Comprrterlr& Srrrrcrrrres

Vol. 22.No. 2. pp. 165-178.

1986 0045-7949186
$3.00+ .OO
Printedin GreatBritain. 6 1986Pergamon
PressLtd.

AUTOMATED VISCO-ELASTIC ANALYSIS OF LARGE

SCALE INERTIA-VARIANT SPATIAL VEHICLES

OM P. AGRAWAL and AHMED A. SHABANA

Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL 60680

(Received 3 August 1984)

Abstract-This study is concerned with the dynamic analysis of spatial vehicles consisting of inter-
connected rigid, elastic, and visco-elastic components. The configuration of each elastic or visco-
elastic component is identified using two sets of generalized coordinates; reference and elastic co-
ordinates that, respectively, describe the motion of the component reference and the deformation
relative to this reference. Nonlinear constraints between adjacent vehicle components are introduced
to the formulation using a Lagrange multiplier technique. The finite element method is employed to
introduce the elastic coordinates and component modes are used to reduce the number of degrees of
freedom of the vehicle. A linear visco-elastic model is employed in this analysis, wherein the stress
is assumed to be proportional to the strain and its time derivative (Kelvin-Voigt model). The resulting
mathematical model is highly nonlinear and a strong coupling between the reference motion and elastic
deformation appears in the kinetic energy expression. No coupling, however, appears in the stiffness
and damping matrices. Nonlinearities in the suspension and tire models are also considered, and the
change in the suspension force due to a large change in geometry of vehicle components is accounted
for, The vehicle mathematical model, written in terms of a mixed set of physical reference and modal
elastic coordinates, is integrated numerically using an explicit-implicit direct numerical integration
method and the physical state of the vehicle is recovered using the modal transformation.

1. INTRODUCTION this model in order to simplify the system equations

Vehicles are examples of multi-body systems that
consist of interconnected components that exhibit
a large change in geometry and, accordingly, their
analysis require a complex mathematical model that
accounts for geometric inertia nonlinearities re-
suiting from large rigid body rotations. The study
of vehicle systems has been a subject of many in-
vestigations that are concerned with analyzing the
performance of actual or concept vehicles. Such
analysis is essential in order to determine the ride
comfort and the stability of the vehicle when it
moves over rough terrain. As the demand for light-
weight vehicles, which can operate in severe con-
ditions, increases, it will be required to accurately
model and predict the dynamic response of such
vehicles. An accurate description of the vehicle dy-
namics can be achieved if all significant effects are
incorporated into the mathematical model. There-
fore, it is necessary to consider the flexibility effect
of the vehicle components along with the nonlinear
suspension kinematics and forces.
Until recently, the vehicle components have
been modeled as rigid bodies. For example, the
NATO Reference Mobility Model (NRMM) (Ref.
[l]) has been extensively used to evaluate the ve-
hicle ride quality and overall performance. In this
model, the driver’s absorbed power-[21 is used as a
criterion for determining maximum acceptable sus-
tained vehicle speed over a terrain and the driver’s
acceleration as a criterion for maximum acceptable
vehicle speed over an obstacle. This model is bas-
ically a two-dimensional rigid body model. Fur-
thermore, several assumptions have been made in
of motion. Some investigators[K 41 have consid-
ered flexibility of vehicle components. Their
method of analysis is based on a linear theory that
has been employed to analyze mechanisms with
flexible members[S71. In their formulation, gross
rigid body motion and elastic deformations are
solved separately. Rigid body analysis is employed
to solve for the reaction and inertial forces. At this
stage, the elastic deformation is assumed to have
no significant effect on the gross rigid body motion.
The inertia and reaction forces from rigid body anal-
ysis are then used to find the elastic deformation
using a linear structural model. The total motion of
each member of the system is then predicted by the
superposition of small elastic deformation on gross
motion.
Recently, a method is presentedi8, 91 for dy-
namic analysis of large scale inertia-variant flexible
systems with coupled reference and elastic defor-
mation. In this formulation, the configuration of
each flexible body is represented by two sets of
generalized coordinates, these being reference and
elastic generalized coordinates. Reference gener-
alized coordinates define the location and orienta-
tion of a body fixed coordinate system that is rigidly
attached to a point on the flexible body and the
elastic generalized coordinates define the elastic de-
formation of nodal points with respect to the body
fixed axes. The finite element method of structural
analysis is used to introduce elastic coordinates.
Modal analysis is then employed to reduce the di-
mensionality of the problem to a manageable size,
and generalized coordinate partitioning is used to

165
166 0~ P. Aos4\v4r and
eliminate the dependent coordinates. This method
has, also, been applied (Ref. [lo]) to analyze planer
vehicles.
The intent of this study is to expand upon the
formulation presented in Ref. [IO], in order to ana-
lyze spatial vehicles with rigid, elastic, and visco-
elastic components in an automated manner. The
configuration of each visco-elastic component is
identified using two sets of generalized coordinates,
reference and elastic coordinates. Reference co-
ordinates define the location and orientation of the
component axes. Euler parameters are employed to
describe the orientations of the vehicle components
with respect to the inertial frame. The set of elastic
coordinates is introduced using the finite element
method. This set of coordinates defines the defor-
mation of the selected nodal points with respect to
the component axes. Once the displacement field
is uniquely defined, modal analysis or substructur-
ing techniques can be employed to reduce the num-
ber of elastic coordinates. The effect of internal ma-
terial damping of viscoelastic components
considered. A linear visco-elastic model (Kelvin-
Voigt model) is employed in this analysis. In this
model, the stress is assumed to be proportional to
the strain and its time derivative. The formulation
results in a constant stiffness and damping matrices
for the inertia-variant visco-elastic components. No
additional coupling between reference and elastic
coordinates appears in the damping or the stiffness
matrices. The coupling appears only in the kinetic
energy expression and the nonlinear constraint
equations that are introduced to the formulation to
account for the joints between different compo-
nents.
The organization of this study is as follows. In
Sec. 2, the vehicle and the road surface model used
in this analysis are described. A mathematical de-
Fig. I. Dune
AHMEII A. SHABANA
scription of the vehicle kinematics is presented in
Sec. 3. In this section, the elastic generalized co-
ordinates are defined and nonlinear constraint
equations that account for the joint deformation are
formulated. Calculations of generalized forces due
to the tire-ground interaction and the forces in the
suspension system are presented in Sec. 4. A linear
visco-elastic model (Kelvin-Voigt) that accounts
for the internal material damping is developed in
Sec. 5, and a detailed mathematical development
of the dynamic equations of motion is presented in
Sec. 6. Section 7 illustrates a scheme for automating
the development of the system equations of motion
of inertia variant vehicles with visco-elastic com-
ponents. The chassis finite element representation
is given in Sec. 8. The numerical results of the
model considered are presented in Sec. 9. A graphic
display of the simulation is also presented in this
section in order to show the overall behavior of the
flexible vehicle.
is
2. VEHICLE AND ROAD SURFACE MODELS
The vehicle used in this study is a lightweight
dune buggy shown in Fig. 1, The overall length and
width of the vehicle are approximately 3.7 m and
I .93 m respectively. The height of the vehicle is I .4S
m. The frame of this vehicle is made of several tu-
bular truss elements welded at the joints. Vehicle
parameters and the materials properties used in this
investigation are listed in Table I.
A simplified, spatial frame structure of the chas-
sis is shown in Fig. 2. In the discussion to follow,
the four wheels are considered as components I-
4. component l-front left wheel. component 2-
front right wheel, component 3-rear left wheel,
and component 4-rear right wheel (when viewed
buggy
 Automated visco-elastic analysis of large scale inertia-variant spatial vehicles 167

Fig. 2. Chassis frame model.

from front to rear), and the chassis is considered as Table 2. Initial conditions of components
component 5. In the present investigation, the axles
Component initial locations (m)
of wheels are assumed to be rigid and the weight Component
of each wheel axle assembly is assumed to act at no. X Y Z
the center of the wheel. The weight of component
5 includes the chassis weight and the weight of I. 2.514 0.3993 0.272
2. 2.514 0.3993 - I .784
mounted equipment such as the engine, fuel tank, 3. -0.0078 0.3457 0.0
etc. Trailing arms, that are of an independent sus- 4. - 0.0078 0.3457 - I.512
pension type, are used to connect the wheels with 5. 1.4529 0.3687 -0.756
the chassis of the vehicle. This kind of suspension
always keeps the wheels upright relative to the
body, and hence leaning with the body of the car four trailing arms are modeled as rigid elements.
in a corner. The trailing arms are also used to trans- The initial locations of various components, with
mit the braking torque to the chassis. These trailing respect to the inertial reference frame, are given in
arms are assumed to be pinned to the chassis and Table 2.
The suspension system and the tires are modeled
rigidly connected to the axes of the wheels. The
as translational springs and dampers. The charac-
Table I. Vehicle parameters teristic of the suspension springs is assumed to be
linear. The stiffness of the spring is increased 5.0
Parameter Value times beyond the jounce and rebound point in order
Gross vehicle mass 1109.0 Kg to account for the bump stops. The characteristics
Mass of the chassis 989.0 Kg of the spring and damper for the front and the rear
Front wheel mass 35.0 Kg wheel used in the present investigation are given in
Rear wheel mass 25.0 Kg Fig. 3, where absorbers are modeled as linear vis-
Moment of inertia cous dampers that produce forces in parallel to the
Roll moment of inertia (I,) 375.0 Kg m’ spring forces.
Yaw moment of inertia (I,.,.) 1405.0 Kg m2
Pitch moment of inertia (I,?) I 115.0 Kg m’ The spring characteristics of the tires are as-
Cross moment of inertia: I.,,. = sumed to be a nonlinear quadratic function of the
1,: = 1, 0.0 tire penetration. A simple point contact model,
Moment of inertia of wheels rather than a more detailed tire ground deformation
Front wheels I.,, 0.2 Kg m2 model, is used. It is assumed that the resultant of
I,., 0.2 Kg m2
I:, 0.4 Kg m2
Rear wheels I,, 0.15 Kg m2
I,., 0. I5 Kg mz t
I z’i 0.30 Kg mz Spring
Young modulus of the chassis Force
material 2.0*10” N/m’
Density of the chassis material 7830.0 Kg/m3 = SK
Front wheel and rear suspension
Spring rate (front) 15000.0 N/m
(rear) 20000.0 N/m
Damping rate (front) 2300.0 N s/m
(rear) 3600.0 N s/m
Quadratic spring constant of = 20.000 N/m (rear)
each tire
(front) 3.0*10h N/m
(rear) 5.4*10h N/m
Radius of the front tires 0.3457 m
Radius of the rear tires 0.3993 m
Fig. 3. Spring characteristics.
IhX OM P. AGK,\U.AI.and
the ground force is vertical and passes through the
center of gravity of the wheel. Fore-and-aft force
components are neglected. The ground penetration
is evaluated by calculating the distance between the
center of gravity of the wheel and the ground height
just below this point. The tires are free to leave the
ground, to simulate the wheel hop. The tire quad-
ratic spring constants used in the present study are
3.0*10’ N/m for the front tires and 5.4” 10” Nim for
the rear tires.
The dynamic response of a vehicle is strongly
dependent on the vertical displacement of the
wheels. This displacement is produced because of
wheel-ground interaction. Irregularities and bumps
in the road surfaces induce forces to the suspension
system and accordingly affect the dynamic re-
sponse of the entire vehicle. It is not uncommon
that these forces have a high-frequency nature.
which can be transmitted to the chassis through the
suspension system. These forces excite the defor-
mation modes of the chassis, thus producing oscil-
lations that can significantly affect the dynamic re-
sponse and the ride comfort of the vehicle.
Therefore, it is required to test the vehicle when it
passes over such a bump or terrain. In the present
investigation, the vehicle first passes over a flat ter-
rain and then passes over a bump that is shaped as
a half sine function. The length and height of this
sine function is I.0 m and 0.1 m respectively. The
right front wheel of the vehicle is assumed to pass
over this bump.
3. KINEMATICS ANQ BODY AXIS CONDITIONS
In the present investigation. the chassis of the
vehicle is assumed to be flexible and the four trail-
ing arms are assumed to be rigid. In order to specify
the configuration of the chassis. two sets of gen-
eralized coordinates are used: reference general-
ized coordinates that define the location and ori-
entation of a body coordinate system, and elastic
coordinates that define small deformation relative
to the body coordinate system. The analysis
method employed here is similar to the method used
in Refs. [S] and [Y] to analyze mechanical cy\tems
with interconnected rigid and tlexible bodies. in
contrary to the approach used in Refs. [Xl and 191.
the internal material damping of elastic components
is considered, thus expanding upon the formulation
presented in these references to treat vehicle sys-
tems with visco-elastic component*. The analysis
approach used here is briefly discussed. A more
detailed discussion can be found in Refs. 181 and
[91.
Figure 4 shows a typical three dimensional elas-
tic beam element. denoted as element .j in the ith
flexible component. Let XYZ be the inertial coor-
dinate system and X’Y’Z’ be the body coordinate
AHMEI) A. SFMBANA
system associated with component i. Let X1’ ?“‘Pf
be a Cartesian coordinate system of element i,j. Let
?/and c”be the nodal coordinates ofthe i.jth element
with respect to x”Y”Z” and X’I”Z’. respectively.
Let ifii denote the deformation of a point i>” with
respect to X”Y”z”. The vector 11” can he written
in terms of nodal coordinate> a\
I,” 7 &“I;” (1)
where +<’ is the shape function ot’ the ijth element.
Let R’ be the position vector of the origin of the
component axes, and 8’ is the vector of rotational
coordinates that define the orientation of the com-
ponent axes with respect to the inertial frame. The
global position of point pi’ is given by
iJ = R’ + A’ (C” &.f CV (,~i + $;), (73)
PI’
where eg is the undeformed position of point p”
measured relative to the local coordinate system.
and C” and pi are transformation matrices from
X0 p.iZi.i to x’ y’Zi and from Xi yfzf to XC yifzo. re_
spectively. A’ is the transformation matrix from the
local component coordinate system to the global
inertial frame. In order to avoid singularities as-
sociated with Euler angles. Euler parameters are
employed in the present analysis. In this case. the
vector 8’ (vector of Euler parameters associated
with body i) can be written as
H’ = IHo H, Hz Hi\‘!. t3t
where superscript T denotes the transpose of the
vector. These four Euler Parameters 6. k = 0. I.
2. 3 must satisfy the following identity:
The transformation matrix A’ from the local to the
global coordinates in terms of Euler parameters is
given by
It can be shown that if (1 is a vector given by
Cl = [ri, (I, +I’ (6)
then
(Atr),,, = - If:” ci -I- (I H” . (7)
 Automated visco-elastic analysis of large scale inertia-variant spatial vehicles 169

Fig. 4. Three-dimensional beam element.

where locity vector. This fact is used in the development

to follow.
Assuming that the nodal rotations are small, and
the variations in the matrices C’” and cii are neg-
ligible, these two transformation matrices are as-
sumed constant. Defining
and ci is a skew-symmetric matrix given by NY = c;j+Qc;j,
(IO)

eqn (2) reduces to

(8) ij = R’ + A’ (NV ,ii + ci),
TP (11)

where N’j(X?, Y”, z”) is the modified shape func-

and a vector subscript denotes differentiation with
respect to this vector. Utilizing eqn (7) and since
8”8’ = 0 from eqn (4). the following identity can be
written
tion. Differentiating eqn (11) with respect to time
and rearranging the terms, the velocity vector of
Point P” is given by
(12)

Here (‘) represents the differentiation with respect Bij& = _-&;Iij@

(13)
to time. It can be noticed that E’ is a 3 x 4 matrix
which is linear in Euler parameters. This property and
of Euler parameters has the advantage that it allows
dij = (Nij ,ij + ey)
one to isolate the velocity terms in the global ve- (14)
 I70 0~ P. AGK.~w~I.and
Fig. 5. Revdute joint.
In eqns (I I) and (12). [R”. H”]’ and [/?‘. nf’lr are
vectors of generalized reference coordinates and
generalized velocities. and e” and ?’ are vectors of
generalized elastic coordinates and velocities. re-
spectively.
As stated earlier, the trailing arms are kinemat-
ically connected to the chassis through revolute
joints. Since the chassis is assumed to be flexible,
the kinematic constraint for the revolute joint must
include the effect of the elastic deformation at the
joint.
In this section. the constraint equations that ac-
count for the elastic deformation at the joint are
developed. Figure 5 shows a typical revolute joint
connecting two elastic bodies, body i and bodyj at
point p. Assuming that the joint definition point on
body i is kj and the joint definition point on bodyj
is 4,. two conditions must be imposed in order to
derive the constraint equations of the revolute joint.
These conditions are ti) Points A, and L, must co-
incide all the time, and (ii) The axes of the revolute
joint on body i and j should be collinear. The first
requirement is the condition for the spherical joint
and can be stated in mathematical form as follows:
where & and ek are the undeformed position of
nodes I$ and k, respectively, and CJ”and phr are the
nodal displacement at nodes X, and L, respectively.
Equation ( 15) represents three constraint equations
that are required to describe the spherical joint. The
second requirement implies that the axis of revolute
joint in body i at node /$ should be collinear with
the axis of this joint defined with respect to body
,j at node k,. In order to define these constraint equa-
AHMED A. SHABANA
tions. let rh’ and rh’. be two vectors defined along
the joint axis on body i and bodyj. respectively. It
is assumed that the rotations of the nodes with re-
spect to its body coordinate systems are small. This
assumption is justified because the elastic defor-
mations are defined with respect to the component
coordinate system and therefore. only infinitesimal
nodal rotations are allowed. With this assumption,
the component of vector Y’, and rh’ in the global
coordinate system are given by
,.k; ZZA’ (I + Q”‘] I.‘, (16)
and
I$’ = A’ [I + O”‘] I-‘,. (17)
respectively. In eqns (16) and (17). I is 3 x 3 iden-
tity matrix and 0”’ and fZhi are the skew-symmetric
rotation matrices that can be written in terms of the
infinitesmal rotations at the nodal points of this
joint. These matrices are given by
where H$. O$, and @ are the infinitesmal rotations
at node k, on component i and O’;l. et!, and @ are
infinitesmal rotations at node I\, of component .j.
These rotations are defined with respect to the com-
ponent axes, and the entires of the resulting trans-
formation are the elastic rotational coordinates at
the nodes. Therefore. these matrices have to be up-
dated at every time step.
The collinearity of vectors Y:: and K:: requires
that the cross-product of these two vector should
always be zero. In mathematical form, this condi-
tion is given by
where ( x ) represents the cross-product between
these two vectors. Equation (19) gives three con-
straint equations. However. only two of them are
independent. These constraints (along with the con-
straints given by eqn (15)) are required in order to
completely define the revolute joint. The proper se-
lection of the two constraint equations from eqn
(19) is important in order to avoid numerical diffi-
culties. The two equations are selected in the pro-
gram in an automated manner such that the result-
ing Jacobian is not ill-conditioned.
4. GENERALIZED FORCES OF THE SUSPENSION SYSTEM
A brief discussion of the suspension and tire
models was given in Sec. 2. The calculations of the
suspension forces due to springs and shock ab-
sorbers and the ground reactions are presented in
this section. The calculations of these forces are
required in order to evaluate the generalized forces
acting on the system. The force model developed
 Automated visco-elastic analysis of large scale inertia-variant spatial vehicles 171

in this section accounts for large rotations of the Assuming that lo is the undeformed length of the
suspension system and also for the elastic defor- spring, the force acting along the spring damper ele-
mation at the attachment points. ment is given by

4.1 Forces of the suspension system FY = k(l - lo)+ C i, (24)

Figure 6 shows the spring and damper between
two arbitrary components of the vehicle. The at-
tachment points are point pi on component i and
point p’ on component j. The global locations of
these two points are given by
where K is the spring stiffness, c is the damping
coefficient, and i is the time derivative of I with
respect to time. The virtual work of the spring force
F, can then be written as

rP’ = R’ + A’ (e&, + u;) (20) SW, = F,M = [k(l - 1,) + C i]tii. (25)

and The variation of 1 can be written in terms of the

rj, = Rj + Aj (ec + uj,), (21)
generalized coordinates as

where e&, and e$,, are the undeformed positions of al = -$ 6qi + $6qj
end points of the spring damper element and U; and
U$ are the deformation at these points. The relative
position of point pj with respect to point pi, denoted
by r, in the global coordinate system, can be written
= [I, Lyl
[ 2:1 , (26)

as where
r,, = rj, - t-b = R’ - R’ + Aj (e&, + I&
al
j,, = 5. and I,/ = -. .
- A’ (eC + I&). (22) a4

The length of the spring damper element can then Therefore, the virtual work can be written as

[;$1=
[I;$]
be written as
SW,~= F, . Q;Sqi + Qi6q’, (27)
I= x&. (23)

Fig. 6. Suspension system.

172 OM P. AGRAWAL and AHMED A. SHABANA

and the generalized forces associated with body i element can then be written as
and body .j due to the spring forces are

Q: = F’, I,,. (‘8)

= ~,,j(~Ei~i~.ftJ./ + g,dpi”)d7,uT
and (32)
J

Q: = F, . I,,,
It is important to notice that eqns (28) and (29) con-
tains the generalized forces associated with the ref-
erence and elastic generalized coordinates of com-
ponents i and j. In case one or both components
are rigid, the deformation vector at the attachment
point of the rigid component will be equal to zero
and eqns (28) and (29) yield only the generalized
forces associated with the reference generalized co-
ordinates. In the present formulation nonlinear
stiffness and damping coefficients can be included.
(29) where ~‘1’is the volume of element i,j. The strain
displacement ralation can be written as
(33)
where D’j is a differential operator. Expressing ~4”
in terms of the elastic generalized coordinates, the
expression for the strain lii is
eJ.1= l)‘JN’je” (34)
Substituting eqn (34) into eqn (32) leads to

4.1 Tire-ground,force.s
The tire-ground forces are calculated in a similar
fashion to the suspension spring-damper force. At
any instant. suppose that 6 is the vertical distance
of the center of wheel and assuming a parabolic
spring force. then the magnitude of the tire force is
defined as
F, = k,(6 - &,)’ + c,if if(6 - 6”) < 0 (30)
= 0 if(6 - &,)ZO,
where so is the undeformed tire radius, k, is the stiff-
ness or the tire. c, is the tire damping, and in is the
vertical velocity of the tire. The tire force F, is as-
sumed to be always in the vertical direction and fore
and aft forces are neglected.
Once the tire stiffness and damping coefficients
are known, the generalized forces due to the tire
ground interaction can be calculated as presented
in Ref. [IO].
5. VISCO-ELASTIC MODEL
It is known that the free vibration of most elastic
bodies or structures dies out in finite time. This is
mainly because of internal material damping.
Therefore, a more accurate model for the flexible
chassis must include the material damping effect.
In the present investigation a linear visco-elastic
model is employed. A Kelvin-Voigt model is em-
ployed. whereby the stress is assumed to be pro-
portional to the time rate of the strain. In this case.
the stress can be written as
(r = Et + Fi. (31)
where o. e. and i are the vectors of stress, strain.
and strain rate, respectively. and E and Fare linear
matrices of elastic and damping coefficients. The
virtual work of the visco-elastic forces for the ijth
which can further be written in a more compact
form as
sH,i/ = ij&i’ KI! pt, + zef/’ c’J ;i,i
L’ 1f ff * (36)
where Kyf and Cy; are, respectively, the stiffness
and damping matrices of element ij. Summing the
virtual work of all elements in body i, the virtual
work of body i due to visco-elastic forces are given
by
8n’:. = z 6U’$!= 6r” Kj, 6r’ + 8Eif c;, f? (37)
I
where K>, and Cif, are, respectively, the stiffness
and visco-elastic damping matrices associated with
body i, and e’ is the composite vector of elastic co-
ordinates of body i. In this connection, it is impor-
tant to mention that matrices Kj, and C’,,f are con-
stant matrices because of the aforementioned
assumption of a linear viscoelastic model, and also
due to the local definition of the elastic coordinates.
It is also clear that the virtual work due to visco-
elastic forces is a function of the elastic coordinates
only. Thus there is no coupling between the ref-
erence motion and elastic deformation in the damp-
ing and stiffness matrices.
6. DYNAMIC EQUATIONS
Once the position and velocity vectors of a point
are defined, the system constraint equations are
identified, and the material stress-strain law is se-
lected, the equations of the vehicle components can
be derived. A summary of the derivation is outlined
below. A detailed formulation can be found in Refs.
[8] and [9].
 Automated visco-elastic analysis of large scale inertia-variant spatial vehicles 173

For the flexible components, the kinetic energy denotes differentiation with respect to a vector.
of the ijth element is given by Using the Lagrange multiplier technique, it can be
shown that the equations of motion for component
TO = _1 $i i$i’ i$i dljj =
1 p ‘.,
z Mij $j,
i is[ll],
(38)
2 I ,,li

-$T$) - T;, + K’q’+ C’il’- ,i + +;A = 0

where p’j is the mass density of the element mate-
rial, z@ is the element volume, and
(45)
@ = [Ri’ 8” &YlT
(39)
where &,, is the Jacobian of the constraint equations
and A is the vector of Lagrange multipliers. It is an
is the vector of generalized coordinates of element
easy matter to show that the system equations of
ij, and M’j is the element mass matrix. The total
motion can be written as [8, 91
kinetic energy of body i is given by

pi = C y-ij = f $
j
where qi is the generalized coordinates of body i,
and M’ is the mass matrix of body i. The virtual
work of the forces acting on component i is written
as
s,,,i = QT
where c is the vector of generalized forces asso-
ciated with the generalized coordinates of compo-
nent i. Vector Bi includes the effect of external
forces, visco-elastic forces, and suspension forces
of body i. The composite vector of the system gen-
eralized coordinates can be written as
M’ $,
Mij+CG+Kq=Q+F++:X
(40)
where M, C, K, and Q are the system mass, damp-
ing, stiffness matrices, and the generalized force
vector, respectively. F is a quadratic velocity vec-
tor that arises from differentiating the kinetic en-
ergy with respect to time and with respect to the
sqi,
(41) generalized coordinates. & is the Jacobian matrix
and A is the vector of Lagrange multipliers. The
system equations of motion can be written in par-
titioned form as

q = [q17, $I, . . * , qN’]T, (42)

where N is the total number of components in the
system. The nonlinear algebric equations, which
are used to describe constraints between vehicle
components, can be written in vector function form
as
9 (4, I) = 0
where 4 (4, t) = [+I (q, t), . . . , 4~~(4, r)lT. Here
m is the total number of independent constraints.
Equation (43) states that the constraint functions
can be explicitly dependent on time as well as the
system generalized coordinates. Example of these
nonlinear constraint equations are given in Sec. 3,
where the spherical and revolute joint are pre-
sented. Presuming that the constraints are work-
less, the variational form of the equation of mo-
tion[lll for component i is given by
i (Ti,) _ TL, + qi7 Ki'
I This subject is discussed in the following sections.
(46)
where subscripts r and f refer to reference and flex-
ible, respectively. It can be noticed that, because
of the definition of the elastic coordinates, there is
no coupling between the reference and elastic co-
ordinates in the damping and stiffness matrices. The
inertia coupling that appears in the mass matrix is
(43)
represented by the submatrix m,.f and its transpose
mfr. More details about the components of these
matrices and their physical interpretation in two-
dimensional and three-dimensional cases can be
found in Refs. 181and 191.In the present study, how-
ever, it is important to emphasize that the mathe-
matical model of eqn (46), which is used to analyze
the vehicle under investigation, is highly nonlinear
because of the nonlinear inertia coupling, nonlinear
constraint equations, and, of particular interest,
nonlinear suspension characteristics. The devel-
opment of the system equations of motion is au-
tomated and coordinate reduction techniques are
+ #' ciT _ employed to reduce the number of coordinates.
Q?]
x 6q’=O, (44)
7. COORDINATE REDUCTION AND AUTOMATED VEHICLE

where the virtual displacements 6 qi are consistent ANALYSIS

with the constraint equations given by eqn (43) and The total number of differential equations of mo-
Q includes the effect of external forces and the sus- tion of the vehicle, given by eqn (46), has large di-
pension forces only. In eqn (44), subscript notation mension. This large dimensionality is due to the
174 OM P. AGRAWAI. and AHMED A. SHABANA
large number of elastic degrees of freedom required
to model the flexible chassis. An efficient solution
of the system equations of motion of large scale
vehicles requires a transformation of the physical
coordinates into a space of lower dimension. This
transformation is achieved by writing the elastic
physical coordinates in terms of a smaller set of
modal coordinates. This reduction also has the ad-
vantage of eliminating the high frequency content
in the system equations of motion, thus reducing
the computational cost. The dimension of the vec-
tor of modal coordinates is decided based on the
frequency content in the forcing functions. The fre-
quency equation to be solved in order to find the
eigenvalues and the eigenvectors of the ith flexible
component is given by
rn;~ 4; + K’, , y’, = 0. (47)
where M)f and K’ff are the flexibility mass and stiff-
ness matrices, and 4) are the generalized elastic co-
ordinates of component i. The normal modes of vi-
bration resulting from eqn (47) should be consistent
with the boundary conditions of the constrained
component. These normal modes can be selected
by a proper choice of the reference conditionsll21.
After solving the eigenvalue problem, a coordinate
transformation from the physical nodal coordinates
to modal coordinates is given by
y; = B’ .~I.
where B’ is the modal matrix whose columns are
the eigenvectors obtained from eqn (47) and .ri is a
vector of modal coordinates.
1-r;
6(E; - 5%
6(5 - S’)i
0 -(I - <,Ylr
( I - 45 + 35Z)15
(- I + 45 - 35’)lT
It should be mentioned that the mapping from
~7)to .ti is a constant mapping and therefore it need
to be evaluated only once in advance for the dy-
namic analysis. This modal matrix is evaluated in
a finite element preprocessor. The input data for
this preprocessor require the number of elements
in the chassis. type of finite element to be used,
number of nodes, their location and their connec-
tivity, element properties, and reference conditions
or boundary conditions. The preprocessor also gen-
erates all the time invariant matrices that are re-
quired for the dynamic analysis[9]. These data, in
addition to the data required to identify the inertia
properties of the rigid components, the joints be-
tween adjacent components, and suspension char-
acteristics represent the input data for a processor
computer program that automates the development
of the system equations of motion and numerically
solve for the reference and modal coordinates. The
state of the system and the physical suspension
forces are recovered using the transformation given
in eqn (48). A postprocessor graphic computer pro-
gram is used to display the deformed shape of the
flexible components.
8. CHASSIS FlNITE ELEMENT MODEL
The chassis of the vehicle is assumed to be tlex-
ible. The finite element method is used to introduce
the elastic deformation of the chassis. A three-di-
mensional beam element with two nodal points is
employed. Each node has six degrees of freedom,
three translational and three rotational. The chassis
(Fig. 2) is devided into 91 finite elements. In the
present investigation, the total number of nodes is
51. This makes the total number of elastic degrees
of freedom equal to 306. The elastic deformation of
any point between two nodes is given by a cubic
shape function. The shape function used for the
present study is given by 1131,
(4X)
where
--
0 iI
7
0
(I - 35’ + 25”)
(-5 + 25’ - 5.‘)/
0 (49)
0
0
(35? - 2E’)
- 15n
(5’ - 5‘)/
5)1 0
X’J.y”. and ?’ are the X, _v, and : coordinates of a
point with respect to the element coordinate system
and li’ is the element length. The .y-axis of the ele-
ment coordinate system is assumed to be along the
length of the beam. Once the shape function is de-
fined, the element mass, damping, and stiffness
matrices can be derived.
Modal analysis can be employed in order to iden-
tify the eigenvalues of the vehicle and correspond-
ing mode shapes. In the present analysis, the frec-
Automated visco-elastic analysis of large scale inertia-variant spatial vehicles 17.5

00 1.00
1 2: 00 I ‘I
3.00 4.00

Time (set)

Fig. 7. Vertical response of the chassis travelling over a bump.

00 1.00
I 2.00
I I
3.00 1
4.00

Tim (see)
Fig. 8. Vertical response of point A with respect to point B (zero damping).
176 OM P. AGKAWAL.and AHMEDA. SHABANA
00 I’. 00
Time (set)
Fig. 9. Vertical response of point A with respect to point B (5% damping).
free modes of vibrations are employed. This set of
modes is expected to contain the deformation shape
for this model.
In the present analysis, the damping matrix C’
is assumed to be a linear combination of mass and
stiffness matrices M’ff and K;, , respectively. This
assumption is made in order to diagonalize the
modal damping matrix. The structural modal damp-
ing is assumed to be 5% for all modes.
The final set of equations of motion is integrated
numerically using an explicit-implicit direct inte-
gration scheme that has variable order and variable
stepsize.
9.NUMERICAL RESULTS
A finite element model of the chassis was pre-
sented in the last section. In order to identify the
mode-shapes of the chassis, the eigenvalue problem
is solved for the free-free model. In the present
analysis, the lowest four modes of vibration are
considered. The natural frequencies of the flexible
chassis corresponding to these four modes are 4.57,
6.03, 7.36. and 11.19 Hz. These four modes include
bending, torsion, and axial deformation of the chas-
sis.
In this test, the vehicle travels over the single
bump which has a sine shape, as discussed earlier.
Initially. the front wheels are 6.705 m away from
this bump and the vehicle speed is 2.235 misec..
which means the front wheel hits the bump after
2’. 00 3: 00 4’. 00
3.0 sec. In order to examine the effect of the ma-
terial damping, the undamped model is used in the
first run and in the second run a modal damping of
5% is considered. The vehicle response over the
bump is presented in Figs. 7 to 9. Figure 7 shows
the undamped solution of the vertical position 01
the center of gravity of the chassis as it passes over
the bump. Figures 8 and 9 show the undamped and
damped solution of vertical deflection of a nodal
point A with respect to point B (Fig. 2). It can be
seen that the damping reduces the amplitude of
elastic vibration, and thus improves the stability of
the vehicle. To see the overall behavior of the ve-
hicle, a graphic display of the chassis deformed
shape is presented in Fig. 10. Since the elastic dis-
placements are very small compared to the dimen-
sions of the vehicle, the deformation shown in Fig.
10 is magnified 50 times.
10. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
An automated method for the dynamic analysis
of large scale inertia-variant, spatial vehicle sys-
tems is presented. Vehicles are considered as mul-
tibody systems consisting of interconnected rigid,
elastic, and visco-elastic components, and each
component may undergo large angular rotation.
Reference coordinates are introduced using a set of
Cartesian coordinates and Euler parameters that de-
scribe the orientation of the component reference
with respect to the inertial frame. Elastic coordi-
 Automated visco-elastic analysis of large scale inertia-variant spatial vehicles 177

Fig. 10. A graphic display of chassis deformation.

nates are defined with respect to the component
axes and introduced using the finite element
method. Component modes are employed in order
to reduce the number of elastic coordinates, thus
eliminating high frequency modes of vibrations.
The system equations of motion is written in terms
of a mixed set of physical reference and modal co-
ordinates. The resulting system of equations is
highly nonlinear due to the large angular rotations
l-S85;::,:..F
of individual components. The mathematical model
presented in this study accounts for the large
change in geometry of the suspension system and
also for the nonlinear cha~cter~stics of the suspen-
sion and tire model. The nonlinear mathematical
model is integrated numerically using a direct nu-
mericai integration method and the physical state
of the system is recovered using the modal trans-
formation. An automated scheme is presented, in
17x OM P. AGRAWAL and
which the system equations of motion are auto-
matically generated using a set of elastic and rigid
body data. The validity of the automated scheme
is demonstrated by solving a large scale, three-di-
mensional dune buggy model. In this model, it has
been shown that the internal material damping has
significant effect on the vehicle dynamic response.
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