Multibody Dynamics on Differentiable Manifolds

Topological and vector space attributes of Euclidean space are consolidated from the mathematical literature and employed to create a differentiable manifold structure for holonomic multibody kinematics and dynamics. Using vector space properties of Euclidean space and multivariable calculus, a local kinematic parameterization is presented that establishes the regular configuration space of a multibody system as a differentiable manifold. Topological properties of Euclidean space show that this manifold is naturally partitioned into disjoint, maximal, path connected, singularity free domains of kinematic and dynamic functionality. Using the manifold parameterization, the d'Alembert variational equations of multibody dynamics yield well-posed ordinary differential equations of motion on these domains, without introducing Lagrange multipliers. Solutions of the differential equations satisfy configuration, velocity, and acceleration constraint equations and the variational equations of dynamics, i.e., multibody kinematics and dynamics are embedded in these ordinary differential equations. Two examples, one planar and one spatial, are treated using the formulation presented. Solutions obtained are shown to satisfy all three forms of kinematic constraint to within specified error tolerances, using fourth-order Runge–Kutta numerical integration methods.