Variational integrators – A continuous time approach

This article presents a family of variational integrators from a continuous time point of view. A general procedure for deriving symplectic integration schemes preserving an energy‐like quantity is shown, which is based on the principle of virtual work. The framework is extended to incorporate holonomic constraints without using additional regularization. In addition, it is related to well‐known partitioned Runge–Kutta methods and to other variational integration schemes. As an example, a concrete integration scheme is derived for the planar pendulum using both polar and Cartesian coordinates. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.