Spatial Transient Analysis of Inertia-Variant Flexible Mechanical Systems

An analytical method for transient dynamic simulation of large-scale inertia-variant spatial mechanical and structural systems is presented. Multibody systems consisting of interconnected rigid and flexible substructures which may undergo large angular rotations are analyzed. A finite element technique is used to characterize the elastic properties of deformable substructures. A component mode technique is then employed to eliminate insignificant substructure modes. Nonlinear holonomic constraint equations are used to define joints between different substructures. The system equations of motion are written in terms of a mixed set of modal and physical coordinates. A generalized coordinate partitioning technique is then employed to eliminate redundant differential equations. An implicit-explicit numerical integration algorithm solves the remaining set of differential equations and the approximate physical system state is recovered. The transient analysis of a spatial vehicle with flexible chassis is presented to demonstrate the method.