Zeid, A.A., et. al.

“Dynamics of Rigid Bodies: Kinematics and Kinetics”

The Engineering Handbook.
Ed. Richard C. Dorf
Boca Raton: CRC Press LLC, 2000

© 1998 by CRC PRESS LLC

 13
Dynamics of Rigid Bodies: Kinematics and
Kinetics
13.1 Kinematics of Rigid Bodies
Translation • Rotation • General Plane Motion: Euler Theorem • Instantaneous Center of Rotation in Plane
Motion • Absolute and Relative Acceleration in Plane Motion • Space Motion
13.2 Kinetics of Rigid Bodies
Forces and Acceleration • Work and Energy

Ashraf A. Zeid
Army High Performance Computing Research Center and Computer Sciences Corporation

R. R. Beck
U.S. Army Tank Automotive Research Development and Engineering Center

13.1 Kinematics of Rigid Bodies

Kinematics is the study of the geometry of rigid body motion without reference to what causes the
motion. Kinematic analyses are conducted to establish relationships between the position,
velocity, and acceleration of rigid bodies or points on a rigid body.
The position and orientation of a body can be described by their distance from a perpendicular
set of fixed axes called a coordinate system. The minimum number of independent or generalized
coordinates needed to completely describe the position and orientation of a system of rigid bodies
is equal to the number of degrees of freedom for the system. The number of degrees of freedom
equals the number of nonindependent coordinates used to describe the position and orientation of
each body of the system minus the number of constraints equations governing the system's motion.
Therefore, the maximum number of independent coordinates needed to completely describe the
position and orientation of a rigid body in space is six. Three independent equations are required to
locate and describe the rigid body in translation with respect to time; the other three independent
equations of motion are required to define its orientation and rotation in space with respect to time.
In general, the equations of motion of a rigid body are created relative to an inertial reference
frame. The inertial reference frame is usually the rectangular set of Cartesian coordinate axes x, y, z
with corresponding unit vectors i, j, k, as described previously.
A rigid body is in rectilinear translation when a line that joins any two points on the body does

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not rotate during motion. A rigid body is in curvilinear translation when all points of the body
move on congruent curves. A fixed-axis rotation occurs when the line that connects any point on
the body to the center of rotation rotates without any translation. When all points in a body move in
parallel planes, the rigid body is in general plane motion. If no restriction is placed on the motion
of the rigid body, it will move in general space motion. If the body is in general space motion and
one of its points is pivoted, the body is in a fixed-point rotation.

Translation
All points on a rigid body in pure translation will have the same velocity and the same acceleration
at any given instant. Figures 13.1 and 13.2 show examples of two different types of translational
motion and a possible choice of a fixed reference frame whose axes are denoted as x and y with
corresponding unit vectors i and j, respectively.

Fig. 13.1 Rectilinear translation.

Fig. 13.2 Curvilinear translation.

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 When a body is undergoing rectilinear translation, as shown in Fig. 13.1, the velocities and
accelerations of all points are identical in both magnitude and direction for all time.
¯
vA = vB ¯¯
(13:1)
aA = aB ¯for all t

where fA; B; : : :g are arbitrary points on the body. In Fig. 13.2 the velocities of any two points A
and B on the body are identical and parallel at any instant of time; however, unlike in rectilinear
translation, the velocity and acceleration directions are not constant. For curvilinear translation the
velocity equation holds at any instant of time but not necessarily throughout the entire motion:
¯
vA = vB ¯¯
(13:2)
aA = aB ¯t
1 6=t2

Rotation
The angular position of a body in pure rotation is completely defined by the angle between an
arbitrary fixed reference line that passes through the center of rotation and any arbitrary line fixed
to the body and passing also through the center of rotation, as shown in Fig. 13.3. The rotation
angle µ may be measured in degrees or radians, where

1 revolution = 360 degrees = 2¼ radians (13:3)

The rotation angular velocity ! is defined as the rate of change of the angular position angle µ with
respect to time. It is expressed in radians per second (rps) or in revolutions per minute (rpm), as
follows:

dµ
!= (13:4)
dt

The rotational angular acceleration ® is the time rate of change of the angular velocity resulting in
the following relationship:

d! d2 µ d! dµ d!
®= = 2 = =! (13:5)
dt dt dµ dt dµ

In pure rotational motion, the relation between the rotational position, velocity, and
acceleration are similar to pure translation. The angular velocity is the integral of the angular
acceleration plus the initial velocity; the angular displacement is equal to the initial displacement
added to the integral of the velocity. That is,

! = !0 + ®t
(13:6)
µ = µ0 + !t = µ0 + !0 t + 12 ®t2

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In general, the angular velocity and angular acceleration are three-dimensional vectors whose three
components are normally projected on a coordinate system fixed to the body that is translating and
rotating in space, which is the general behavior of rigid bodies as discussed in later sections. For
planar motion, two of the components of the angular velocity vector are equal to zero and the third
component points always outward from the plane of motion.

Fig. 13.3 A body in pure rotation.

Therefore, the position of any point B on a body in pure planar rotation is determined by the
distance rB=A of that point from the center of rotation A times the magnitude of the angle of
rotation expressed in radians µ . Thus the distance s that a point fixed on a rigid body travels during
a rotation µ is given by:

s = rB=A µ (13:7)

Similarly, the linear velocity of that point will depend on the distance rB=A and on the angular
velocity ! and will have a direction that is perpendicular to the line between the center of rotation
and the point, as follows:

! £ ~rB=A
~v = ~ (13:8)

where £ indicates cross product. The angular acceleration of a point on a rigid body can be
decomposed into a tangential and a normal component. The tangential component is the time rate
of change of the linear velocity v and is in the direction of the linear velocity, namely, along the
line perpendicular to the radius of rotation rB=A .

d~v
~at = ~ £ ~rB=A
=® (13:9)
dt

The normal acceleration depends on the time rate of change of the velocity in the tangential
direction and on the angle of displacement, which gives the equation

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 ! £~
~an = ~ ! £ ~rB=A (13:10)

General Plane Motion: Euler Theorem

General plane motion can be separated into a pure translation followed by a pure rotation about a
point called the center of rotation. If we attach a coordinate system at point A, as shown in Fig.
13.4, the position of any point on the body can be described by the position vector of point
Anamely, rA  added to the relative position of that point with respect to Anamely, the vector
rB=A all measured in the fixed coordinate system.

~rB = ~rA + ~rB=A (13:11)

Similarly, the velocity of a rigid body in general plane motion can be separated into a velocity due
to pure translation vA together with a velocity due to pure rotation vA=B .

~vB = ~vA + ~vB=A (13:12)

where ~vB=A = ! £ ~rB=A and ~vA is the velocity vector of point A. The velocity vector ~vB=A is called
the relative velocity vector of point B with respect to point A.

Fig. 13.4 General motion of a rigid body in plane.

Instantaneous Center of Rotation in Plane Motion

At any instant in time, a body in general plane motion has a pointwhich may be either outside or
on the bodyaround which all points of the body appear to be rotating in pure rotation. This point,
called instantaneous center of rotation, can be found if the velocity vector of any point on the body
together with the angular velocity of the body are known. The instantaneous center of rotation will
lie on a line perpendicular to the velocity vector and at a distance from that point that is equal to
the magnitude of the velocity of the point divided by angular velocity ! of the body.

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 Once the instantaneous center of rotation is found, the velocity of any point B on the body can be
determined from the vector from that center to the point B, ~rB , as follows:

! £ ~rB
~vB = ~

The direction of the velocity vector will be perpendicular to the vector ~rB .

Absolute and Relative Acceleration in Plane Motion

The angular acceleration of a point on a rigid body in plane motion also has a component due to
translation and a component due to rotation; the latter component consists of a normal and a
tangential component.

~aB = ~aA + ~aB=A

~aB=A = (~aB=A )n + (~aB=A )t

(13:13)
(~aB=A )n = ! £ ! £ ~rB=A

(~aB=A )t = ® £ ~rB=A

The acceleration of a point located by variable vector ~rB=A on a moving rigid body is given by the
following relation:

d~rB=A d2 ~rB=A
~aB=A = ~aA + ! £ ! £ ~rB=A + ® £ ~rB=A + 2! £ + (13:14)
dt dt2

where the vector ~rB=A and its time derivative are measured in a fixed reference framenamely, its
components are [Xr ; Yr ] as shown in Fig. 13.5. If the vector ~rB=A is known by its components in a
body-fixed coordinate [xr ; yr ] , then they can be transformed to the inertial coordinates as follows:

Xr = xr cos µ ¡ yr sin µ
(13:15)
Yr = xr sin µ + yr sin µ

This is a coordinate transformation and is orthogonal, that is, its transpose is equal to its inverse. In
matrix form the transformation of coordinates in Eq. (13.15) can be written as follows:
· ¸ · ¸· ¸ · ¸ · ¸· ¸
Xr cos µ ¡ sin µ xr xr cos µ sin µ Xr
= and = (13:16)
Yr sin µ cos µ yr yr ¡ sin µ cos µ Yr

If we use the prime symbol to denote that the vector components are measured in a body-fixed
coordinate, then Eq. (13.16) can be written in a more compact form as follows:
0 0
rB=A = Tz rB=A and rB=A = TzT rB=A (13:17)

where TzT is the transpose of the rotation matrix around the z axis (which would point outward
from the page).

© 1998 by CRC PRESS LLC

 Fig. 13.5 Coordinate transformation in rotation.

Space Motion
Three angles, called Euler angles, may be used to describe the orientation of a rigid body in space.
These angles describe three consecutive rotations around the three coordinates of the frame fixed
in a moving body with respect to an inertial fixed frame. Twelve combinations of rotation
sequences can be chosen; here we choose the rotation around the z axis, Ã , followed by a rotation
around the body-fixed y axis, µ , and finally a rotation around the body-fixed x axis, Á .
Figure 13.6(c) shows the final position of a body which has a fixed coordinate system [x; y; z] .
Originally, the body was oriented such that its fixed coordinate [x; y; z] corresponded to the inertial
fixed coordinate system [X; Y; Z] . The body was then rotated by an angle à around z, as shown in
Fig. 13.6(a), followed by a rotation of an angle µ around y, as shown in Fig. 13.6(b), and finally by
a rotation through an angle Á around z.

Fig. 13.6 Three consecutive rotations around the body-fixed axis (X;Y;Z).

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 If the components of a vector are known in the body-fixed coordinate system, then the
components of that vector can be obtained in the inertial reference frame by multiplying the vector
by a transformation matrix. This transformation is obtained from the sequential product of the three
successive rotation matrices around axis z, then y, and then x, respectively. As an example, the
transformation matrix for the rotation in the order shown in Fig. 13.6 is as follows:

Tz;y;x =
2 3
cos µ cos à cos µ sin à ¡ sin µ
4 ¡ cos Á sin à + sin Á sin µ cos à cos Á cos à + sin Á sin µ sin à sin à cos µ 5
sin Á sin à + cos Á sin µ cos à ¡ sin Á cos à + cos Á sin µ sin à cos Á cos µ

(13:18)

0
In order to transform any vector rB=A known by its components in a body-fixed coordinate system
into the corresponding vector whose components are given in inertial fixed coordinates, rB=A , and
vice versa, the vector would be multiplied by the transformation matrix as follows:
0 0 T
rB=A = Tz;y;x rB=A and rB=A = Tz;y;x rB=A (13:19)

where the superscript T denotes the transpose of the matrix. Because the transformation matrix is
orthogonal its transpose is equal to its inverse, as shown by Eq. (13.19).
The time derivatives of the Euler angles can be obtained from the components of the angular
rotation matrix ! expressed in body coordinates. For the sequence of rotations shown in Fig. 13.6,
the angular velocity vector can be expressed in terms of the rate of change of the Euler angles as
follows. In Fig. 13.6(a) we have

!x = 0
!y = 0

dÃ
!z =
dt

In Fig. 13.6(b) we have

dÃ
!x = ¡ sin µ
dt

dµ
!y =
dt

dÃ
!z = cos µ
dt

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 Finally, in Fig 13.6(c) we have

dà dÁ
!x = ¡ sin µ +
dt dt

dà dµ
!y = cos µ sin Á + cos Á
dt dt

dà dµ
!z = cos µ cos Á ¡ sin Á
dt dt
(13:20)
dÃ
= (!y sin Á + !z cos Á)= cos µ
dt

dµ
= !y cos Á ¡ !z sin Á
dt

dÁ
= !x + (!y sin Á + !z cos Á) tan µ
dt

In vector form the above equation may be written as follows:

d§ d§
!=E or = E ¡1 ! (13:21)
dt dt

where the matrix E is given by:

2 3 2 3
¡ sin µ 0 1 !x
4
E = cos µ sin Á cos Á 05; ~ = 4 !y 5 ;
!
cos µ cos Á ¡ sin Á 0 !z

2 sin Á cos Á 3
0
6 cos µ cos µ 7
¡1 6 7
and E =60 cos Á ¡ sin Á 7 (13:22)
4 5
sin Á sin µ cos Á sin µ
1
cos µ cos µ

Note that the matrix E is not orthogonal, so its transpose is not equal to its inverse.

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13.2 Kinetics of Rigid Bodies
Forces and Acceleration
Kinetics is the study of the relation between the forces that act on a rigid body and the resulting
acceleration, velocity, and motion as a function of the body mass and geometric shape. The
acceleration of a rigid body is related to its mass and to the applied forces by D'Alembert's
principle, which states that the external forces acting on a rigid body are equivalent to the effective
forces of the various particles of the body.
In the case of a rigid body moving in a plane motion, the D'Alembert principle amounts to the
vector equation F~ = m~a together with the scalar equation of the moments M = I® . In the
particular case when a symmetric body is rotating around an axis that passes through its mass
centernamely, centroidal rotationthe angular acceleration vector relates to the sum of moments
by the equation M = I® .
In general plane motion, the x and y components for the force vector, together with the moment
equation, should be included in calculating the motion.
The free-body diagram is one of the essential tools for setting up the equations of motion that
describe the kinetics of rigid bodies. It depicts the fundamental relation between the force vectors
and the acceleration of a body by sketching the body together with all applied, reaction, and
D'Alembert force and moment vectors drawn at the point where they are applied.

Systems of Rigid Bodies in Planar Motion

Free-body diagrams can be used to set up, and in some cases to solve, problems that involve
several rigid bodies interconnected by elements forcing them to a prescribed motionfor example,
a motion that follows a curve or a surface. Such elements, called kinematic joints, can be rigid
links with negligible masses or wires in tension, such as the ones used in pulley systems.
For planar motion three equations of motion are obtained by writing down the x and y
components of the forces and acceleration with the equation of moments and the angular
acceleration.
For a rigid body moving under a constraint, the free-body diagram is supplemented by a
kinematic analysis, which provides the tangential and normal component of the acceleration.
Rolling of a disc on a surface, which is a noncentroidal rotation, is an example of a constrained
plane motion that belongs to this class of problems. The rolling can be with no sliding, with
impeding sliding, and with sliding. Rotation of gear pair and pulley also belong to this class of
problems.

Rotation of a Three-Dimensional Body about a Fixed Axis

If several bodies rotating each in their own plane are connected by a rigid shaft then each will exert
a D'Alembert force, m~a , on the shaft. Their combined effect will be a vector force and a couple
equal to the inertia I of the body times the angular acceleration ® .
If the body that rotates about a fixed axis is at rest and if the moments of the weights about the
center of the rotating shaft is zero, we say that the system is statically balanced. When the body
starts rotating, the moment due to D'Alembert forces, m~a , around the center of gravity of the
system may not sum to zero; the system is not dynamically balanced. Rotating machinery strive to
have their systems dynamically balanced to reduce the reaction forces at the bearings and
consequently their wearing. Counterweights are added such that the total D'Alembert forces of the
original bodies and the weights sum to zero.
In its most general case, the motion of a rigid body in space can be solved only through
numerical integration, except for very few simple problems, such as gyroscopic motion.

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Work and Energy
The kinetic energy of a particle in translation is a scalar quantity measured in joules or ft-lb and
can be simply defined as 12 mv 2 .
The infinitesimal element of work, ¢w , is defined as the product of the projection of the force
vector on the path s of the body and the infinitesimal length ds of that path: (F cos ¯) ds , where ¯
is the angle that the force vector makes with the path ds .
The principle of work and energy states that the energy of a body is equal to the sum, over a
certain displacement path, of the work done by all external forces that acted on the body and
caused that displacement plus any initial kinetic energy that the body had at the beginning of the
path.
For bodies in pure rotation the work of a couple is the product of the couple and the infinitesimal
angle moved due to that couple. The summation of the work over all the angular displacement
caused by that couple is the rotational energy and is also defined as 12 I! 2 , where ! is the angular
velocity of the body.
The kinetic energy of a rigid body in general plane motion T is equal to the sum of kinetic
energy in translation and the kinetic energy in rotation:

T = 12 (m~v 2 + I !2 )

where ~v is the velocity of the mass center G of the body and I is the moment of inertia of the body
about an axis through its mass center. This energy is identical to the kinetic rotational energy of the
body if it is considered to be in pure rotation around its instantaneous center of rotation. In this
case I would be the moment of inertia of the body around an axis that passes through the
instantaneous center of rotation.
The principle of conservation of energy states that the sum of the potential and kinetic energy of
a body acted upon by conservative forcesthat is, nondissipative forces of friction or
dampingremains constant during the time when these forces are applied.
Power is the product of the projection of the force vector on the velocity that resulted from this
force. Power is measured in watt and horsepower units. The summation of power over a certain
time interval is equal to the total energy stored in the body during that time.

Kinetics of Rigid Bodies in Plane Motion: Impulse and Momentum for a Rigid
Body
The principle of impulse and momentum for a rigid body states that the momenta of all the
particles of a rigid body at time t1 , added to the impulses of external forces acting during the time
interval from time t1 to time t2 , are equal to the system momenta at time t2 .

Momentum of a Rigid Body in Plane Motion

Translation, Rotation, and General Motion. The momenta vector of a body in plane translation
motion is the product of the mass and the velocity vector. For a rigid body in plane centroidal
rotation, the linear momenta vector is equal to 0 since the mass center does not have any linear
velocity. The sum of the couples of forces acting on the particle of that body gives the angular
momentum, which is HG = I ! .

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 In a general plane motion, the momentum is a vector with components along the x, y, and !
directions. The dynamic equations of motion of a rigid body in plane motion can be obtained from
D'Alembert's principle as follows:

dm~vx
= (F1 )x + (F2 )x + ¢ ¢ ¢
dt

dm~vy (13:23)
= (F1 )y + (F2 )y + ¢ ¢ ¢
dt
dI®
= M 1 + M 2 + ¢ ¢ ¢ + r 1 £ F1 + r 2 £ F2 + ¢ ¢ ¢
dt

For a system of rigid bodies the linear momentum vector does not change in the absence of a
resultant linear impulse. Similarly, the angular momentum vector does not change in the absence of
an angular impulse.

Space Motion. The momentum vector of a rigid body moving in space has a linear component G
and an angular component H. The linear component represents the D'Alembert principle as
described by the following equations:

dm~vx
= (F1 )x + (F2 )x + ¢ ¢ ¢
dt

dm~vy (13:24)
= (F1 )y + (F2 )y + ¢ ¢ ¢
dt

dm~vz
= (F1 )z + (F2 )z + ¢ ¢ ¢
dt

where the velocity and the force vectors are expressed in their inertial [X; Y; Z] components. If
these vectors are expressed in a body-fixed coordinate system, the time derivative should include
the effect of the rotation vector, as in the case of the angular momentum. The angular momentum
vector H is defined as follows:

~ = I~
H ! (13:25)

where H and ! are expressed by their components in the body coordinate [x; y; z] . When a vector
is expressed in a body coordinate its time derivative should include the effect of angular rotation.
For this reasonand because normally the position vector of the point of application of a force Fi
from a center of rotation A, denoted by ~rBi=A , is known by its components in a body coordinate
systemthe equation stating that the time rate of change of the angular momentum is equal to the
sum of the moments would be written as follows:
dI! T T 0 T 0 T
+ ! £ I! = Tz;y;x M1 + Tz;y;x M2 + ¢ ¢ ¢ + rB1=A £ Tz;y;x F1 + rB2=A £ Tz;y;x F2 + ¢ ¢ ¢ (13:26)
dt

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where I is the matrix of inertia relative to a coordinate system fixed in the body and moving with it
and the center of the coordinate system is located at point A. The forces and the moments are
assumed to be known by their components in an inertial fixed coordinate system and ! is the
angular velocity of the body given by its components in the body-fixed coordinates.
If the body-fixed coordinate system is chosen along the principal axis of the body, then the
equation of motion can be reduced to the Euler's equations as follows:

Ixx !_ x = (Iyy ¡ Izz )!y !z + §Mx

Iyy !_ y = (Izz ¡ Ixx )!z !x + §Mx (13:27)

Izz !_ z = (Ixx ¡ Iyy )!x !y + §Mz

In general, Eqs. (13.25) and (13.26) are solved by numerical integration, except for the cases
where they are simplified, for example in gyroscopic motion. The Euler angles used in the
transformation matrix T are obtained from the numerical integration of Eq. (13.20).

Impulsive Motion and Eccentric Impact

The principle of conservation of momentum is useful in solving the problem of impacting bodies.
If the colliding of two bodies is such that the collision point is on a line that joins their mass
centers, then the collision is centroidal, the two bodies can be considered particles, and impulsive
motion of particle dynamics can be used.
If the collision is noncentroidal, rotational motion will occur. In this case the projection of the
velocity differential of the bodies' point of contact on the line normal to the contact surface after
collision is equal to the same projection of the differential velocity prior to collision times the
coefficient of restitution. This vector relation can be used to find the velocity after impact.

Rotation Around a Fixed Point and Gyroscopic Motion

When a rigid body spins at a rate ! about its axis of symmetry and is subjected to a couple of
moment M about an axis perpendicular to the spin axis, then the body will precess at a rate - about
an axis that is perpendicular to both the spin and the couple axis. The rate of precession omega is
equal to M = I !- .
A well-known example of gyroscopic motion is the motion of a top (see Fig. 13.7), in which the
couple moment M due to gravityis expected to force the top to fall. However, the top does not
fall and rather precesses around the y axis.

Fig. 13.7 Gyroscopic motion.

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Defining Terms
Acceleration: The rate of change of the velocity vector. Absolute acceleration of a rigid body is
the rate of change of the velocity vector of the mass center of the body. Relative acceleration
is the acceleration of a point on a body due to the angular velocity of that body only.
D'Alembert forces: Force and moment vectors due to the linear and angular accelerations of the
body.
Free-body diagram: An essential sketch used to solve kinetics problems that involves sketching
the rigid body together with all internal, reaction, and external force vectors.
Gyroscopic motion: Describes the motion of a rigid body that is spinning with a very large
angular velocity around one axis when the couple of a moment is applied on the second axis.
The resultant motion, called precession, is an angular velocity around the third axis.
Kinematic analysis: Starts from the geometry of constraints and uses differentiation to find the
velocity and acceleration of the constrained points on a rigid body.
Kinetic energy: The accumulation of work of forces on a rigid body between two instants of
time; includes kinetic energy due to translation and kinetic energy due to rotation.
Rotation: Centroidal rotation is the motion of a rigid body around an axis that passes through its
mass center. In noncentroidal rotation the body rotates around an axis that passes through a
point not corresponding to its mass center and which may not be on the body; this point is
called the instantaneous center of rotation.
Translation: Rectilinear translation occurs when the velocity of any two points on the body
remain equal in direction and magnitude throughout the entire duration of the motion.
Curvilinear translation occurs when the velocity vectors of any two points are equal at any
instant of time but change from one instant to another.
Velocity: Absolute velocity is the rate of change of the position vector of a point on a body
measured from a fixed reference coordinate. Relative velocity is the rate of change of the
position vector of a point on a rigid body measured from a moving reference frame.

References
Meriam, J. L. and Kraige, L. G. 1992. Engineering Mechanics, 3rd ed. John Wiley & Sons, New
York.
Beer, F. P. and Johnston, E. R. 1987. Mechanics for Engineers-Dynamics, 4th ed. McGraw-Hill,
New York.
Crandal, S. H., Karnopp, D. C., Kurtz., E. F, Jr., and Pridmore-Brown, D. C. 1968. Dynamics of
Mechanical and Electromechanical Systems. McGraw-Hill, New York.
Haug, E. J. 1989. Computer-Aided Kinematics and Dynamics of Mechanical Systems. Volume I:
Basic Methods. Allyn & Bacon, Boston.
Nikravesh, P. 1988. Computer-Aided Analysis of Mechanical Systems. Prentice Hall, Englewood
Cliffs, NJ.
Shabana, A. A. 1994. Computational Dynamics. John Wiley & Sons, New York.

Further Information
Detailed treatment of the subject can be found in Meriam and Kraige [1992] and Beer and
Johnston [1987].
A classical presentation of the subject can be found in Crandal et al. [1968].
Computer-aided analysis of the kinematics and dynamics of constrained rigid bodies in space
motion can be found in Haug [1989] and Nikravesh [1988].

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