Computer Implementation of the Absolute Nodal Coordinate Formulation for Flexible Multibody Dynamics

Deformable components in multibody systems are subject to kinematic constraints that represent mechanical joints and specified motion trajectories. These constraints can, in general, be described using a set of nonlinear algebraic equations that depend on the system generalized coordinates and time. When the kinematic constraints are augmented to the differential equations of motion of the system, it is desirable to have a formulation that leads to a minimum number of non-zero coefficients for the unknown accelerations and constraint forces in order to be able to exploit efficient sparse matrix algorithms. This paper describes procedures for the computer implementation of the absolute nodal coordinate formulation for flexible multibody applications. In the absolute nodal coordinate formulation, no infinitesimal or finite rotations are used as nodal coordinates. The configuration of the finite element is defined using global displacement coordinates and slopes. By using this mixed set of coordinates, beam and plate elements can be treated as isoparametric elements. As a consequence, the dynamic formulation of these widely used elements using the absolute nodal coordinate formulation leads to a constant mass matrix. It is the objective of this study to develop computational procedures that exploit this feature. In one of these procedures, an optimum sparse matrix structure is obtained for the deformable bodies using the QR decomposition. Using the fact that the element mass matrix is constant, a QR decomposition of a modified constant connectivity Jacobian matrix is obtained for the deformable body. A constant velocity transformation is used to obtain an identity generalized inertia matrix associated with the second derivatives of the generalized coordinates, thereby minimizing the number of non-zero entries of the coefficient matrix that appears in the augmented Lagrangian formulation of the equations of motion of the flexible multibody systems. An alternate computational procedure based on Cholesky decomposition is also presented in this paper. This alternate procedure, which has the same computational advantages as the one based on the QR decomposition, leads to a square velocity transformation matrix. The computational procedures proposed in this investigation can be used for the treatment of large deformation problems in flexible multibody systems. They have also the advantages of the algorithms based on the floating frame of reference formulations since they allow for easy addition of general nonlinear constraint and force functions.