13

Dynamics of Rigid Bodies: Kinematics and Kinetics

Ashraf A. Zeid
Army High Performance Computing Research Center and Computer Sciences Corporation

13.1 Kinematics of Rigid Bodies

Translation Rotation General Plane Motion: Euler Theorem Instantaneous Center of Rotation in Plane Motion Absolute and Relative Acceleration in Plane Motion Space Motion

R. R. Beck
U.S. Army Tank Automotive Research Development and Engineering Center

13.2 Kinetics of Rigid Bodies

Forces and Acceleration Work and Energy

13.1 Kinematics of Rigid Bodies

Kinematics is the study of the geometry of rigid body motion without reference to what causes the motion. Kinematic analyses are conducted to establish relationships between the position, velocity, and acceleration of rigid bodies or points on a rigid body. The position and orientation of a body can be described by their distance from a perpendicular set of xed axes called a coordinate system. The minimum number of independent or generalized coordinates needed to completely describe the position and orientation of a system of rigid bodies is equal to the number of degrees of freedom for the system. The number of degrees of freedom equals the number of nonindependent coordinates used to describe the position and orientation of each body of the system minus the number of constraints equations governing the systems motion. Therefore, the maximum number of independent coordinates needed to completely describe the position and orientation of a rigid body in space is six. Three independent equations are required to locate and describe the rigid body in translation with respect to time; the other three independent equations of motion are required to dene its orientation and rotation in space with respect to time. In general, the equations of motion of a rigid body are created relative to an inertial reference frame. The inertial reference frame is usually the rectangular set of Cartesian coordinate axes x, y, z with corresponding unit vectors i, j, k, as described previously. A rigid body is in rectilinear translation when a line that joins any two points on the body does not rotate during motion. A rigid body is in curvilinear translation when all points of the body move on congruent curves. A xed-axis rotation occurs when the line that connects any point on the body to the center of rotation rotates without any translation. When all points in a body move in parallel planes, the rigid body is in general plane motion. If no restriction is placed on the motion of the rigid body, it will move in general space motion. If the body is in general space motion and one of its points is pivoted, the body is in a xed-point rotation.

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xA A: t in po f o on i t i s Po

vA

vB B

FIGURE 13.1 Rectilinear translation.

vA A vA
y
FIGURE 13.2 Curvilinear translation.

vB B vB

Translation
All points on a rigid body in pure translation will have the same velocity and the same acceleration at any given instant. Figure 13.1 and Figure 13.2 show examples of two different types of translational motion and a possible choice of a xed reference frame whose axes are denoted as x and y with corresponding unit vectors i and j, respectively. When a body is undergoing rectilinear translation, as shown in Figure 13.1, the velocities and accelerations of all points are identical in both magnitude and direction for all time. v A = vB a A = a B for all t where {A, B, } are arbitrary points on the body. In Figure 13.2, the velocities of any two points A and B on the body are identical and parallel at any instant of time; however, unlike in rectilinear translation, the velocity and acceleration directions are not constant. For curvilinear translation, the velocity equation holds at any instant of time but not necessarily throughout the entire motion:

(13.1)

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Center of rotation O

A coordinate fixed in the moving body

Position of the body at an earlier time

An arbitrary reference line fixed in space

FIGURE 13.3 A body in pure rotation.

v A = vB a A = aB t
1 t 2

(13.2)

Rotation
The angular position of a body in pure rotation is completely dened by the angle between an arbitrary xed reference line that passes through the center of rotation and any arbitrary line xed to the body and passing also through the center of rotation, as shown in Figure 13.3. The rotation angle q may be measured in degrees or radians, where 1 revolution = 360 degrees = 2p radians (13.3)

The rotation angular velocity w is dened as the rate of change of the angular position angle q with respect to time. It is expressed in radians per second (rps ) or in revolutions per minute (rpm ), as follows: dq dt

w=

(13.4)

The rotational angular acceleration a is the time rate of change of the angular velocity resulting in the following relationship: dw d 2q dw dq dw = = =w dt dt 2 dq dt dq

a=

(13.5)

In pure rotational motion, the relation between the rotational position, velocity, and acceleration are similar to pure translation. The angular velocity is the integral of the angular acceleration plus the initial velocity; the angular displacement is equal to the initial displacement added to the integral of the velocity. That is,

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w = w 0 + at 1 q = q 0 + wt = q 0 + w 0t + at 2 2 (13.6)

In general, the angular velocity and angular acceleration are three-dimensional vectors whose three components are normally projected on a coordinate system xed to the body that is translating and rotating in space, which is the general behavior of rigid bodies as discussed in later sections. For planar motion, two of the components of the angular velocity vector are equal to zero and the third component points always outward from the plane of motion. Therefore, the position of any point B on a body in pure planar rotation is determined by the distance rB/A of that point from the center of rotation A times the magnitude of the angle of rotation expressed in radians q. Thus the distance s that a point xed on a rigid body travels during a rotation q is given by: s = rB/ A q (13.7)

Similarly, the linear velocity of that point will depend on the distance rB/A and on the angular velocity w and will have a direction perpendicular to the line between the center of rotation and the point, as follows: r r r v = w rB/ A (13.8)

where indicates cross product. The angular acceleration of a point on a rigid body can be decomposed into a tangential and a normal component. The tangential component is the time rate of change of the linear velocity v and is in the direction of the linear velocity, namely, along the line perpendicular to the radius of rotation rB/A. r r dv r r at = = a rB/ A dt (13.9)

The normal acceleration depends on the time rate of change of the velocity in the tangential direction and on the angle of displacement, which gives the equation r r r r a n = w w rB/ A (13.10)

General Plane Motion: Euler Theorem

General plane motion can be separated into a pure translation followed by a pure rotation about a point called the center of rotation. If we attach a coordinate system at point A, as shown in Figure 13.4, the position of any point on the body can be described by the position vector of point A namely, r A added to the relative position of that point with respect to A namely, the vector rB/A all measured in the xed coordinate system. r r r rB = rA + rB/ A (13.11)

Similarly, the velocity of a rigid body in general plane motion can be separated into a velocity due to pure translation vA together with a velocity due to pure rotation vA/B. r r r v B = v A + v B/ A (13.12)

r r v v where v B/ A = w rB/ A and v A is the velocity vector of point A. The velocity vector n B/ A is called the relative velocity vector of point B with respect to point A.
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r B/A B y x

X1 A rB at time t1

rA B

Y1

O = A at time to

FIGURE 13.4 General motion of a rigid body in plane.

Instantaneous Center of Rotation in Plane Motion

At any instant in time, a body in general plane motion has a point which may be either outside or on the body around which all points of the body appear to be rotating in pure rotation. This point, called instantaneous center of rotation, can be found if the velocity vector of any point on the body together with the angular velocity of the body are known. The instantaneous center of rotation will lie on a line perpendicular to the velocity vector and at a distance from that point that is equal to the magnitude of the velocity of the point divided by angular velocity w of the body. Once the instantaneous center of rotation is found, the velocity of any point B on the body can be r determined from the vector from that center to the point B, rB , as follows: r r r v B = w rB r The direction of the velocity vector will be perpendicular to the vector rB .

Absolute and Relative Acceleration in Plane Motion

The angular acceleration of a point on a rigid body in plane motion also has a component due to translation and a component due to rotation; the latter component consists of a normal and a tangential component. r r r a B = a A + a B/ A r r r a B/ A = (a B / A )n + (a B/ A )t r r (a B/ A )n = w w rB/ A r r (a B/ A )t = a rB/ A

(13.13)

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FIGURE 13.5 Coordinate transformation in rotation.

r The acceleration of a point located by variable vector rB/ A on a moving rigid body is given by the following relation: r r dr d 2r r r r r a B/ A = a A + w w rB/ A + a rB/ A + 2w B/ A + B2/ A dt dt

(13.14)

r where the vector rB/ A and its time derivative are measured in a xed reference frame namely, its r components are [Xr, Yr] as shown in Figure 13.5. If the vector rB/ A is known by its components in a body-xed coordinate [xr, yr], then they can be transformed to the inertial coordinates as follows: X r = x r cos q - y r sin q Y r = x r sin q + y r sin q This is a coordinate transformation and is orthogonal, that is, its transpose is equal to its inverse. In matrix form the transformation of coordinates in Equation (13.15) can be written as follows: X r cos q = Y r sin q - sin q x r x r cos q y and y = cos q r r - sin q sin q X r cos q Y r

(13.15)

(13.16)

If we use the prime symbol to denote that the vector components are measured in a body-xed coordinate, then Equation (13.16) can be written in a more compact form as follows: r rB/ A = Tz rB / A and rB / A = Tz rB/ A
T

(13.17)

where TzT is the transpose of the rotation matrix around the z axis (which would point outward from the page).

Space Motion
Three angles, called Euler angles, may be used to describe the orientation of a rigid body in space. These angles describe three consecutive rotations around the three coordinates of the frame xed in a moving body with respect to an inertial xed frame. Twelve combinations of rotation sequences can be chosen; here we choose the rotation around the z axis, y, followed by a rotation around the body-xed y axis, q, and nally a rotation around the body-xed x axis, f.

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z = cos
z

Z=

z =
y

(a)
x

(b)
X

z
z

Z
y

x = sin

(c)

x = sin +

FIGURE 13.6 Three consecutive rotations of a body-xed coordinate system (x, y, z ) around the inertial-xed axis (X, Y, Z).

Figure 13.6(c) shows the nal position of a body which has a xed coordinate system [x, y, z]. Originally, the body was oriented such that its xed coordinate [x, y, z] corresponded to the inertial xed coordinate system [X, Y, Z]. The body was then rotated by an angle y around z, as shown in Figure 13.6(a), followed by a rotation of an angle q around y, as shown in Figure 13.6(b), and nally by a rotation through an angle f around z. If the components of a vector are known in the body-xed coordinate system, then the components of that vector can be obtained in the inertial reference frame by multiplying the vector by a transformation matrix. This transformation is obtained from the sequential product of the three successive rotation matrices around axis z, then y, and then x, respectively. As an example, the transformation matrix for the rotation in the order shown in Figure 13.6 is as follows: cos q cos y = - cos f sin y + sin f sin q cos y sin f sin y + cos f sin q cos y cos q sin y cos f cos y + sin f sin q sin y - sin f cos y + cos f sin q sin y - sin q sin y cos q cos f cos q

Tz ,y ,x

(13.18)

In order to transform any vector rB / A known by its components in a body-xed coordinate system into the corresponding vector whose components are given in inertial xed coordinates, rB/A, and vice versa, the vector would be multiplied by the transformation matrix as follows: rB/ A = Tz ,y ,x rB / A and rB / A = TzT ,y ,x rB/ A (13.19)

where the superscript T denotes the transpose of the matrix. Because the transformation matrix is orthogonal, its transpose is equal to its inverse, as shown by Equation (13.19). The time derivatives of the Euler angles can be obtained from the components of the angular rotation matrix w expressed in body coordinates. For the sequence of rotations shown in Figure 13.6, the angular

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velocity vector can be expressed in terms of the rate of change of the Euler angles as follows. In Figure 13.6(a) we have wx = 0 wy = 0 wz = In Figure 13.6(b) we have wx = wy = wz = Finally, in Figure 13.6(c) we have wx = wy = wz = dy df sin q + dt dt dy sin q dt dy dt

dq dt dy cos q dt

dy dq cos q sin f + cos f dt dt dy dq cos q cos f - sin f dt dt

(13.20)

dy = (w y sin f + w z cos f)/cos q dt dq = w y cos f - w z sin f dt df = w x + (w y sin f - w z cos f)tan q dt In vector form the above equation may be written as follows: w=E where the matrix E is given by: - sin q E = cos q sin f cos q cos f and 0 cos f - sin f 1 0 , 0 w r x w = w y , w z d d or = E -1w dt dt (13.21)

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 0 -1 E = 0 1

sin f cos q cos f sin f sin q cos q

cos f cos q - sin f cos f sin q cos q

(13.22)

Note that the matrix E is not orthogonal, so its transpose is not equal to its inverse.

13.2 Kinetics of Rigid Bodies

Forces and Acceleration
Kinetics is the study of the relation between the forces that act on a rigid body and the resulting acceleration, velocity, and motion as a function of the body mass and geometric shape. The acceleration of a rigid body is related to its mass and to the applied forces by DAlemberts principle, which states that the external forces acting on a rigid body are equivalent to the effective forces of the various particles of the body. In the case a rigid body moving in a plane motion, the DAlembert principle amounts to the vector r of r equation F = ma together with the scalar equation of the moments M = Ia. In the particular case when a symmetric body is rotating around an axis that passes through its mass center namely, centroidal rotation the angular acceleration vector relates to the sum of moments by the equation M = Ia. In general plane motion, the x and y components for the force vector, together with the moment equation, should be included in calculating the motion. The free-body diagram is one of the essential tools for setting up the equations of motion that describe the kinetics of rigid bodies. It depicts the fundamental relation between the force vectors and the acceleration of a body by sketching the body together with all applied, reaction, and DAlembert force and moment vectors drawn at the point where they are applied. Systems of Rigid Bodies in Planar Motion Free-body diagrams can be used to set up, and in some cases to solve, problems that involve several rigid bodies interconnected by elements forcing them to a prescribed motion for example, a motion that follows a curve or a surface. Such elements, called kinematical joints, can be rigid links with negligible masses or wires in tension, such as the ones used in pulley systems. For planar motion three equations of motion are obtained by writing down the x and y components of the forces and acceleration with the equation of moments and the angular acceleration. For a rigid body moving under a constraint, the free-body diagram is supplemented by a kinematical analysis, which provides the tangential and normal component of the acceleration. Rolling of a disc on a surface, which is a noncentroidal rotation, is an example of a constrained plane motion that belongs to this class of problems. The rolling can be with no sliding, with impeding sliding, and with sliding. Rotation of a gear pair and a pulley also belong to this class of problems. Rotation of a Three-Dimensional Body about a Fixed Axis If several bodies each rotating in its own plane are connected by a rigid shaft then each will exert a r DAlembert force, ma, on the shaft. Their combined effect will be a vector force and a couple equal to the inertia I of the body times the angular acceleration a. If the body that rotates about a xed axis is at rest and if the moments of the weights about the center of the rotating shaft are zero, we say that the system is statically balanced. When the body starts rotating, r the moment due to DAlembert forces, ma, around the center of gravity of the system may not sum to zero; the system is not dynamically balanced. Rotating machinery strives to have its systems dynamically balanced to reduce the reaction forces at the bearings and consequently their wearing. Counterweights are added such that the total DAlembert forces of the original bodies and the weights sum to zero.

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In its most general case, the motion of a rigid body in space can be solved only through numerical integration, except for very few simple problems, such as gyroscopic motion.

Work and Energy

The kinetic energy of a particle in translation is a scalar quantity measured in joules or ft-lb and can be 2 simply dened as 1 2 mv . The innitesimal element of work, Dw, is dened as the product of the projection of the force vector on the path s of the body and the innitesimal length ds of that path: (F cos b) ds, where b is the angle that the force vector makes with the path ds. The principle of work and energy states that the energy of a body is equal to the sum, over a certain displacement path, of the work done by all external forces that acted on the body and caused that displacement plus any initial kinetic energy that the body had at the beginning of the path. For bodies in pure rotation the work of a couple is the product of the couple and the innitesimal angle moved due to that couple. The summation of the work over all the angular displacement caused 2 by that couple is the rotational energy and is also dened as 1 2 Iw , where w is the angular velocity of the body. The kinetic energy of a rigid body in general plane motion T is equal to the sum of kinetic energy in translation and the kinetic energy in rotation: 1 r T = (mv 2 + I w 2 ) 2 where v is the velocity of the mass center G of the body and I is the moment of inertia of the body about an axis through its mass center. This energy is identical to the kinetic rotational energy of the body if it is considered to be in pure rotation around its instantaneous center of rotation. In this case I would be the moment of inertia of the body around an axis that passes through the instantaneous center of rotation. The principle of conservation of energy states that the sum of the potential and kinetic energy of a body acted upon by conservative forces that is, nondissipative forces of friction or damping remains constant during the time when these forces are applied. Power is the product of the projection of the force vector on the velocity that resulted from this force. Power is measured in watt and horsepower units. The summation of power over a certain time interval is equal to the total energy stored in the body during that time. Kinetics of Rigid Bodies in Plane Motion: Impulse and Momentum for a Rigid Body The principle of impulse and momentum for a rigid body states that the momenta of all the particles of a rigid body at time t1, added to the impulses of external forces acting during the time interval from time t1 to time t2, are equal to the system momenta at time t2. Momentum of a Rigid Body in Plane Motion Translation, Rotation, and General Motion The momenta vector of a body in plane translation motion is the product of the mass and the velocity vector. For a rigid body in plane centroidal rotation, the linear momenta vector is equal to 0 since the mass center does not have any linear velocity. The sum of the couples of forces acting on the particle of that body gives the angular momentum, which is H G = I w . In a general plane motion, the momentum is a vector with components along the x, y, and w directions. The dynamic equations of motion of a rigid body in plane motion can be obtained from DAlemberts principle as follows:

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v dmv x = (F1 )x + (F2 )x + L dt r dmv y = (F1 )y + (F2 )y + L dt dIa = M 1 + M 2 + L + r1 F1 + r2 F2 + L dt

(13.23)

For a system of rigid bodies, the linear momentum vector does not change in the absence of a resultant linear impulse. Similarly, the angular momentum vector does not change in the absence of an angular impulse. Space Motion The momentum vector of a rigid body moving in space has a linear component G and an angular component H. The linear component represents the DAlembert principle as described by the following equations: r dmv x = (F1 )x + (F2 )x + L dt r dmv y = (F1 )y + (F2 )y + L dt r dmv z = (F1 )z + (F2 )z + L dt

(13.24)

where the velocity and the force vectors are expressed in their inertial [X, Y, Z] components. If these vectors are expressed in a body-xed coordinate system, the time derivative should include the effect of the rotation vector, as in the case of the angular momentum. The angular momentum vector H is dened as follows: r r H = Iw (13.25)

where H and w are expressed by their components in the body coordinate [x, y, z]. When a vector is expressed in a body coordinate, its time derivative should include the effect of angular rotation. For this reason and because normally the position vector of the point of application of a force Fi from a center r of rotation A, denoted by rBi / A , is known by its components in a body coordinate system the equation stating that the time rate of change of the angular momentum is equal to the sum of the moments would be written as follows: dIw T + w Iw = TzT 1/ A TzT 2 / A TzT ,y ,x M 1 + Tz ,y ,x M 2 + L + rB ,y ,x F1 + rB ,y ,x F2 + L dt

(13.26)

where I is the matrix of inertia relative to a coordinate system xed in the body and moving with it and the center of the coordinate system is located at point A. The forces and the moments are assumed to be known by their components in an inertial xed coordinate system, and w is the angular velocity of the body given by its components in the body-xed coordinates. If the body-xed coordinate system is chosen along the principal axis of the body, then the term w Iw can be written in matrix form as follows:

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 0 w Iw = w z -w y

-w z 0 wx

w y I xx -w x 0 0 0

0 I yy 0

(I yy - I zz )w y w z 0 w x 0 w y = - (I zz - I xx )w z w x I zz (I - I )w w w z xx yy x y

and the equation of motion can be reduced to the Eulers equations as follows: x = (I yy - I zz )w y w z + M x I xxw y = (I zz - I xx )w z w x + M x I yy w z = (I xx - I yy )w x w y + M z I zz w In general, Equation (13.25) and Equation (13.26) are solved by numerical integration, except for the cases where they are simplied, for example in gyroscopic motion. The Euler angles used in the transformation matrix T are obtained from the numerical integration of Equation (13.20). Impulsive Motion and Eccentric Impact The principle of conservation of momentum is useful in solving the problem of impacting bodies. If the colliding of two bodies is such that the collision point is on a line that joins their mass centers, then the collision is centroidal, the two bodies can be considered particles, and impulsive motion of particle dynamics can be used. If the collision is noncentroidal, rotational motion will occur. In this case the projection of the velocity differential of the bodies point of contact on the line normal to the contact surface after collision is equal to the same projection of the differential velocity prior to collision times the coefcient of restitution. This vector relation can be used to nd the velocity after impact. Rotation Around a Fixed Point and Gyroscopic Motion When a rigid body spins at a rate w about its axis of symmetry and is subjected to a couple of moment M about an axis perpendicular to the spin axis, then the body will precess at a rate W about an axis that is perpendicular to both the spin and the couple axis. The rate of precession omega is equal to M = I wW . A well-known example of gyroscopic motion is the motion of a top (see Figure 13.7), in which the couple moment M due to gravity is expected to force the top to fall. However, the top does not fall and rather precesses around the y axis. (13.27)

Dening Terms
Acceleration The rate of change of the velocity vector. Absolute acceleration of a rigid body is the rate of change of the velocity vector of the mass center of the body. Relative acceleration is the acceleration of a point on a body due to the angular velocity of that body only. DAlembert forces Force and moment vectors due to the linear and angular accelerations of the body. Free-body diagram An essential sketch used to solve kinetics problems that involves sketching the rigid body together with all internal, reaction, and external force vectors. Gyroscopic motion Describes the motion of a rigid body that is spinning with a very large angular velocity around one axis when the couple of a moment is applied on the second axis. The resultant motion, called precession, is an angular velocity around the third axis. Kinematic analysis Starts from the geometry of constraints and uses differentiation to nd the velocity and acceleration of the constrained points on a rigid body. Kinetic energy The accumulation of work of forces on a rigid body between two instants of time; includes kinetic energy due to translation and kinetic energy due to rotation.

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Z Precession axis
Spin axis

Cou ple axi s

X
FIGURE 13.7 Gyroscopic motion.

W = mg

Rotation Centroidal rotation is the motion of a rigid body around an axis that passes through its mass center. In noncentroidal rotation the body rotates around an axis that passes through a point not corresponding to its mass center and which may not be on the body; this point is called the instantaneous center of rotation. Translation Rectilinear translation occurs when the velocities of any two points on the body remain equal in direction and magnitude throughout the entire duration of the motion. Curvilinear translation occurs when the velocity vectors of any two points are equal at any instant of time but change from one instant to another. Velocity Absolute velocity is the rate of change of the position vector of a point on a body measured from a xed reference coordinate. Relative velocity is the rate of change of the position vector of a point on a rigid body measured from a moving reference frame.

References
Meriam, J. L. and Kraige, L. G. 1992. Engineering Mechanics, 3rd ed. John Wiley & Sons, New York. Beer, F. P. and Johnston, E. R. 1987. Mechanics for Engineers Dynamics, 4th ed. McGraw-Hill, New York. Crandal, S. H., Karnopp, D. C., Kurtz., E. F., Jr., and Pridmore-Brown, D. C. 1968. Dynamics of Mechanical and Electromechanical Systems, McGraw-Hill, New York. Haug, E. J. 1989. Computer-Aided Kinematics and Dynamics of Mechanical Systems. Volume I: Basic Methods, Allyn and Bacon, Boston. Nikravesh, P. 1988. Computer-Aided Analysis of Mechanical Systems, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ. Shabana, A. A. 1994. Computational Dynamics, John Wiley & Sons, New York.

Further Information
Detailed treatment of the subject can be found in Meriam and Kraige [1992] and Beer and Johnston [1987]. A classical presentation of the subject can be found in Crandal et al. [1968]. Computer-aided analysis of the kinematics and dynamics of constrained rigid bodies in space motion can be found in Haug [1989] and Nikravesh [1988].

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