Review on the Absolute Nodal

Johannes Gerstmayr
Austrian Center of Competence
in Mechatronics GmbH (ACCM),
Altenbergerstraße 69,
A-4040 Linz, Austria
e-mail: johannes.gerstmayr@accm.co.at
Hiroyuki Sugiyama
Department of Mechanical
and Industrial Engineering,
The University of Iowa,
Iowa City, IA 52242
e-mail: hiroyuki-sugiyama@uiowa.edu
Aki Mikkola
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Lappeenranta University of Technology,
53850 Lappeenranta, Finland
e-mail: aki.mikkola@lut.fi
Coordinate Formulation for
Large Deformation Analysis
of Multibody Systems
The aim of this study is to provide a comprehensive review of the finite element absolute
nodal coordinate formulation, which can be used to obtain efficient solutions to large de-
formation problems of constrained multibody systems. In particular, important features
of different types of beam and plate elements that have been proposed since 1996 are
reviewed. These elements are categorized by parameterization of the elements (i.e., fully
parameterized and gradient deficient elements), strain measures used, and remedies for
locking effects. Material nonlinearities and the integration of the absolute nodal coordi-
nate formulation to general multibody dynamics computer algorithms are addressed with
particular emphasis on visco-elasticity, elasto-plasticity, and joint constraint formula-
tions. Furthermore, it is shown that the absolute nodal coordinate formulation has been
applied to a wide variety of challenging nonlinear dynamics problems that include belt
drives, rotor blades, elastic cables, leaf springs, and tires. Unresolved issues and future
perspectives of the study of the absolute nodal coordinate formulation are also addressed
in this investigation. [DOI: 10.1115/1.4023487]

1 Introduction the position vector gradient tensor can be factored as a product of

an orthogonal rotation tensor and a symmetric stretch tensor that
Deformable bodies in multibody applications are often modeled
describes the deformation state at the material point. As a conse-
using the floating frame of reference formulation [1]. In the for-
quence, use of the gradient coordinates leads to the general param-
mulation, a body deformation is described with respect to the ref-
eterization for the rotation and deformation field at the nodal point
erence coordinate system attached to the body, allowing
and it does not suffer from the coordinate redundancy problem
conventional finite elements to be employed [2]. Large reference
addressed in the literature [9]. Furthermore, the use of the nonro-
motions of deformable bodies are described with translations and
tational parameterization used in the ANCF does not require inter-
rotations of the reference coordinate system, leading to a highly
polating the nonvectorial rotational parameters, which requires
nonlinear description of inertial forces that exhibit strong coupling
special solution procedures to ensure that the solutions satisfy the
between the reference and elastic coordinates. The use of refer-
principle of work and energy. In the ANCF, on the contrary, only
ence coordinates in the description of the motion of flexible
the vectorial quantities that include the global position vector and
bodies allows for usage of modal reduction techniques [3]. In the
the position vector gradients are interpolated. As a result, standard
modal reduction approach, body flexibility is defined with
nonincremental solution procedures, used in the general multi-
assumed forms of deformation, which are most often eigenvectors
body dynamics computer algorithms, can be employed for solving
obtained from an eigenvalue analysis of a finite element model.
the final form of the equations of motion. Furthermore, due to the
The floating frame of reference formulation can also be general-
use of slope coordinates introduced for parameterizing the ele-
ized for use in large deformation problems [4]. It is noteworthy
ment rotation and deformation fields, this formulation leads to a
that when the floating frame of reference formulation is general-
constant mass matrix in two- and three-dimensional cases
ized to a large deformation, model reduction methods cannot be
[10,11].This, in turn, simplifies the description for the equations
used, making it computationally inefficient in practical modeling
of motion since the quadratic velocity vector becomes identically
assignments. Using the relationship between the position vector
equal to zero [12]. In contrast, the use of a global coordinate sys-
gradients defined in the local and global coordinate systems, the
tem for the definitions of the nodal coordinates leads to a nonlin-
floating frame of reference formulation leads to the same dynamic
ear expression for the elastic forces. As recently demonstrated,
equation obtained using the finite element formulation that
conventional beam or plate finite elements can be transformed
employs the displacement and slopes as the nodal coordinates [5].
into a corresponding element based on the ANCF [13,14]. An ele-
This finite element formulation is called the absolute nodal coor-
ment based on the ANCF must be able to describe arbitrary trans-
dinate formulation (ANCF), which was originally developed for
lation, rotation, and deformation fields by using a linear
beam finite elements by Shabana [6]. The original journal paper
combination of the shape function matrix and the vector of nodal
on the ANCF includes a definition of the slopes and of the elastic
coordinates. Flexibility associated with the kinematic description
forces for a Bernoulli-Euler beam model [7,8].
of the ANCF allows for the development of a wide variety of ele-
The ANCF is particularly designed for large deformation analy-
ments for different practical problems. This makes it possible to
sis in multibody applications. For modeling the rotation and defor-
optimize the numerical performance of the ANCF, depending on
mation field of an infinitesimal volume within the element, the
the problem being solved.
global position vector gradients are introduced as nodal coordi-
The objective of this study is to provide a comprehensive up-to-
nates in the ANCF. It is important to emphasize at this point that
date review of the existing literature on the ANCF. In particular,
the purpose of this study is to summarize the accomplishments
Contributed by the Design Engineering Division of ASME for publication in
the JOURNAL OF COMPUTATIONAL AND NONLINEAR DYNAMICS. Manuscript received
associated with the formulation and its applications. Alternative
September 4, 2012; final manuscript received December 7, 2012; published online approaches for the description of deformable bodies in the multi-
March 21, 2013. Assoc. Editor: José L. Escalona. body application can be found in the extensive review study by

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 ð
Wasfy and Noor [15]. The absolute nodal coordinate formulation 1 1
has been an important subject of research for more than a decade. T¼ q_rT r_ dV ¼ q_ T Mq_ (3)
2 V 2
Over 150 journal articles, authored by more than 60 researchers,
and numerous conference papers and other reports have been pub- which defines the constant generalized mass matrix of the ANCF
lished related to the formulation and its application. This paper, element
an extension of a work presented and discussed at the Second
Joint International Conference on Multibody System Dynamics in ð
Stuttgart, Germany [16], begins with a review of the most signifi- M ¼ qST SdV (4)
V
cant articles related to the ANCF. Although the formulation has
been extensively developed, some important issues still remain
unresolved. The paper explores these issues along with perspec- 2.2 Virtual Work of Elastic Forces. The work of elastic
tives on future ANCF research. forces can be defined in various ways, the topic of which is still
under intensive investigation. In case of a structural mechanics
formulation based on the Bernoulli–Euler beam theory, the virtual
2 Beam Elements work done by elastic forces dUe can be defined as [17,18]
Two main research directions have been followed in regard to ðL
beam finite elements in the ANCF. In the first direction, the for-
dUe ¼ ½EAede þ EIjdjdx (5)
mulation is used to describe conventional beam elements that can- 0
not capture transverse shear deformation. In this category, an
element is parameterized as a centerline by employing slope coor- where E is the modulus of elasticity, A is the cross-sectional area,
dinates in the element’s longitudinal direction together with posi- and I is the second moment of the area. In Eq. (5), L is the beam
tion coordinates [17,18]. Elements based on this type of reference length and e is the axial strain. The axial strain can be
parameterization are often referred to as gradient deficient ele- defined, according to the Green-Lagrange strain [17], as follows
ments, since they lack slope vectors in the transverse direction
and there are not enough slope vectors to represent the gradients 1  0T 0 
in the x; y, and z directions. In the second direction of research eGL ¼ r r 1 (6)
2
activities, shear and cross-section deformable elements based on
the ANCF have been developed [10,11].In general, transverse Alternatively, the axial strain can be defined according to the defi-
shear deformation can be described by introducing additional nition of stretch [26] in order to be consistent with classical struc-
slopes in the element’s transverse direction. Additional slope tural mechanics theories
coordinates also allow for a deformation description of the cross-
section, which is a feature that allows for relaxing some of the pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
es ¼ r0 T r0  1 (7)
assumptions used in the Bernoulli-Euler and Timoshenko beam
theories. On the contrary, however, the description of the cross-
section can introduce computational difficulties, such as high fre- where ð0 Þ denotes a differentiation with respect to the beam axial
quencies, which can burden the time integration. coordinate x. Note that the linearization of Eqs. (6) and (7) leads
In many early papers related to the ANCF [5,12,17,19–21], the to the same expression; thus, for small strains both strain measures
ANCF has been applied to two-dimensional gradient deficient beam give the same result. The geometrical curvature jg of the beam
elements. The elements in the early papers have been formulated axis is defined as follows
under the Bernoulli-Euler beam theory by employing a local coordi-
nate system to evaluate the elastic forces using linearized strain- jr0  r00 j
jg ¼ (8)
displacement relationship [5,12,19,22]. An extension of the local jr0 j3
frame approach to account for the nonlinear strain-displacement
relationship has been accomplished using the generalized axial and the material measure of curvature jm [23] follows as
strain and spatial measure of curvature for bending under the
Bernoulli-Euler beam assumption [17]. In the case of nonlinear jr0  r00 j
strain-displacement relationship, the description of elastic forces can jm ¼ (9)
jr0 j2
be enhanced using the material measure of curvature [23]. In early
studies, it has been verified that the ANCF finite elements can repro-
duce spatial rigid body inertia, a feature which is commonly known which is motivated by the formulation of Reissner [27]. The struc-
in classical iso-parametric displacement based finite elements [24]. tural mechanics formulation is available for spatial beams includ-
It is also successfully demonstrated that the planar ANCF elements ing shear deformation [28–30].
correctly include the geometrical stiffening effect [25]. In the case of shear deformable elements with a continuum
mechanics approach, the virtual work done by elastic forces can
be defined as
2.1 Kinematic Definitions and Kinetic Energy. In the
ANCF, the position vector r, which is based on local element ð
coordinates ðx; y; zÞ can be defined as dUe ¼ S : dEdV (10)
V
rðx; y; z; tÞ ¼ Sðx; y; zÞqðtÞ (1)
where S is the second Piola Kirchhoff stress tensor, E is the Green-
where S is a space-wise shape function matrix and q is the vector Lagrange strain tensor, and V is the volume of the reference ele-
of time dependent nodal degrees of freedom. The ANCF leads to ment. The elastic forces, along with the selection of nodal coordi-
isoparametric beam elements in both cases of gradient deficient nates have been intensively discussed during the developments of
and shear deformable elements. The global velocity of an arbitrary the ANCF. The combination of the continuum mechanics formula-
point of the beam can be written as tion, as provided in Eq. (10), with the kinematics of ANCF ele-
ments shows different kinds of locking, which will be discussed
r_ ðx; y; z; tÞ ¼ Sðx; y; zÞq_ ðtÞ (2) later. It has been shown that due to the constant mass matrix, a pre-
factorization with a Cholesky decomposition is possible, such that
in which a dot denotes differentiation with respect to time. The ki- explicit time integration becomes more efficient [31]. An important
netic energy of an element can be computed as step for the application of ANCF beam elements has been made by

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 Fig. 1 Geometric definition of basic ANCF finite elements for the 2D and 3D cases, based on the Bernoulli–Euler beam condi-
tion or the shear and cross-section deformable. The nodal coordinates are provided in parenthesis to each nodal or slope
vector.
introducing joint constraints for three-dimensional beam elements
[32]. An overview of several fully parameterized and gradient defi-
cient 2D and 3D beam elements is provided in Fig. 1.
2.3 Shear Deformable Beam Elements. The first approach
for describing shear deformable elements in planar cases has been
developed at approximately the same time as three-dimensional ele-
ments [10,11]. The use of additional slopes in the element trans-
verse direction produces a straightforward definition for elastic
forces using a continuum mechanics approach. In this approach,
stresses and strains are defined in the same manner as in conven-
tional continuum or solid finite elements [10]. The feature of a con-
stant mass matrix remains in effect in the case of shear deformable
elements. The displacement interpolation field of ANCF elements
allows for the direct computation of stress and strain in every point
of the element, which is significantly different when compared to
conventional beam or rod finite elements that use generalized strain
and stress measures at the elastic centerline [32].
In 2001, the first three dimensional shear deformable beam ele-
ment based on the ANCF was introduced [11,34]. In the three
dimensional beam, the elastic forces could be defined with the
help of the Serret-Frenet frame and the Gram-Schmidt orthogonal-
ization. Nevertheless, in practical implementations, the vector of
elastic forces is often based on a volume-integration of a contrac-
tion of the second Piola-Kirchhoff stress and the Green-Lagrange
strain measures.
2.4 The Locking Problem. It has been shown that the use of
a continuum mechanics approach in the definition of elastic
forces, as introduced in Refs. [10,11], leads to results that do not
converge to the correct solution in the case of a Poisson’s ratio
other than zero [35]. This problem has been further studied and
denoted as Poisson locking [18]. It was concluded that the use of a
continuum mechanics approach leads to elements with low nu-
merical performance. This is a consequence of an inefficient
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bending strain description and shear and curvature thickness lock-
ings [18,30,36].
2.4.1 Prevention of Poisson Locking. The initial strategy
used to prevent Poisson locking has been based on a transforma-
tion to local coordinates, due to which the formulation of the elas-
tic forces could be linearized within a local coordinate system
[35]. Further investigations at that time tended either to remove
the Poisson effect [37] or to set the Poisson ratio equal to zero
[38]. In a later approach, the selective reduced integration has
been applied, such that the Poisson effect is included in the defor-
mation modes of ANCF elements with a continuum mechanics
approach [29], but the Poisson locking is eliminated. The latter
approach has been generalized to three dimensional continuum
mechanics based ANCF elements [39].
An alternative way to remove the Poisson locking is to switch
to an elastic line approach, in which the beam kinematical quanti-
ties of classical nonlinear rod theories [33] are employed [28,30].
In this case, the shear locking effect becomes apparent, because
the element converges much slower, as expected by the cubic
interpolation order [29]. This issue is addressed in the subsequent
section.
2.4.2 Prevention of Shear Locking. In the case of structural
mechanics approaches for the modeling of shear and cross section
deformable ANCF finite elements, the numerical convergence of
bending dominated problems seemed to be lower than expected,
which is evidence of locking [40]. In a comparison between
strain-based beam elements and ANCF beams it was shown that
the ANCF beam elements suffered from shear locking [30]. The
application of the Hellinger Reissner principle, together with an
elastic line approach, led to an improved convergence of bending
dominated problems, which has been shown by means of modal
analysis and the shear locking effects have been clearly demon-
strated by means of analytical solutions of small deformation
problems [30]. The Hellinger Reissner principle has inspired other
authors to improve the definition of elastic forces [41,42].
JULY 2013, Vol. 8 / 031016-3
 Alternatively to the elastic line approaches, higher order elements
have been used to improve the convergence of shear deformable
ANCF finite elements [18] by increasing the order of interpolation
of the transverse slope vectors along the axis.
In a comparison of both the continuum mechanics and the
structural mechanics approach [29], it was shown that the selec-
tive reduced integration alleviates the shear locking. A further
optimized reduced integration scheme can improve the conver-
gence, especially for thin elements [29]. Another investigation
with varying thickness to length ratios shows that ANCF elements
have similar convergence rates, as compared to classical geomet-
rically exact beam formulations [43].
The elimination of the axial slope vector from fully parameter-
ized ANCF elements leads to gradient deficient ANCF elements,
which are very similar to classical geometrically exact beam for-
mulations [33]. Specialized linear [37] and quadratic [44] ANCF
elements have been developed for a structural mechanics
approach. The compensation of the locking effect in this case is
based on the same technique as in the classical geometrically
exact beam formulation: the selective reduced integration tech-
nique [37,44].
2.5 Higher and Lower Order Elements, Gradient
Deficient Elements, and Element Improvements. There is a
large number of possibilities for the selection of nodal degrees of
freedom in the elements based on the ANCF [45]. It is noted that
most investigated elements consider two or three nodes. The use
of nodes which employ slope vectors as the only unknown quanti-
ties are uncommon, except for higher order elements [14]. Many
possible combinations of nodal coordinates have been intensively
discussed [14].
High order shear deformable ANCF beam elements have been
introduced by adding additional shape functions which remove
incompatibilities between the cross sectional rotation and the nor-
mal strain distribution in the original elements [18]. Another vari-
ant of higher order elements has been introduced in the literature
[46] by including appropriate shape functions for the modeling of
the trapezoidal deformation modes, which allows for the use of
the standard continuum mechanics formulation of the elastic
forces without Poisson locking at a nonzero Poisson ratio.
A lower order element has been developed by using only linear
shape functions for the interpolation of the displacements of the
element [37]. It could be shown that an appropriate modeling of
lower order elements can produce the same order of convergence
as the original cubic element [10], with only two third of the
degrees of freedom of the cubic element [44].
Due to a number of problems associated with the shear deform-
able ANCF elements, including locking and large CPU costs, thin
or cable elements have been developed. In these developments,
original planar beams [17] have been extended to three dimen-
sions [18], not taking into account torsional deformation. The
resulting element with a constant mass matrix is denoted as a
cable element. A cable element shows high order convergence
and lower CPU costs, as compared to previously defined shear de-
formable ANCF elements. This is, in part, due to the fact that a
lower number of integration points for the definition of the elastic
forces is needed [18].
2.6 Alternative Formulations of the Elastic Forces—Without
Shear Deformation. In a revision of the elastic forces of gradient
deficient beam elements, it could be shown that both the structural
mechanics approach and the continuum mechanics approach,
which is based on the Green Lagrange strain and the second Piola
Kirchhoff stress, can be employed by this formulation [23]. In par-
allel to earlier developments of planar finite elements, a three
dimensional ANCF beam element using the theory of Bernoulli-
Euler was developed [26]. The development of three dimensional
beam elements has been further studied in various papers [47–49].
The three dimensional gradient deficient beam formulation causes
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a nonconstant mass matrix, which can lead to numerical problems
in the time integration. It has been observed that the use of rota-
tional parameters in the ANCF [26,47] can lead to numerical sin-
gularities, which can be circumvented with a director update
method [50].
The Bernoulli-Euler based ANCF elements have also been the
subject of extensions, e.g., by enriching the interpolation of the
displacements by means of modal shape functions [51]. According
to methods known from linear beam theory, a procedure has been
developed for the inclusion of transverse shear deformation into
an ANCF beam element which is parameterized with only one
axial slope vector [52].
Several corrections and improvements have been proposed for
gradient deficient elements. It has been shown, with simple planar
analysis, that the material measure of curvature should be used for
the description of large bending deformation instead of the geomet-
rical curvature [23,53]. Otherwise, axial strain and bending defor-
mation are coupled, which can lead to erroneous axial strains in
bending dominated problems. The geometrically nonlinear formu-
lation for gradient deficient Bernoulli-Euler beam elements has
been consistently derived for the precurved beam element [54].
Recently, it has been shown that the convergence order for cubic
ANCF beam elements is lowered by a curvature induced distortion,
or membrane locking, in large deformation problems because of
inconsistent interpolation orders for axial strain and curvature [55].
2.7 Alternative Formulations of the Elastic Forces—
Including Shear Deformation. The original formulation of shear
ANCF beam elements [10,11] had to be modified due to the inher-
ent locking effect and the comparatively low computational effi-
ciency. This was mainly accomplished by means of a reformulation
of the elastic forces, see, e.g., Ref. [56]. Many of the improvements
have been based on the application of the kinematics of Reissner’s
and Simo’s shear deformable beam formulations. The beam kine-
matics of the continuum mechanics based formulation have been
adapted to Reissner’s generalized strains [28]. The effect of the
cross-section deformation modes, together with different constraint
conditions, has been studied [57]. Alternatively, the structural
mechanics or elastic line approach has been adopted to model large
deformation precurved problems [42]. A direct relation between
rotational parameterizations and the slopes can be given, which
showed that the cubic interpolation is not optimal, as compared to
the classical approach [29]. Thereafter, it was shown that a gradient
deficient formulation for shear deformable ANCF finite elements
leads to an optimal order of convergence [44]. The latter formula-
tion has already been extended to three dimensions [39], which
does not exhibit the problems of low convergence order, as reported
earlier by Romero [43]. In order to be able to study cross sections
other than rectangular ones, the continuum mechanics approach has
been extended to circular cross sections [58].
3 Plate Elements
The development of plate elements based on the ANCF have
gained a considerable amount of interest from researchers in the
multibody community. As in the case of beams, plate elements
based on the ANCF can be categorized into two groups. In the first
group, the transverse shear deformation is assumed to be insignifi-
cant, allowing the plate elements to be described with position
coordinates and slope vectors in a surface direction [59]. This
leads to a kinematic description in which the element is defined
by the mid-surface. In the second group of plate elements, trans-
verse shear deformation is captured by introducing additional
slopes in the element transverse direction [60]. In the case of shear
deformable plate elements, the element is described as a volume.
3.1 Kinematics of Thin Plate Elements. The global position
vector of an arbitrary point on the plate rt can be described as fol-
lows [47]
Transactions of the ASME
 
@ri @ri @ 2 ri @rj changes in the polynomial expansion influence all other shape
rt ¼ S1 ri þ S2 þ S3 þ S4 þ S5 rj þ S6 functions, leading to a kinematic representation that ensures C0
@x @y @x@y @x
continuity only.
@rj @ 2 rj @rk @rk @ 2 rk The kinematic description in Eq. (13) is conceptually different
þ S7 þ S8 þ S9 rk þ S10 þ S11 þ S12
@y @x@y @x @y @x@y from the kinematics of the thin plate, since the description
 accounts for the thickness direction of the plate. This allows elas-
@rl @rl @ 2 rl
þ S13 rl þ S14 þ S15 þ S16 (11) tic forces to be defined by employing a continuum mechanics
@x @y @x@y
approach in a straightforward manner. With a continuum mechan-
ics approach, a wide variety of material models, including com-
where x and y are the coordinates in the plate element local coor- posite laminations, can be implemented into the ANCF [63]. This
dinate system and the three vectors @r=@x, @r=@y, and @ 2 r=@x@y approach, however, must be used with care in order to avoid shear
define the displacement gradients at nodal locations. In Eq. (11), and curvature lockings, along with an inefficient bending strain
the subindices i, j, k, and l refer to four nodes of the plate element definition, as explained in the previous section. These problems
and S1 …S16 are components of the shape function matrix. The can be overcome with several different approaches including the
components of the shape function matrix can be obtained by using elastic line approach, selective reduced integration, and by intro-
a linear combination of orthogonal beam shape functions in the ducing additional node or slope coordinates for elements [61]. It
parametric n and g directions [47]. The shape function matrix can is noteworthy that shear deformable plate elements based on the
be also obtained using polynomial expansion with components 1, ANCF also differ from degenerated plate elements used in con-
x, y, x2 , xy, y2 , x3 , y3 , xy2 , yx2 , xy3 , yx3 , y2 x2 , y2 x3 , x2 y3 , and x3 y3 . ventional finite element approaches since large rotations are
It is noteworthy that in Eq. (11), the displacement field ignores the exactly expressed [64].
local coordinate z since it is assumed that the transverse shear
strain is insignificant, allowing the element to be described using
its mid-surface only. 3.2 Elastic Forces for Plate Elements. Elastic forces within
In the often used plate element based on the ANCF, the third the plate elements based on the ANCF can be obtained by individ-
slope vector @ 2 r=@x@y is omitted [59]. The shape function matrix ually treating the in-plane membrane, thickness, bending, and
for the plate element with a reduced number of slope vectors can shear strain components. When compared to a continuum
be obtained using the polynomial expansion with components 1, mechanics approach in which strain components can be directly
x, y, x2 , y2 , xy, x3 , y3 , x2 y, y2 x, x3 y, and y3 x. The use of polyno- obtained from position vector gradients, this approach leads to
mials leads to shape functions with C0 continuity since inter- two favorable features. First, it enables the use of mixed interpola-
element continuity of displacement gradients is not ensured. It is tion techniques and, in this way, avoids the locking phenomenon
important to note that C1 is required if elastic forces of the plate associated with the kinematic structure of plate elements. Second,
element are evaluated using the curvature description. Shape func- the individual treatment of strain components allows curvature
tions that ensure C1 can be obtained by using some of the shape definitions and, consequently, efficient bending strain descrip-
functions from a linear combination of orthogonal beam shape tions. Definitions of curvature make it possible to take full advant-
functions in the parametric x and y directions. In this case, the ele- age of the high order polynomial expansion used in the
ment consists of 36 nodal degrees of freedom and, correspond- description of element kinematics.
ingly, 12 shape functions. A normal of the mid-surface of plate can be expressed using
The ANCF has been applied to triangular shaped elements [13]. slope vectors in the surface directions as follows [59]
For triangular plates, ANCF elements must be described using tri-
angular area coordinates, along with Specht’s and Morley’s shape @r @r

functions. For thin triangular plate elements, elastic forces are @x @y
n ¼   (14)
defined using the definition of curvature. This requires the plate
@r  @r
shape function to guarantee C1 continuity at element interconnec- @x @y
tions. The continuity condition can be difficult to fulfill and, there-
fore, it must be accounted for with care, as explained in Ref. [13].
Due to the transverse shear deformation, a fiber does not remain
An arbitrary point within a shear deformable plate element can
perpendicular with respect to the mid-surface. A fiber orientation,
be described as the sum of two components as follows [61]
in the case of shear deformable plate elements, can be defined
rðx; y; z; tÞ ¼ rt ðx; y; tÞ þ rf ðz; tÞ (12) with help of vector rf as follows

rf
where rt is the vector that defines the mid-surface of the plate, as t¼ (15)
expressed in Eq. (11), and rf is the vector that defines a fiber of jjrf jj
the plate. In the case of a thin plate element, rf is perpendicular to
the mid-surface, while in the case of shear deformable elements, it In the case of a thin plate, the curvatures can be written as follows
can be written as follows [61] [47]
   T
@ri @rj @rk @rl @ 2 rt @ 2 rt @ 2 rt
rf ¼ S17 þ S18 þ S19 þ S20 (13) jthin ¼ nT nT nT (16)
@z @z @z @z @x@x @y@y @x@y
where @r=@z is the transverse displacement gradients of a node For the reduced order thin plate element, the curvatures can be
and, correspondingly, z is the coordinate in the plate element obtained by replacing vector n by vector t. Respectively, the cur-
thickness direction. Substituting Eqs. (11) and (13) into Eq. (12) vatures for shear deformable elements can be expressed as
leads to a shear deformable plate element with 60 nodal degrees follows
of freedom. Due to the high number of nodal degrees of freedom,
this element is not often used. A more often used element consists  T
of 48 nodal degrees of freedom, which can be obtained by omit- @ 2 rt @ 2 rt @ 2 rt
jthick ¼ tT tT tT (17)
ting the slopes of @ 2 r=@x@y [60]. @x@x @y@y @x@y
The shape functions S17 …S20 allow initially tapered plate struc-
tures to be described by varying the initial length of slope vectors In-plane membrane strains and strain components in the element
@r=@z within four nodal locations [62]. It is noteworthy that the thickness direction can be defined as follows

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  T  T  T
@r @r @r @r @r @r 4 Material Nonlinearities
ex ¼  1; ey ¼  1; ez ¼ 1
@x @x @y @y @z @z 4.1 Visco-Elasticity and Material Damping Model. In
(18) many applications, the material damping needs to be modeled for
capturing the energy dissipation due to deformation. The simplest
The preceding description may lead to curve-induced distortion damping model, based on an assumption of small deformation, is
and, consequently, membrane locking associated with strain com- the Rayleigh proportional damping and this model is applied to
ponents ex and ey [55]. It is also known that the strain component the ANCF [68]. Experimental validation of the damped vibration
ez , when described based on Eq. (18), leads to curvature thickness of the cantilevered beam and plate are conducted using the Ray-
locking [61]. These problems can be overcome by using the leigh proportional damping model [65,69,70]. Furthermore, since
reduced integration approach or, alternatively, the mixed interpo- damping characteristics in the high frequency range cannot be
lation technique in such a way that the displacement associated captured by conventional proportional and quadratic damping
with the in-plane membrane strain is linearly interpolated as models, the frequency-dependent generic damping model is pro-
follows posed and applied to the ANCF [71]. It is important to note here
that the damping forces are defined as a function of nodal veloc-
rlin ¼ S1;lin ri þ S2;lin rj þ S3;lin rk þ S4;lin rl (19) ities and, therefore, use of the Rayleigh proportional damping
model defined for the nodal velocities leads to the damping of
In Eq. (19), the shape functions S1;lin , S2;lin , S3;lin , and S4;lin can be rigid body motion. For this reason, a linear visco-elastic constitu-
obtained using a combination of orthogonal linear shape functions tive material model is applied to the ANCF by splitting the stress
in the parametric x and y directions. tensors into deviatoric and volumetric components with an
Using linear interpolations, the in-plane membrane strains and assumption that the flexible body experiences a large rotation, but
strain components can be rewritten as a small deformation [72]. For large strain problems that include
the modeling of rubber materials, more general nonlinear material
 T models need to be used [73]. In order to model the incompressible
@rlin @rlin
ex;lin ¼ 1 (20) material behavior of rubbers, nonlinear material models that
@x @x
include incompressible neo-Hookean and Mooney-Rivlin consti-
 T tutive laws are implemented in the ANCF [74]. The Mooney-
@rlin @rlin
ey;lin ¼ 1 (21) Rivlin 2nd and Yeoh nonlinear material models are also discussed
@y @y
for rubber materials [75]. It is shown that the Yeoh model
 T
@rf @rf expressed by the cubic strain energy density function leads to
ez;lin ¼ 1 (22) good agreement with experimental results for the dynamic large
@z @z
deformation problem. Since the effect of energy dissipation can-
not be captured by these nonlinear material models, the objective
The preceding strain components can be expressed in vector form
T visco-elastic constitutive model is proposed as a function of the
as elin ¼ ½ ex;lin ey;lin ez;lin  . For a thick plate element, displace-
rates of deformation gradients [76]. In the model, the stress line-
ments associated with shear strain can also be obtained using lin-
arly depends on the strain rates and, nonlinearly on the strains, as
ear interpolations as follows [61]
experimentally observed. The visco-elastic material model, based
 on the fractional derivative methods, is applied to the ANCF to
@ri @ri @rj @rj
rr;lin ¼ S1;lin þ S1;lin þ S2;lin þ S2;lin capture the stress relaxation effect that cannot be modeled using
@x @y @x @y conventional integer-order derivative models [77].

@rk @rk @rl @rl
þ S3;lin þ S3;lin þ S4;lin þ S4;lin
@x @y @x @y 4.2 Elasto-Plasticity. Flexible components of multibody sys-
tems can exhibit both geometric and material nonlinearities under
The shear strain components can be expressed as severe loading conditions. The use of fully parameterized ele-
ments of the ANCF allows for a straightforward formulation and
 T  T  T T implementation of general nonlinear constitutive models. The
@rr;lin @rf @rr;lin @rf @rlin @rlin
c¼ Lagrangian plasticity formulation, based on J2 flow rule theory, is
@x @z @y @z @x @y
applied to the ANCF with an assumption of large elastic but small
plastic deformation [78]. Since the objectivity requirements of the
The elastic energy for thin and thick plate elements, correspond- stress and strain increments are automatically satisfied using the
ingly, can be obtained as follows [47,59,61] Lagrangian strain description, special measures or techniques
ð ð such as incrementally objective algorithms need not be employed
1 1 and the return mapping used to determine the plastic strain can be
Wthin ¼ eTlin Eelin dV þ jT Djthin dV
2 V 2 V thin implemented in a straightforward way. Furthermore, it is shown
ð ð ð that use of the algorithmically consistent elasto-plastic tangent
1 1 1
Wthick ¼ eTlin Eelin dV þ jTthick Djthick dV þ cT ks GcdV moduli, which can be derived from the return mapping scheme,
2 V 2 V 2 V leads to faster convergence in the use of implicit time integration
(23) methods [79]. The formulation of reversed plasticity has been
included in the ANCF and it is shown that the resulting deforma-
where E is the matrix of elastic coefficients obtained in the plane tions and plastic strain agree with those of solid finite element
stress condition, D and G are the matrices of the bending and computations and of the floating frame of reference formulation
shear moduli, respectively. The shear strain correction factor ks [38]. For large plastic strain problems, a multiplicative plasticity
remedies the assumption of a constant shear angle through the ele- formulation that decomposes the displacement gradient into elas-
ment thickness. The elastic forces for the plate elements can be tic and plastic components could be used [80].
obtained by differentiating the strain energy once, with respect to
the nodal coordinates.
The accuracy of the thin plate elements based on the ANCF 5 Verification and Comparative Study
have been verified against practical experiments [65]. The thin The ANCF finite elements have been compared to alternative
plate elements are also compared against the plate element based formulations, analytical solutions, conventional finite elements,
on the conventional finite element approach [66,67]. and measurements. Table 1 shows a summary of all of the

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 Table 1 Verification of ANCF elements with different sources
Approach used for comparison References
Floating frame of reference [5], [19], [53]
formulation
Classical geometrically exact Comparison with SPACAR [30];
beam formulation, Euler elastic, interpretation of elastic forces
and other nonlinear models with Reissner’s beam theory
[28]; precurved [27]; Euler elas-
tica [23], [53]; centrifugal forces
and rotor blade [115]; detailed
comparison with geometrically
exact beams [43]; comparison
with formulation of Simo and
Vu-Quoc, e.g., flying spaghetti
problem [29], [57], [44], [39],
[50]; comparison with linearized
plate theory [67]
Nonlinear beam elements of [20], [34], [27], [35], [21]
commercial codes
Fully 2D/3D finite element with ABAQUS, elasto-plastic
computations [38]; other codes [29], [81]
Experimental validation [120], [75], [101], [126], [124],
[69], [70], [65]
comparisons. It should be stated that, planar ANCF elements,
which have been based on the Bernoulli-Euler beam theory, have
been successfully compared with beams modeled by the floating
frame of reference formulation [19]. In some extensive studies,
planar Bernoulli-Euler beam elements have been compared to the
solution of the Euler elastica [23] and to the floating frame of ref-
erence formulation [53]. It is shown that, for Bernoulli-Euler
based ANCF elements, the results are equivalent to the classical
formulations up to machine precision, if corresponding measures
of elastic strains are used.
Due to the differences in the constitutive modeling between
ANCF beams and classical large deformation rods [27,33], a com-
parison for a higher number of digits is unfeasible for the contin-
uum mechanics formulation. However, a good agreement to fully
3D finite element computations is shown for classical 3D shear
and cross section deformable ANCF elements [29]. In addition,
good agreement of ANCF elements and standard 3D solid finite
elements using a nonlinear hyperelastic material model is shown
[81]. The latter result points out the strength of the ANCF,
namely, the ability to model large deformations with nonlinear-
elastic behavior in a consistent way.
The verification of 3D shear and cross section deformable
ANCF elements has been performed in studies related to the
ANCF [35]. Recently, a test set of linear and nonlinear problems
has been defined in the literature [82], which has been used to ver-
ify gradient deficient ANCF elements with a comparatively large
number of digits [50]. The latter references clearly demonstrate
that ANCF is highly accurate for 3D large deformation problems.
A verification of the 3D gradient deficient ANCF beam elements
has been performed for static and linearized dynamic examples
[39]. However, detailed tests for coupled bending, extension, and
torsion problems with large deformations have not been per-
formed for a larger number of digits.
6 Integration Into Multibody Formalisms
6.1 Joint Constraints in the Absolute Nodal Coordinate
Formulation. Application of the ANCF to the analysis of inter-
connected multibody systems requires formulation and implemen-
tation of kinematic joint constraints. Since the global position
vector of the ANCF can be described as a linear function of nodal
coordinates, some joint constraints that include planar revolute
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joints and spatial spherical joints can be described using linear
constraints [19,83]. However, formulations of most joint con-
straints lead to nonlinear algebraic equations since joint coordi-
nate systems that can be defined using the slope vectors need to be
introduced to constrain the relative orientation at the constraint
definition point between bodies. Since no rotational coordinates,
such as Euler angles and Euler parameters, are used to describe
the orientation of the element, the orientation matrix at an arbi-
trary constraint definition point on the element needs to be defined
using a set of slope coordinates. The tangent frame and cross-
section frame are methods that, among others, can be used for
describing joint constraint equations for the ANCF [32]. The polar
decomposition can be used to link the slope coordinates and rota-
tional coordinates in a consistent way [84]. The joint coordinate
system is used to constrain relative rotation about the joint axes
using standard orthogonal conditions of directional vectors. On
the contrary, it is shown that the use of natural coordinates for
rigid bodies leads to simpler formulations or even linear relations
for many of the joint constraints between rigid and flexible bodies
modeled using the ANCF, since the natural coordinate formula-
tion employs Cartesian position coordinates only to parameterize
the motion of a rigid body [85,86].Furthermore, generalized mass
matrices associated with both rigid and flexible bodies become
constant for flexible multibody systems.
The clamped condition (rigid joint) imposed on the ANCF can
be modeled with two different approaches [87]. The partially
clamped joint constrains six degrees of freedom associated with
three translations and three rotations, while the cross-section at
this point is allowed to deform. On the contrary a fully clamped
joint constraint can be applied to all translational, rotational, and
deformation degrees of freedom at the constraint point. In order
to implement a wide variety of joint constraints for the ANCF in
general purpose multibody dynamics codes, nonlinear constraint
Jacobian matrices and quadratic velocity vectors of constraint
equations at the acceleration level need to be derived in terms of
the absolute nodal coordinates. In order to circumvent such diffi-
culties, it is proposed that the nongeneralized intermediate coor-
dinates, which consist of a set of rigid body reference
coordinates, are introduced to derive a mapping between the gen-
eralized slope coordinates and the nongeneralized rotational coor-
dinates [88]. With this mapping, a wide variety of joint
constraints for the ANCF can be systematically formulated using
existing well-developed joint constraint libraries implemented in
multibody dynamics codes. For modeling contact problems with
rigid bodies, a general-purpose collision detection library is inte-
grated into beam and plate elements of the ANCF and several nu-
merical examples that include deployable space structures, beam
to cam contact, and plate to plate contact are presented in the lit-
erature [89]. For more accurate modeling of mechanical joints,
the effects of the clearance and lubrication of spherical and revo-
lute joints used for the ANCF are discussed for planar and spatial
problems [90–92]. The Hilber-Hughes-Taylor integration method
for Index 3 differential algebraic equations (HHT-I3) is applied
to flexible multibody systems modeled with the ANCF [93]. It is
shown that high frequencies associated with the ANCF coupled
deformation modes are effectively filtered out by numerical
damping of the HHT-I3, leading to a more efficient procedure, as
compared to the Adams-Moulton method in the case of very stiff
multibody structures. The use of implicit Runge-Kutta methods,
along with semi-implicit methods, are also discussed with the
ANCF [79,94].
6.2 Slope Discontinuity. In the ANCF, since slope coordi-
nates are used to parameterize the body orientation and deforma-
tion, the C1 continuity is automatically satisfied at the nodal
point. However, when elements are connected with a slope dis-
continuity, special care needs to be exercised, since two different
slope vectors are defined with respect to these element coordi-
nate systems at the interface node. The body parameterized
JULY 2013, Vol. 8 / 031016-7
 nodal coordinates are introduced for efficiently modeling slope
discontinuities of fully parameterized elements by means of a
linear connectivity condition [95]. In this approach, the nodal
slope coordinates defined with respect to the element coordinate
system are transformed to those defined with respect to global or
body coordinate systems using a constant gradient transforma-
tion matrix. The constant gradient transformation matrix, how-
ever, cannot be obtained in the same way for gradient deficient
elements that employ a reduced set of gradient coordinates. For
these elements, the concept of the intermediate finite element
coordinate system, introduced for the floating frame of reference
formulation, is invoked to define the element reference configu-
ration. The constant orthonormal transformation matrix that
defines the orientation of the intermediate element coordinate
system with respect to the structure coordinate system can then
be obtained and leads to a constant mass matrix, regardless of
the slope discontinuity imposed on the gradient deficient ele-
ments. This allows for the use of the linear connectivity condi-
tion for modeling slope discontinuities [96,97].
6.3 Sliding Joint Constraints. Much research has been con-
ducted for accurately modeling sliding contact conditions
between flexible and rigid bodies [98]. The modeling of sliding
joints for flexible bodies requires a solution to moving boundary
problems, since the location of the constraint definition point
moves on the flexible body. Due to the time-variant boundary
condition, the floating frame of reference formulation, which
employs modal reduction techniques, cannot be used for effi-
ciently modeling sliding joints, while use of the ANCF leads to a
systematic formulation of sliding joint constraints [32]. This is
attributed to the simple motion description given for the ANCF.
The arc length variable is introduced to define a material point
that defines a constraint definition point on a flexible body. This
slack variable is used to define the shape function matrix in order
to account for the change in the constraint definition point due to
deformation. The final form of the equations of motion can then
be expressed in terms of the generalized nodal coordinates and
the arc length variable. It is shown that the arc length variable
and the dependent Lagrange multipliers can be systematically
eliminated from the equations of motion using the velocity trans-
formation [99]. Another approach proposed for modeling sliding
joint constraints is the use of the arbitrary Lagrange-Euler
description for the ANCF [100]. Using this approach, a variable-
length beam element can be developed. The sliding node
accounts for the change in the constraint definition point on a
flexible body and the mass flow associated with the moving nodal
coordinate is also considered. Since the constraint is imposed on
the moving (sliding) node only, there is no need to re-express the
constraint equations with respect to different coordinates when
the sliding point passes from one element to another. The
variable-length beam element based on the ANCF is also devel-
oped by applying the multiple nonlinear time scale approach
[101]. This approach ensures a constant mass matrix if the first
order approximation is used and the method is experimentally
validated for an example of a retracted cable.
6.4 B-Spline/NURBS. In the computer-aided design, the
non-uniform rational B-spline (NURBS) has been widely used to
describe complex shapes of mechanical and structural compo-
nents. Unlike interpolating polynomials used in finite elements,
the B-spline is noninterpolatory and the arbitrary curve, surface,
and volume can be defined by a vector of control points and a
knot vector defined in the B-spline parametric space. In recent
studies, it was shown that the B-spline geometry can be converted
to the ANCF geometry description by a simple linear mapping if
the order of the polynomial and degree of continuity are identical
[102–105]. This feature allows for the straightforward conversion
from the B-spline geometry used in computer aided design into
the ANCF elements used in the analysis without distorting the ge-
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ometry. In conventional finite element procedures, the NURBS
geometry is discretized into finite element meshes for the analysis
with the approximation of the geometry. For this reason, the con-
version from the NURBS geometry to finite element meshes
requires extensive time and effort. A simple linear mapping
between the B-spline and ANCF geometry description allows for
the integration of the computer aided design and analysis, which
is conceptually different from the isogeometric analysis, where
NURBS is used in both design and analysis. It is addressed in the
literature [106] that, for use in the analysis, there are some limita-
tions in the B-spine geometry representation. In particular, it has
been shown that the B-spline geometry representation obtained by
the recurrence formula cannot be used in a straightforward manner
to model structural discontinuities [107]. Furthermore, the rational
B-spline can also be converted to the rational absolute nodal coor-
dinate formulation ([108,109], which employs rational polyno-
mials to allow for describing the exact conic shapes.
7 Applications
7.1 Rotating Beam With Centrifugal Stiffening Effect. The
dynamics of a rotating beam is a subject of interest in many indus-
trial applications that include helicopter blades, wind turbines, and
flexible robotic arms. Extensive research has been conducted to
accurately account for the centrifugal stiffening effect of the beam
and plate elements [110]. If the elastic forces are defined with
respect to the local coordinate system using the linear theory of
elasticity in the ANCF, the method is equivalent to the substructur-
ing techniques used for the floating frame of reference formulation
[111], in which each element corresponds to a substructure that
undergoes large rotation and small deformation in order to account
for the geometric nonlinearities. It is shown that the use of the lin-
ear theory of elasticity with the moving local coordinate systems
leads to an unstable solution, regardless of the number of elements
used in the rotating beam problem [25]. This phenomenon,
observed in the ANCF, results from geometric nonlinearities stem-
ming from the difference in the orientations of the moving local
coordinate systems used for evaluating the elastic forces. The shift
in the critical speeds is attributed to the modeling accuracy of the
geometric nonlinearity [112]. The unstable critical speed increases
as the number of elements increases and the unstable solution, how-
ever, cannot be eliminated, regardless of the number of elements, if
the linear theory of elasticity is used. In studies related to the
ANCF, a detailed stability analysis for the ANCF with the linear
theory of elasticity has been conducted [113]. In contrast, the use of
the continuum mechanics approach always leads to stable and accu-
rate solutions [114]. Eigensolutions of flap and lag modes of a rotat-
ing beam problem are compared with those of the geometrically
exact beam elements [115]. It is shown that the two formulations
correspond well when the cross-section deformation modes of the
ANCF are eliminated using the elastic line approach. The thin plate
elements based on the absolute nodal coordinate formulation have
also been applied to the dynamic analysis of rotating plate struc-
tures [116].
7.2 Belt Drives, Rubber Chains, and Moving Web. The
analysis of belt-drive systems is an important application, which
requires the accurate and efficient modeling of large deformation
for flexible moving belts, frictional contact between belts and pul-
leys, and material nonlinearities associated with rubbers. To meet
these modeling requirements, the ANCF is applied to the model-
ing of belt drives using the two-dimensional shear deformable
beam element [117]. The tri-linear slip dependent frictional force
model is applied and the distributed contact force model is used
between the belt and the drive/driven pulleys. It is shown that use
of the distributed contact force model leads to a smaller number
of elements required for capturing the contact along the surface of
the pulleys. This model is applied to the three-dimensional prob-
lem using the cable and thin plate elements [118]. A comparison
Transactions of the ASME
 with the analytical solutions is performed and the overall trends of
both results are in good agreement. While the linear elasticity
model is used in these models, the neo-Hookean and incompressi-
ble Mooney-Rivlin material models are applied to model the ma-
terial nonlinearity of rubber belts [119], demonstrating that the
use of fully parameterized elements leads to the straightforward
modeling and implementation of general constitutive law. This
model is also applied to a multibody tracked vehicle with rubber
chains that come into contact with a sprocket, idler, rollers, and
the ground. The experimental parameter identification of the
damping property of the belt-drive model, developed using the
ANCF, is presented using a proportional damping model [120]. In
this model, the contact between the belt and pulleys is modeled as
a linear complementarity problem in the normal and tangential
directions [121]. Similar to the modeling of belt drives, a material
handling problem of webs transported through multiple rollers is
modeled using the thin plate element [122].
7.3 Vehicle Applications. The ANCF can be used for model-
ing vehicle components that undergo large deformation. Leaf
springs exhibit large deformation under severe loading conditions
and the accurate modeling of the frictional contact between leaves
is important for capturing the fundamental vibration characteris-
tics of leaf springs. The shear deformable beam element of the
ANCF is applied to model a multilayered leaf spring with fric-
tional contact between the leaves [123]. The ANCF is also applied
to the modeling of tires [124]. The nonlinear elastic ring tire
model can capture nonlinearities associated with the large rotation
and deformation of the tire belt and contact with the road. This
model is used for predicting the vibration of tires resulting from
the shortwave uneven road surface.
On the contrary, in railroad applications, an elastic cable mod-
eled using the ANCF is applied to solve the pantograph/catenary
interaction of railroad vehicles by considering the sliding contact
between the pantograph and catenary cable using the sliding joint
constraint [18,125], and the simulation results are validated by
comparing with the experimental test results [126]. The ANCF is
also applied to the space curve description of curved tracks, which
can be defined by the horizontal curvature, development angle,
and super-elevation [127]. The location and orientation of the
coordinate system that moves along the space curve are defined as
a function of the arc length coordinate along the curve which is
calculated a priori by a track preprocessor. To determine the
curved geometry of the track and its derivatives used in the
dynamic simulation, the fully parameterized beam element that
ensures the C1 continuity at the nodal point is applied as an inter-
polating function in order to determine the higher order deriva-
tives required in the wheel/rail contact formulation. In addition to
the track geometry description, the two-dimensional beam ele-
ment of the ANCF is used for modeling the rail flexibility and its
interaction with the motion of wheels on the tangent track [128].
7.4 Other Applications. The fully parameterized beam ele-
ment is applied to the modeling of deformation of ligaments of
knee joints subject to cyclic motion [129,130]. Since the use
of the fully parameterized beam element allows for modeling
general nonlinear material models used for biomaterials, along
with the cross-section deformation, the large flexion of the knee
joint during physiological motion can be efficiently evaluated
using the model developed by the ANCF. Furthermore, the liga-
ments are connected to the bones using the fully clamped
condition. The use of the cable elements and the effect of the
fully and partially clamped conditions are also discussed for this
application [131].
A planar beam element of the ANCF is generalized for model-
ing a flexible pipe conveying fluid, in which the internal fluid flow
is taken into account by an extended formulation of Lagrange’s
equations with mass transport through the boundaries [132]. The
motion of a large deformable pipe conveying fluid can be pre-
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dicted with this approach and the numerical results are in good
agreement with the reference solutions. The beam element of the
ANCF is applied to the dynamic response optimization for flexible
manipulators [133]. The nonlinear mapping between the original
and new nodal coordinates are derived and implemented in the
general optimization software, which allows for the use of exist-
ing optimization algorithms developed for classical finite ele-
ments. The vibration control of a flexible manipulator using
piezo-electric actuators is discussed using the ANCF [134]. The
use of the beam element for the large deformation analysis of a
suspended elastic cable is discussed and the numerical solutions
are compared with those of the analytical solutions [135]. Further-
more, the effect of surface stresses on the bending behavior of
large deformable nanowires is introduced to the ANCF for nano-
electro-mechanical systems [136]. The numerical results are com-
pared with the experimental results, demonstrating that the size-
dependent mechanical behavior can be predicated using the finite
element model and the classical ANCF can be recovered at the
macroscale.
8 Future Perspectives
Despite the large number of papers being published describing
new ANCF developments, a further investigation of the funda-
mental aspects is still needed. Most ANCF-related papers deal
with element technology. These papers explore various modifica-
tions or enhancements to existing elastic force descriptions or ki-
nematics representations. In some cases, the performance of the
improved elements has been compared to that of previously intro-
duced ANCF elements. However, ANCF elements developed ear-
lier can suffer from locking and these comparisons may not give a
valid perspective. The ANCF results must be evaluated against
the experimental data and/or compared to the results obtained
using other large deformation formulations. Accuracy of the
ANCF results should be unambiguously evaluated. Topics of in-
terest include the following—list of items:
• Plate and shell elements based on the ANCF are often tested
using a uniform mesh. In practical modeling assignments, a
mesh easily distorts. The accuracy of the ANCF-based plate
and shell element simulations in distorted mesh cases should
be verified.
• Shear-deformable elements based on the ANCF can describe
cross-sectional deformation. However, it is unclear how accu-
rately cross-sectional deformation can be described and this
accuracy should be evaluated.
• In shear-deformable beam elements, the cross section proper-
ties are defined by numerically integrating over the cross-
sectional area. For a complex cross section, this integration is
difficult, limiting practical application of the formulation. Al-
ternative methods of defining section properties must be
studied.
• The boundary conditions of the ANCF beam or plate ele-
ments still need to be further investigated. There are no clear
rules, which nodal coordinates to constrain, e.g., in the case
of clamped boundary conditions or in the case of joints.
• The application of the ANCF in the case of multiphysics sim-
ulations, e.g., fluid-structure interaction, is an open field of
research. Due to the high continuity at the element bounda-
ries, the ANCF elements might be advantages, e.g., for fluid-
structure interaction.
• There is no 3D thin beam element based on the Bernoulli-
Euler beam theory, which includes torsion, but which does
not include rotational degrees of freedom.
• The numerical performance of the ANCF elements should be
further investigated, e.g., as related to the very stiff behavior
due to shear and thickness deformation. Particularly, it has
been stated many times that ANCF elements show less nu-
merical problems in the dynamics simulation, because no
rotational degrees of freedom are employed. However, a
JULY 2013, Vol. 8 / 031016-9
 thorough investigation of energy-momentum conservation
and the application of, e.g., structure preserving integrators
for ANCF elements, are an open issue.
• Because the history of the ANCF development is short, some
features related to ANCF elements should be further
enhanced to make the formulation suitable for practical appli-
cation. In particular, the material model library needs to be
expanded to cover more of the commonly used engineering
materials, including incompressible materials.
9 Summary and Conclusions
In the past decade, an extensive amount of research has been
conducted on large deformation formulations for multibody appli-
cations. Among them, the ANCF has been developed towards use
in the design process of mechanical systems. The ANCF is a finite
element procedure that can accurately describe large translations,
rotations, and deformations using a linear combination of the
shape function matrix and the vector of nodal coordinates. In the
ANCF, finite elements are defined in the global coordinate system
using position coordinates together with independent global
slopes. In this study, some important features, formulations, and
applications of the ANCF are overviewed. The formulation has
gained a significant interest within the research community of
multibody system dynamics.
In many studies related to the ANCF, a number of promising
matters are highlighted. Some of the highlights that should be
mentioned are: the practical usage of the continuum mechanics
based elements for nonlinear elastic, elasto-plastic, and visco-
elastic material modeling; the high order continuity at the bounda-
ries; consistency with existing nonlinear structural theories; and
the constant mass matrix, which makes the formulation attractive
for dynamical analysis.
It is also important to note that, in the case of shear deformable
elements with a continuum mechanics formulation of the elastic
forces, an integration over the volume of the structure is required.
This makes it difficult to describe cross sections besides rectangu-
lar ones. For this reason, the accuracy of the cross section defor-
mation should be verified against the analytical results. In the case
of beam elements, deformation caused by a combined loading
condition that includes torsion needs to be carefully examined and
verified. Furthermore, for a large-scale simulation that involves
large deformable bodies modeled by the ANCF subjected to mul-
tipoint frictional contact, a graphics processing unit can be used to
accelerate the computation [137].
Acknowledgment
Support of the author J. Gerstmayr from the Comet-K2 Austrian
Center of Competence in Mechatronics (ACCM) and support of
the author H. Sugiyama from the Japan Society of the Promotion
of Science KAKENHI, Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research
(Grant No. 24560275) are gratefully acknowledged.
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[112] Garcı́a-Vallejo, D., Sugiyama, H., and Shabana, A. A., 2005, “Finite Element
Analysis of the Geometric Stiffening Effect. Part 1: A Correction in the Float-
ing Frame of Reference Formulation,” Inst. Mech. Eng., Part K: J. Multi-Body
Dyn., 219, pp. 187–202.
[113] Valverde, J., and Garcı́a-Vallejo, D., 2009, “Stability Analysis of a Substruc-
turing Model of the Rotating Beam,” Nonlinear Dyn., 55, pp. 355–372.
[114] Garcı́a-Vallejo, D., Sugiyama, H., and Shabana, A. A., 2005, “Finite Element
Analysis of the Geometric Stiffening Effect. Part 2: Non-Linear Elasticity,”
Inst. Mech. Eng., Part K: J. Multi-Body Dyn., 219, pp. 203–211.
[115] Maqueda, L. G., Bauchau, O. A., and Shabana, A. A., 2008, “Effect of the
Centrifugal Forces on the Finite Element Eigenvalue Solution of a Rotating
Blade: A Comparative Study,” Multibody Syst. Dyn., 19, pp. 281–302.
031016-12 / Vol. 8, JULY 2013
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[116] Zhao, J., Tian, Q., and Hu, H., 2011, “Modal Analysis of a Rotating Thin Plate
via Absolute Nodal Coordinate Formulation,” ASME J. Comput. Nonlinear
Dyn., 6(4), p. 041013.
[117] Kerkkänen, K. S., Garcı́a-Vallejo, D., and Mikkola, A. M., 2006, “Modeling
of Belt-Drives Using a Large Deformation Finite Element Formulation,” Non-
linear Dyn., 43, pp. 239–256.
[118] Dufva, K., Kerkkänen, K., Maqueda, L. G., and Shabana, A. A., 2007,
“Nonlinear Dynamics of Three-Dimensional Belt Drives Using the Finite-
Element Method,” Nonlinear Dyn., 48, pp. 449–466.
[119] Maqueda, L. G., Mohamed, A.-N. A., and Shabana, A. A., 2010, “Use of Gen-
eral Nonlinear Material Models in Beam Problems: Application to Belts and
Rubber Chains,” ASME J. Comput. Nonlinear Dyn., 5, p. 021003.
[120] Čepon, G., Manin, L., and Boltežar, M., 2009, “Introduction of Damping Into
the Flexible Multibody Belt-Drive Model: A Numerical and Experimental
Investigation,” J. Sound Vib., 324, pp. 283–296.
[121] Čepon, G., and Boltežar, M., 2008, “Dynamics of a Belt-Drive System Using
a Linear Complementarity Problem for Belt-Pulley Contact Description,” J.
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[122] Yu, L., Zhao, Z., and Ren, G., 2010, “Multibody Dynamics Model of Web
Guiding System With Moving Web,” ASME J. Dyn. Syst., Meas., Control,
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[123] Omar, M. A., Shabana, A. A., Mikkola, A. M., Loh, W. Y., and Basch, R.,
2004, “Multibody System Modeling of Leaf Springs,” J. Vib. Control, 10, pp.
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[124] Sugiyama, H., and Suda, Y., 2009, “Nonlinear Elastic Ring Tire Model Using
the Absolute Nodal Coordinate Formulation,” Inst. Mech. Eng., Part K: J.
Multi-Body Dyn., 223, pp. 211–219.
[125] Seo, J. H., Sugiyama, H., and Shabana, A. A., 2005, “Three-Dimensional
Large Deformation Analysis of the Multibody Pantograph/Catenary Systems,”
Nonlinear Dyn., 42, pp. 199–215.
[126] Seo, J. H., Kim, S. W., Jung, I. H., Park, T. W., Mok, J. Y., Kim, Y. G., and
Chai, J. B., 2006, “Dynamic Analysis of a Pantograph-Catenary System Using
Absolute Nodal Coordinates,” Veh. Syst. Dyn., 44, pp. 615–630.
[127] Shabana, A. A., Zaazaa, K. E., and Sugiyama, H., 2008, Railroad Vehicle Dy-
namics: A Computational Approach, CRC, Boca Raton, FL.
[128] Kato, I., Terumichi, Y., Adachi, M., and Sogabe, K., 2005, “Dynamics of
Track/Wheel Systems on High-Speed Vehicles,” J. Mech. Sci. Technol., 1, pp.
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[129] Gantoi, F. M., Brown, M. A., and Shabana, A. A., 2010, “ANCF Finite Ele-
ment/Multibody System Formulation of the Ligament/Bone Insertion Site
Constraints,” ASME J. Comput. Nonlinear Dyn., 5(3), p. 031006.
[130] Weed, D., Maqueda, L. G., Brown, M. A., Hussein, B. A., and Shabana, A. A.,
2010, “A New Nonlinear Multibody/Finite Element Formulation for Knee
Joint Ligaments,” Nonlinear Dyn., 60, pp. 357–367.
[131] Brown, M. A., Gantoi, F. M., and Shabana, A. A., 2010, “ANCF Finite Ele-
ment/Multibody System Formulation of the Ligament/Bone Insertion Site
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[132] Stangl, M., Gerstmayr, J., and Irschik, H., 2009, “A Large Deformation Planar
Finite Element for Pipes Conveying Fluid Based on the Absolute Nodal Coor-
dinate Formulation,” ASME J. Comput. Nonlinear Dyn., 4, p. 031009.
[133] Vohar, B., Kegl, M., and Ren, Z., 2008, “Implementation of an ANCF Beam
Finite Element for Dynamic Response Optimization of Elastic Manipulators,”
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[134] Nachbagauer, K., Zehetner, C., and Gerstmayr, J., 2011, Nonlinear Finite Ele-
ment Modelling of Moving Beam Vibrations Controlled by Distributed Actua-
tors, Advanced Dynamics and Model-Based Control of Structures and
Machines, Springer, Vienna, pp. 167–174.
[135] Sugiyama, H., Mikkola, A. M., and Shabana, A. A., 2003, “A Non-
Incremental Nonlinear Finite Element Solution for Cable Problems,” ASME J.
Mech. Des., 125, pp. 746–756.
[136] He, J., and Lilley, C. M., 2009, “The Finite Element Absolute Nodal
Coordinate Formulation Incorporated With Surface Stress Effect to Model
Elastic Bending Nanowires in Large Deformation,” Comput. Mech., 44, pp.
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[137] Khude, K., Melanz, D., Stanciulescu, I., and Negrut, D., 2011, “A Parallel
GPU Implementation of the Absolute Nodal Coordinate Formulation With a
Frictional/Contact Model for the Simulation of Large Flexible Body Systems,”
Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Multibody Systems, Non-
linear Dynamics and Control.
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