
of use of the powerful computational resources available today to cre-
ate virtual prototyping environments. These advanced simulation facili-
ties play a fundamental role in the study of systems that undergo large
rigid body motion while their components experience material or geo-
metric nonlinear deformations, such as vehicles, deployable structures,
space satellites, machines operating at high speeds or robot manipula-
tors. Some examples of engineering and biological systems for which
the large overall motion is of fundamental importance are exemplied
in Fig. 1. If on the one hand the nonlinear nite element method is the
most powerful and versatile procedure to describe the exibility of the
system components, on the other hand the multibody dynamic formula-
tions are the basis for the most ecient computational techniques that
61
W. Gutkowski and T.A. Kowalewski (eds.), Mechanics of the 21st Century, 6188.
2005 Springer. Printed in the Netherlands.
62 ICTAM04
Figure 1. Natural biological and articial engineering systems for which multibody
dynamics provides irreplaceable modeling methodologies.
deal with large overall motion. Therefore, it is no surprise that many
of the most recent formulations on exible multibody dynamics and on
nite element methods with large rotations share some common features.
In multibody dynamics methods, the body-xed coordinate frames are
generally adopted to position each one of the system components and
to allow for the specication of the kinematic constraints that represent
the restrictions on the relative motion between the bodies. Several for-
malisms are published suggesting the use of dierent sets of coordinates,
such as Cartesian [1], natural [2] and relative coordinates [3]. Depend-
ing on the type of applications, each of these types of coordinates has
advantages and disadvantages. Due to the ease of the computational
implementation, their physical meaning and the widespread knowledge
of their features, all the formalisms presented in this work are based on
the use of Cartesian coordinates.
The methodological structure of the equations of motion of the multi-
body system obtained allows the incorporation of the equilibrium equa-
tions of a large number of disciplines and their solution in a combined
form. The description of the structural deformations exhibited by the
system components by using linear [5] or non-linear nite elements [6] in
the framework of multibody dynamics is an example of the integration
of the equations of equilibrium of dierent specialties. Of particular
importance for the applications pursued with the methodologies pro-
posed is the treatment of contact and impact, which is introduced in
the multibody systems equations by using either unilateral constraints
Multibody Dynamics: Bridging for Multidisciplinary Applications 63
[7] or a continuous contact force model [8]. The availability of the state
variables in the multibody formulation allows for the use of dierent
control paradigms in the framework of vehicle dynamics, biomechanics
or robotics and their integration with the multibody equations [9]. The
coupling between the uid and structural dynamics equations allows for
the development of applications, where the uid-structure interaction is
analyzed, especially for cases with large absolute or relative rotations in
the system components, are of importance [10, 11].
The research carried at IDMEC provides the examples oered in this
work. Application cases involving the modeling of realistic mechanisms,
passive safety of road and rail vehicles, impact and human locomotion
biomechanics, automotive and railway dynamics are used to demonstrate
the developments reviewed here.
2. Rigid Multibody Dynamics
A multibody system is dened as a collection of rigid and/or exible
bodies constrained by kinematic joints and eventually acted upon by
a set of internal and/or external forces. The position and orientation of
each body i in the space is described by a position vector r
i
and a set of
rotational coordinates p
i
, which are organized in a vector as [1]:
q
i
= [r
T
, p
T
]
T
i
. (1)
According to this denition, a multibody system with nb bodies is
described by a set of coordinates in the form:
q = [q
T
1
, q
T
2
, . . . , q
T
nb
]
T
. (2)
The dependencies among system coordinates, which result from the
existence of mechanical joints interconnecting several bodies, are dened
through the introduction of kinematic relationships written as [1]:
(q, t) = 0, (3)
where t is the time variable, which is used only for the driving con-
straints. The second time-derivative of Eq. (3) with respect to time
yields:

(q, q, q, t) = 0 D q = , (4)
where D is the Jacobian matrix of the constraints, q is the acceleration
vector and is the vector that depends on the velocities and time.
The system kinematic constraints are added to the equations of mo-
tion using the Lagrange multipliers technique [1]. Denoting by the
64 ICTAM04
vector of the unknown Lagrange multipliers, the equations of motion for
a mechanical system are written as
_
M D
T
D 0
_ _
q

_
=
_
f

_
(5)
where M is the global mass matrix, containing the mass and moments
of inertia of all bodies, and f is the force vector, containing all forces
and moments applied to the system bodies plus the gyroscopic forces.
The Lagrange multipliers, associated with the kinematic constraints,
are physically related with the reaction forces generated between the
bodies interconnected by kinematic joints, given by [1]
f
(c)
=
T
q
, (6)
The usual procedures to handle the integration of sets of dierential-
algebraic equations must still be applied in this case in order to eliminate
the constraint drift or to maintain it under control [1, 2].
Forward Dynamics
The computational strategy used to solve the forward dynamics of
the system, represented by Eq. (5), is outlined in Fig. 2. The solution
procedure starts by the determination of the initial positions and velo-
cities of the system components. Next, the system inertia, the Jacobian
matrices, the forces and the right-hand-side of the kinematic accelera-
tion constraint equations vectors, are calculated and assembled in the
equations of motion. Equation (5) is then solved to nd the system ac-
celerations, and in the process the Lagrange multipliers. By integrating
the current velocities and the system accelerations, at time t, the new
positions and velocities for time t +t are calculated by using a variable
Figure 2. Solution of the forward dynamic analysis of a multibody system.
Multibody Dynamics: Bridging for Multidisciplinary Applications 65
order, variable time-step integration procedure [1, 2, 4]. The forward dy-
namics simulation proceeds until the previously set nal time is reached.
The procedure outlined in Fig. 2 is used in general purpose multibody
dynamics codes, such as DAP-3D [1]. Throughout this work it is demon-
strated that all engineering applications foreseen here are implemented,
either by developing specic kinematic constraints or by implementing
force models in Eq. (5).
Application Example of a Roller Coaster. When a body travels
along a guide, not only its path has to be followed, but also its spa-
tial orientation has to be prescribed, according to spatial characteristics
of the curve. The formulation adopted to implement these kinematic
constraints, using the moving Frenet frame associated with the track
centerline based on the work by Pombo and Ambrosio [12], is outlined
next.
Prescribed Motion Constraint. The objective here is to dene the
constraint equations that enforce that a point of a rigid body follows the
reference path [12]. Consider a point R, located on a rigid body i, that
has to follow the specied path depicted in Fig. 3. The path is dened
by a parametric curve g(L), which is controlled by a global parameter
L that represents the length travelled along the curve until the current
location of point R. The kinematic constraint is

(pmc,3)
= 0 r
R
i
g(L) = 0, (7)
where r
R
i
= r
i
+A
i
s

R
i
represents the coordinates of point R with respect
to the global coordinate system (x, y, z), r
i
is the vector that denes
the location of the body-xed coordinate system (, , )
i
, A
i
is the
transformation matrix from the body i xed coordinates to the global
reference frame, and s

R
i
represents the coordinates of point R with re-
Figure 3. Local frame alignment constraint.
xxxxxxx
66 ICTAM04
spect to the body-xed reference frame. For notational purposes ()

means that () is expressed in body-xed coordinates.

The second part of the constraint ensures that the spatial orientation
of body i remains unchanged with respect to the moving frame of the ref-
erence path represented in Fig. 3. Consider that (u

, u

, u

)
i
represent
the unit vectors associated with the axis of the body-xed coordinate
system (, , )
i
. Let the Frenet frame of the general parametric curve
g(L) be dened by the principal unit vectors (t, n, b)
L
. At the ini-
tial time of analysis, the relative orientation between the body vectors
(u

, u

, u

)
i
and the local frame (t, n, b)
L
leads to

(lfac,3)
= 0

n
T
u

b
T
u

n
T
u

a
b
c

= 0. (8)
This kinematic constraint ensures that the alignment remains constant
throughout the analysis. The transformation matrix from the body i
xed coordinates to the global coordinate system is:
A
i
= [u

]
i
(9)
dening the following unit vectors as:
u
1
= {1 0 0}
T
; u
2
= {0 1 0}
T
; u
3
= {0 0 1}
T
. (10)
Equation (8) is now rewritten in a more usable form as:

(lfac,3)
= 0

n
T
A
i
u
1
b
T
A
i
u
1
n
T
A
i
u
3

a
b
c

= 0, (11)
which constitutes the second part of the path following constraint.
Roller-Coaster Dynamics. Let the roaller-coaster rail be dened
with the spatial geometry described in Fig. 4. The path-following con-
straint is used to enforce the vehicles to follow the rail for the prescribed
geometry.
The roller coaster vehicle consists of a train with three cars that are
interconnected by linking bars, represented in Fig. 5. The multibody
model of the vehicle is assembled using eleven rigid bodies, corresponding
to 3 car bodies, 6 wheelsets and 2 connection bars.
The complete vehicle model only has 1 d.o.f., which is the longitudinal
motion of the cars. The motion of the vehicle is guided by the dynamics
described by Eq. (5). A view of the motion of the roller coaster is dis-
played in Fig. 6 and the details of the analysis are found in reference [13].
Multibody Dynamics: Bridging for Multidisciplinary Applications 67
Figure 4. View of the roller coaster as used in the simulation.
Figure 5. Multibody model of the roller coaster vehicle.
Figure 6. Snap shots of the roller coaster motion as observed from the second car.
Note that the study of these vehicles only requires the use of the path-
following constraint. The contact forces are not explicitly used but they
can be calculated from the Lagrange multipliers associated to the path
constraint.
Inverse Dynamics
In many applications all external forces are known and the motion of
the system is also known. Therefore, the only unknowns are the internal
forces. Let the rst row of Eq. (5) be re-written as
M q +D
T
= g (12)
z
3
1 2 4 5
7
x
9
6
8
10
11
68 ICTAM04
which is
D
T
= g M q. (13)
Equation (13) emphasizes that the only unknowns of the system are
the Lagrange multipliers. The reaction forces at the joints are given by:
g
(c)
= D
T
. (14)
The solution of the equations of motion in inverse dynamics can be
used to solve for the internal forces of the human body, i.e., muscle and
anatomical joint reaction forces, that develop for known motions.
Application to Biomechanics: Gait Analysis
For biomechanical applications in gait a three-dimensional model, pre-
sented in Fig. 7, is used [14]. It has a kinematic structure made of thirty-
three rigid bodies, interconnected by revolute and universal joints, in
such a way that sixteen anatomical segments are represented.
3
11 1
16 16
5
12 2
2
13
7
44
6
9
1
10
15
14
8
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
1
13
14
15
16
v1
v2
v3
v3
v7
vv88
v6
v6
v5
v5
v4
vv4
v211
v99
v10
v11
v11
vvv22
v12
v12
v13
v13
vv15
v14
v15
v16
v16
v17
v20 20
v20
v17
v18
vv19 99
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
7
6
8
4
5
2
3
1
9
10
11
12
13
31
32 25
24 26
27
28
29
30
33
Figure 7. The biomechanical model, its kinematic structure and a detail of the
ankle joint.
Joint Moments-of-Force: A Determinate Problem. To drive
the biomechanical model in the inverse dynamic analysis, joint actuators
such as the one represented in Fig. 8 for the knee joint, are specied. The
actuators are the kinematic constraints in which the angle between two
adjacent segments is a known function of time. These additional equa-
tions are added to the system kinematic equation so that the number of
Multibody Dynamics: Bridging for Multidisciplinary Applications 69
m
1
m
2
m
3
O
m1
I
m1
I = O
m2
I
m2
=
2
O
m3
I
m3
Figure 8. Joint actuator associated with the knee joint and muscle actuator.
non-redundant constraint equations becomes equal to the number of co-
ordinates. Equation (13) is solved to obtain the Lagrange multipliers as-
sociated with the joint actuators, representing the net moments-of-force
of the muscles that cross those joints. The inverse dynamics problem,
as stated here, is totally determined.
Muscle Forces: A Redundant Problem. The solution of the
inverse dynamics problem with muscle actuators introduces indetermi-
nacy in the biomechanical system, since it involves more unknowns than
equations of motion. By using optimization techniques to nd the mus-
cle forces that minimize a prescribed objective function, a solution for
the problem is obtained. The optimization problem is stated as:
minimize F
0
(u
i
)
subject to

f
j
f (u
i
) = 0, j = 1, ..., n
ec
,
f
j
f (u
i
) 0, j = (n
ec
+ 1) , . . . , n
tc
,
u
lower
i
u
i
u
upper
i
i = 1, . . . , n
sv
(15)
where u
i
are the state variables bounded respectively by u
lower
and
u
upper
, F
0
(u
i
) is the objective or cost function to minimize and f
i
ff (u
i
)
are constraint equations that restrain the state variables.
The minimization of the cost functions simulate the physiological cri-
teria adopted by the central nervous system when deciding which muscles
to recruit and what level of activation to obtain the adequate motion.
Several cost functions have been proposed for the study of the redundant
problem in biomechanics [15]. The minimization of the sum of the cube
of the muscle stresses [16] is often used in applications involving human
70 ICTAM04
Figure 9. Lower extremity muscle apparatus.
Figure 10. Muscle forces for the hamstrings and triceps surae.
Multibody Dynamics: Bridging for Multidisciplinary Applications 71
locomotion
F
0
=
n
ma

m=1
_

F
m
l
FF F
m

l
FF
F
m2
0
FF
a
m
_
3
(16)
where n
ma
are the number of muscle actuators and is the specic
muscle strength with a constant value of 31.39 N/cm
2
[17]. The human
locomotion apparatus, represented in Fig. 9, is modeled having the mus-
cles with the physiological data described in Yamaguchi [17]. The state
variables associated with muscle actuators represent muscle activations
that can only assume values between 0 and 1.
To illustrate the type of results obtained for the muscle forces in a case
of normal cadence gait of a 50%ile male, the muscle forces for the ham-
strings and triceps surae are presented in Fig. 10.
3. Contact and Impact
Let a triangular patch, where point k of the body shown in Fig. 11
will impact, be dened by points i, j and l. The normal to the outside
surface of the contact patch is dened as n = r
ij
r
jl
. The position of
the point k with respect to point i of the surface is
r
ik
= r
k
r
i
(17)
which is decomposed in a tangential and a normal component, given by
r
t
ik
= r
ik

_
r
T
ik
n
_
n; r
n
ik
=
_
r
T
ik
n
_
n. (18)
The necessary conditions for contact are that node k penetrates the
front surface of the patch, but not through its back surface, with
which a thickness e is associated. These conditions are written as
0 r
T
ik
n e. (19)
n
jl
r
j
li
r
l
ij
r
ij
ik
r
i
( ) ( ) ( ) n r
ik
nnn
ik
rr =
( ) n r r
ik ik
rr
tt
ik
rr =
i
j
l
k
k
*
Figure 11. Contact detection between a nite element node and a surface.
72 ICTAM04
The remaining necessary conditions for contact result from the need
for the node to be inside of the triangular patch. These three extra
conditions are
_
r
t
ik
r
ij
_
T
n 0;
_
r
t
ik
r
jl
_
T
n 0 and
_
r
t
ik
r
ki
_
T
n 0. (20)
Equations (19) and (20) are necessary conditions for contact. How-
ever, depending on the contact force model actually used, they may not
be sucient to ensure eective contact.
Unilateral Constraints
If contact between a node and a surface is detected, a kinematic con-
straint is imposed. For exible bodies let us assume a fully plastic nodal
contact, i.e., the normal components of the node k velocity and acceler-
ation, with respect to the surface, are null during contact
q
k
= q
()
k

_
q
()T
k
n
_
n; q
k
= q
()
k

_
q
()T
k
n
_
n (21)
where q
()
k
and q
()
k
represent the nodal velocity and acceleration imme-
diately before impact respectively . The kinematic constraint implied by
Eqs. (21) is removed when the normal reaction force between the node
and the surface becomes opposite to the surface normal, i.e.,
f
n
k
f = f
T
k
f n > 0. (22)
It should be noted that the contact force is related to the Lagrange
multiplier associated by the kinematic constraint dened by Eqs. (22).
Therefore, the change of sign of the force is in fact the change of sign of
the multiplier.
This contact model is not suitable to be used directly with rigid body
contact. The sudden change of the rigid body velocity and acceleration
would imply that the velocity and acceleration equations resulting from
the kinematic constraints would not be fullled. Other forms of this
contact model can be found in the work by Pfeier and Glocker [7].
Continuous Contact Force Model
An alternative description of contact considers this to be a continuous
event where the contact force is a function of the penetration between
the surfaces. This leads to the continuous force contact model, proposed
by Lankarani and Nikravesh [8], and briey described here. Let the
contact force between two bodies be written as
f
s,i
f =
_
K
n
+ D

_
u (23)
Multibody Dynamics: Bridging for Multidisciplinary Applications 73
where is the pseudo-penetration,

is the pseudo-velocity of penetra-
tion, K is the equivalent stiness, D is a damping coecient and u is
a unit vector normal to the impacting surfaces. Using the hysteresis dis-
sipation model and the equivalent stiness, calculated for instance for
Hertzian elastic contact [18], the nonlinear contact force is
f
s,i
f = K
n
_
1 +
3
_
1 e
2
_
4

()
_
u (24)
where

()
is the initial contact velocity and e is the restitution coe-
cient. Note that K is a function of the geometry and material properties
of the impacting surfaces.
Application to Railway Dynamics The Wheel-Rail
Contact Problem
One of the interesting applications of multibody dynamics with con-
tact mechanics is the description of the wheel-rail contact in railway
dynamics, represented in Fig. 12. The stability of the running vehicle
depends ultimately on the rail-wheel contact and on the vehicle primary
suspension. Therefore, methodologies that provide accurate models to
represent the phenomena are of particular importance.
In a general case of a railway vehicle one or two points of each wheel
are in contact with the rail, as shown in Fig. 12. The diametric sec-
tion that contains the wheel ange contact point makes an angle s
f
Rw
with the diametric section that contains the wheel tread contact point.
The possibility of detecting contact in dierent diametric sections allows
predicting derailment and it is, therefore, of utmost importance.
Let the generalized geometry of the rail and wheel be described by
generalized surfaces resulting from sweeping the rail prole along the rail
Figure 12. Two points of contact in the rail and wheel surfaces: lead contact.
Tr Tr
Fla Fla Fla Fla
(Le (Le (Le (Le
Tr Tr Tr Treeee
con con con con
ct ct ct ct
ct) ct) ct) ct)
74 ICTAM04
centerlines and the wheel proles around the base circle of the wheel.
In order to ensure that the search for the contact points is between
convex surfaces, the wheel prole is divided in treat and ange proles.
The contact between the rail and one of the wheel surfaces is described
generically in Fig. 13, where the mating surfaces are represented as free
surfaces.
Figure 13. Candidates to contact points between two parametric surfaces.
The geometric conditions for contact between the convex surfaces are
dened by vector products dened between the surfaces. The rst condi-
tion is that the surfaces normals n
i
and n
j
at the candidates to contact
points have to be parallel. This condition means that n
j
has null pro-
jections over the tangent vectors t
u
i
and t
w
i
:
n
j
n
i
= 0

n
T
j
t
u
i
= 0,
n
T
j
t
w
i
= 0.
(25)
The second condition is that the vector d, which represents the dis-
tance between the candidates to contact points, has to be parallel to the
normal vector n
i
. This condition is mathematically written as:
d n
i
= 0

d
T
t
u
i
= 0,
d
T
t
w
i
= 0.
(26)
The geometric conditions (25) and (26) provide four nonlinear equations
with four unknowns, the four parameters u, w, s and t that dene the
two surfaces. This system of equations provides solutions for the location
of the candidates to contact points that have to be sorted out.
x
Multibody Dynamics: Bridging for Multidisciplinary Applications 75
The coordinates of the candidates to contact points are determined
by solving an optimal problem and the distance between such points is
calculated in the process. The points are in contact if
d
T
n
j
0. (27)
When contact is detected, the normal force is calculated using Eq. (24)
and the tangential forces are evaluated using the Kalker theory, the
Polach formulation or the Heuristic nonlinear creep model. It has been
found that the Polach formulation provides the best approach for the
tangent forces, and it is used hereafter [13].
The wheel-rail contact model outlined here is used to model the ML95
trainset, shown in Fig. 14, which is used by the Lisbon subway company
(ML) for passengers trac.
The multibody model of the trailer vehicle of the train, developed
in the work by Pombo [13], is composed of the car shell suspended by
a set of springs, dampers and other rigid connecting elements on the
bogies. This assembly of connective elements constitutes the secondary
suspension, sketched in Fig. 15, which is the main one responsible for
the passengers comfort.
The connections between the bogies chassis and the wheelsets, also
achieved by another set of springs, dampers and rigid connecting ele-
Figure 14. Schematic representation of the ML95 trainset.
Figure 15. Secondary suspension model of the ML95 trailer vehicle.
76 ICTAM04
Figure 16. Primary suspension model of the ML95 trailer bogie: a) Three-
dimensional spring-damper elements; b) Suspension model with springs and dampers.
Figure 17. Lift of the right wheel of the leading wheelset for vehicle forward velo-
cities of 10 and 20 m/s, using the Kalker linear theory.
ments, constitute the primary suspension represented in Fig. 16. The
primary suspension is the main suspension responsible for the vehicle
running stability.
The simulation results of the vehicle, running in a circular track with
a radius of 200 m with velocities of 10 and 20 m/s, show that the predic-
tion of ange contact is of fundamental importance. Fig. 17 shows that
contact forces obtained with the Kalker linear theory originate the lift of
the outer wheel of the front wheelset at the entrance of the curve. De-
spite this wheel lift, derailment does not occur and the analysis proceeds
up to end. Nevertheless, such results are not realistic since the existence
of ange contact involves high creepages, which makes the Kalker linear
theory inappropriate to compute the creep forces. Therefore only the
Heuristic and the Polach creep force models must be considered.
Another aspect to note is that ange contact is detected with all creep
force models. Even when running at the speed of 10 m/s, where the cen-
trifugal forces eect is balanced by the track cant, ange contact occurs.
Lateral ange forces develop on the wheels of both wheelsets of the front
bogie as presented in Fig. 18 for a vehicle forward velocity of 10 m/s and
a)
Three-dimensional
spring-damper elements
Bogie frame Axlebox
Wheelset
b)
Multibody Dynamics: Bridging for Multidisciplinary Applications 77
using the Polach creep force model. During curve negotiation, the outer
wheel of the leading wheelset and the inner wheel of the rear wheelset
have permanent ange contact.
Referring to Fig. 19, for the velocity of 10 m/s, the ange contact oc-
curs on the outer and in the inner wheels of the vehicle. For the velocity
of 20 m/s, only the outer wheels have ange contact. This is explained
by the fact that, when running at 20 m/s, the vehicle negotiates the
curve with a velocity higher than the balanced speed.
4. Flexible Multibody Dynamics with Plastic
Hinges
Many applications of multibody dynamics require the description of
the exibility of its components. For structural crashworthiness it is
-5 000
0
5 000
10 000
15 000
20 000
25 000
0 3 6 9 12 15 18 21 24 27 30
Time [s]
L
a
t
e
r
a
l

F
l
a
n
g
e

F
o
r
c
e

[
N
]
Left Ws 3 ( Pol ach)
Right Ws 3 ( Pol ach)
Left Ws 4 ( Pol ach)
Right Ws 4 ( Pol ach)
Figure 18. Lateral ange forces on the wheels of both wheelsets of the front bogie
for a vehicle forward velocity of 10 m/s, using the Polach creep force model.
Front
wheelset
(Ws 4)
Flange
contact
Rear
wheelset
(Ws 3)
Flange
contact
Figure 19. Contact conguration during curve negotiation.
78 ICTAM04
often unfeasible to use large nonlinear nite element models. The use
of multibody dynamics with plastic hinges is an alternative formulation
that allows building insightful models for crashworthiness.
Formulation of Plastic Hinges
In many impact situations, the individual structural members are
overloaded giving rise to plastic deformations in highly localized regions,
called plastic hinges. These deformations, presented in Fig. 20 for stru-
ctural bending, develop at points where maximum bending moments
occur, load application points, joints or locally weak areas [19]. Multi-
body models obtained with this method are relatively simple, which
makes the procedure adequate for the early phases of vehicle design.
The methodology described herein is known in industry as conceptual
modeling [20].
Figure 20. Localized deformations on a beam and a plastic hinge.
The plastic hinge concept has been developed by using generalized
spring elements to represent constitutive characteristics of localized plas-
tic deformation of beams and kinematic joints to control the deforma-
tion kinematics [21], as illustrated in Fig. 21. The characteristics of
the spring-damper that describes the properties of the plastic hinge are
obtained by experimental component testing, nite element nonlinear
analysis or simplied analytical methods.
The plastic hinge constitutive equation can be modied to account
for the strain rate sensitivity of some materials. A dynamic correction
factor is used to account for the strain rate sensitivity given by [21].
P
d
PP /P
s
PP = 1 + 0.07V
0.82
0
VV , (28)
where P
d
PP and P
s
PP are the dynamic and static forces, respectively, and V
0
VV is
the relative velocity between the adjacent bodies. The force or moment
Multibody Dynamics: Bridging for Multidisciplinary Applications 79
Analytical
Test
Rotation ( Rad)
M
o
m
e
n
t

(
k
N
m
)
0 .05 .10 .15 .20 .25
0
1
5
3
0
4
5
6
0
Figure 21. Plastic hinge bending moment and its constitutive relationship.
to apply due to the plastic hinge is multiplied by the ratio calculated in
Eq. (28) before it is used in the force vector of the multibody equations
of motion.
Application of the Plastic Hinge Approach to
Crashworthiness of Surface Vehicles
The multibody of an o-road vehicle with three occupants, shown in
Fig. 22, is used to demonstrate the plastic hinge approach to complex
crash events. The model includes all moving components of the vehicle,
suspension systems and wheels, and a tire model [16]. The biomechanical
models for the occupants are similar to those described in Fig. 7.
The three occupants, with a 50%tile, integrated in the vehicle are
seated. Two occupants in the front of the vehicle have shoulder and lap
Figure 22. Initial position of the vehicle and occupants for the rollover.
80 ICTAM04
seat belts while the occupant seated in the back of the vehicle has no
seatbelt.
The rollover situation for the simulation is such that the initial condi-
tions correspond to experimental conditions where the vehicle moves on
a cart with a lateral velocity of 13.41 m/s until the impact with a water-
lled decelerator system occurs. The vehicle is then ejected with a roll
angle of 23 degrees.
The results of the simulation are pictured in Fig. 23 by several frames
of the animation. The vehicle rst impacts the ground with its left tires.
At this point the rear occupant is ejected. The rollover motion of the
vehicle proceeds with an increasing angular velocity, mainly due to the
ground tire contact friction forces. The occupants in the front of the
vehicle are held in place by the seat belts. Upon continuing its roll
motion, the vehicle impacts the ground with its rollbar cage, while the
ejection of the rear occupant is complete. Bouncing from the inverted
position, the vehicle completes another half turn and impacts the ground
with the tires again. The HICs for all occupants largely exceed 1000,
which indicates a very high probability of fatal injuries for the occupants
under the conditions simulated.
An experimental test of the vehicle was carried out at the Transporta-
tion Research Center of Ohio [22], being an overview of the footage ob-
tained shown in Fig. 24. The outcome of the experimental test, which
is rather similar to the outcome of the simulation, is further used to
validate the vehicle model [21].
Figure 23. Views of the outcome of the rollover simulation of a vehicle with three
occupants.
Figure 24. View of the experimental test for the truck rollover.
Multibody Dynamics: Bridging for Multidisciplinary Applications 81
5. Flexible Multibody Dynamics with Finite
Elements
General Equations of Motion of a Single Body
Let the principle of the virtual works be used to express the equi-
librium of the exible body in the current conguration t+t and let
an updated Lagrangean formulation be used to obtain the equations of
motion of the exible body [23]. Let the nite element method be used
to represent the equations of motion of the exible body. Referring to
Fig. 25, the assembly of all nite elements used in the discretization of
a single exible body results in its equations of motion written as [6]

M
rr
M
rf
M
rf
M
r
M

M
f
M
fr
M
f
M
ff

g
r
g

s
r
s

0
0
f

0 0 0
0 0 0
0 0 K
L
+K
NL

0
0
u

(29)
where r and

are respectively the translational and angular accelera-

tions of the body-xed reference frame and u

denotes the nodal accele-

rations measured in body xed coordinates. The local coordinate frame
attached to the exible body, is used to represent the gross motion
of the body and its deformation.
Figure 25. General motion of a exible body.
ted updated
ation
t
b
b
t
b
t t
h
t

tt

t
00

82 ICTAM04
Linear Deformations of Flexible Bodies
In many situations it is enough to consider that the components of
the multibody system experience only linear elastic deformations. Fur-
thermore, assume that the mode superposition technique can be used.
Then, the exible part of the body is described by a sum of selected
modes of vibration as
u

= Xw (30)
where the vector w represents the contributions of the vibration modes
towards the nodal displacements and X is the modal matrix. Due to the
reference conditions, the modes of vibration used here are constrained
modes. Due to the assumption of linear elastic deformations the modal
matrix is invariant. The reduced equations of motion for a linear exible
body are [5]
_
M
r
M
rf
X
X
T
M
fr
I
__
q
r
w
_
=
_
g
r
X
T
g
f
_

_
s
r
X
T
s
f
_

_
0
w
_
(31)
where is a diagonal matrix with the squares of the natural frequencies
associated with the modes of vibration selected. For a more detailed
discussion on the selection of the modes used the interested reader is
referred to [5].
The methodology is demonstrated through the application to the si-
mulation of the unfolding of a satellite antenna, the Synthetic Aperture
Radar (SAR) antenna that is a part of the European research satellite
Figure 26. The European satellite with the folded and unfolded congurations of
the antenna.
Multibody Dynamics: Bridging for Multidisciplinary Applications 83
ERS-1, represented in Fig. 26. During the transportation the antenna is
folded, in order to occupy as little space as possible. After unfolding,
the mechanical components take the conguration shown in Fig. 26(a).
The SAR antenna consists in two identical subsystems, each with
three coupled four-bar links that unfold two panels on each side. The
central panel is attached to the main body of the satellite. Each unfold-
ing system has two degrees of freedom, driven individually by actuators
located in joints A and B. In the rst phase of the unfolding process
the panel 3 is rolled out, around an axis normal to the main body, by
a rotational spring-damper-actuator in joint A, while the panel 2 is held
down by blocking the joints D and E. The second phase begins with
the joint A blocked, next the panels 2 and 3 are swung out to the nal
position by a rotational spring-damped-actuator.
The model used for one half of the folding antenna, schematically
depicted Fig. 27, is composed of 12 bodies, 16 spherical joints and 3
revolute joints. The central panel is attached to the satellite, dened
as body 1, which has much higher mass and inertia. The data for this
antenna is reported in the work of Anantharamann [24].
Figure 27. The SAR antenna: a) half unfolded state b) folded antenna; c) multibody
model.
In the rst phase of the unfolding antenna, the rotational spring-
damped-actuator is applied in the revolute joint R
3
. For the second
phase, the revolute joint R
3
is blocked and the system is moved to
the next equilibrium position by a spring-actuator-damped positioned
in joint R
1
. The unfolding processes for rigid and exible models are
shown in Fig. 28, only for its rst phase.
The dierent behavior between the rigid and the exible models is
noticeable in Fig. 28. Though not shown here, the rotational actuator
moment responsible for the start of the unfolding is not correctly pre-
dicted by the rigid multibody model. Being a very light and exible
structure, the discrepancies, if not identied during the design stage,
would lead to the failure of the unfolding process.
1.3 1.3
a) a)
Actuator ( Actuator (1) 1)
b) b)
Panel 3 (B3) Panel 3 (B3)
Panel 2 (B2 Panel 2 (B2))
Panel 1 (B1) Panel 1 (B1)
c) c) c) c)
84 ICTAM04
Figure 28. First phase of the unfolding of the SAR antenna (rigid and exible
models).
Nonlinear Deformations in Multibody Systems
For exible multibody systems experiencing nonlinear geometric and
material deformations, the equations of motion for a exible body are
given by Eq. (29). However, due to the time variance of all its coecients,
Eq. (29) is not ecient for computational implementation. Instead, by
considering a lumped mass formulation for the mass matrix and referring
the nodal accelerations to the inertial frame, the equations of motion for
a single exible body take the form of [6]

mI +

AM

A
T

AM

S 0

AM

S
_
T
J

+S
T
M

S 0
0 0 M
ff

f
r
ff +

AC

S
T
C

I
T
C

f
f (K
L
+K
NL
) u

(32)
where the absolute nodal displacements are written as
q

kf

_

_
k
= u

k
+
_
A
T

_
x
k
+

k
_

0 I
_
_
r

_
+
_

(x
k
+
k
)

+ 2

k
_
(33)
with x
k
being the position of node k in the reference conguration. In
Eq. (32) M

is a diagonal mass matrix containing the mass of the n

boundary nodes,

A
T
= [A. . . A]
T
, S =
_
_
x

1
+

1
_
T
. . .
_
x

n
+

n
_
T
_
T
Multibody Dynamics: Bridging for Multidisciplinary Applications 85
and

I = [I . . . I]
T
where A is the transformation matrix from the body
xed to global coordinate coordinates and x
k
denotes the position of
node k. Vectors C

and C

represent respectively the reaction force

and moment of the exible part of the body over the rigid part, given
by
C

= g

(K
L
+K
NL
)

(K
L
+K
NL
)

,
C

= g

(K
L
+K
NL
)

(K
L
+K
NL
)

.
(34)
The coupling between the rigid body motion and the system deforma-
tions is fully preserved. For a more detailed description of the formula-
tion, and the notation, the interested reader is referred to reference [6].
As an application example of the nonlinear formulation for exible
multibody systems, a sports vehicle with a front crash-box is analyzed
for various impact scenarios, represented in Fig. 29, where the angle of
Angle 10
no friction
Angle 20
frict ion = 0.5
Angle 10
frict ion = 0.5
10 10 cm ramp
Angle 20
no friction
(a) (e) (d)
Figure 29. Dierent impact scenarios for the sports vehicle.
Figure 30. Motion of the vehicle for a 20

oblique impact without contact friction

and for impact with an oblique surface for a vehicle traveling over a ramp.
86 ICTAM04
impact and the topology of the road are dierent. The simulations are
carried until the vehicle reaches a full stop.
The vehicle motion, for the oblique impact scenario presented in
Fig. 29, is characterized by a slight rotation of the vehicle during im-
pact. This rotation is more visible in the case of frictionless impact. At
the simulated impact speed the inuence of the car suspension elements
on the deformation mechanism is minimal.
6. Conclusions
The multibody dynamics formalisms provide an extremely ecient
framework to incorporate dierent disciplines. The behavior of a good
number of phenomena in dierent problems can be represented by kine-
matic constraints (e.g., contact, muscle action, guidance) or by contact
forces (e.g, impact phenomena, control, general interactions). However,
dierent disciplines use dierent preferred numerical methods to solve
their equilibrium equations which lead to diculties in the co-simulation
of dierent systems. The use of multibody formalisms in biomechanics
presents a strong increase due to the suitability to model contacts, mus-
cles, anatomical joints, data processing, etc. The treatment of structural
components with large rotations or of rotating bodies with structural de-
formations nds in the exible multibody dynamics ecient methods to
deal with the problem. A continued eort to close the gap between the
exible multibody dynamics and the nonlinear nite element method is
required. The need for more robust and ecient numerical methods to
handle the specic forms of the MBS equations and the discontinuities
associated to intermittent and fast behaviors are still required.
Acknowledgements
The contents of this work result from a team eort and collaborations
with many co-workers among which the contribution by Miguel Silva,
Joao Gon calves, Jo ao Pombo, Manuel Seabra Pereira, Jo ao Abrantes,
Augusta Neto and Rogerio Leal are gratefully acknowledged.
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