Dynamic Response Calculation of Spatial Elastic Multibody Systems with High-Frequency Excitation

The objective of this paper is to establish a computationalscheme for dynamic response calculations of a three-dimensionalmultibody mechanical system with impulsive forces, which give rise tohigh-frequency excitations. The finite-element method is employed torepresent the local deformations of three-dimensional beam-like elasticcomponents by either a finite set of nodal coordinates or a truncatedset of modal coordinates. A reduced-order model is obtained by invokinga modal transformation. Both planar and complex modal reduction schemesare established. The developed formulation is implemented into amultibody simulation program that assembles the equations of motion andproceeds with its solution. The computational scheme permits a change inthe basis of the modal space in order to regulate the admittance ofhigher frequencies and to accommodate any change in the kinematicconfiguration. Numerical examples are presented to demonstrate theapplicability of the developed computational scheme.