Lesson 5: Kinematics and Dynamics of Particles

This set of notes describes the basic methodology for formulating the kinematic and kinetic
equations for multibody dynamics. In order to concentrate on the methodology and not on the
details and the complexity of the equations, particles are used instead of bodies. Since particles
do not have rotational degrees-of-freedom, unlike bodies, the corresponding multi-particle
dynamic equations are much simpler. For multibody systems, a similar process is described in
the textbook.

One Particle
Kinematics

Position (coordinate), velocity, and acceleration vectors for particle i:

r(xi ) 
x i  r˙(xi )  x˙ i  r˙˙(xi )  x˙˙ i 
           
r i = r(yi )  = y i  , vi
r˙ i = r˙(yi )  = y˙ i  , a i
r˙˙ i = r˙˙(yi )  = y˙˙ i 
r i  z i  r˙i  z˙ i  r˙˙i  z˙˙i 
 (z)     (z)     (z)   
Kinetics

f (xi ) 
 i 
Force: f =  f (y ) 
i i
Mass: m
fi 
 (z ) 
Equation of motion (Newton's second law): m ˙r˙ = f or
i i i

mi 0 0   x˙˙i   f(xi ) 
m i 0 0

      
M r˙˙ = f ; 0  y˙˙i  =  f(yi )  where M =  0
i i i
or 0 mi i
mi 0
m
 z˙˙   f(zi )
0  0 m 
i i i
 0  0

A System of n p Particles
Kinematics
i
fi
1
f
1
ri np
z r
np
r1 np
f
rj j
fj
y
x

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Coordinate, velocity, and acceleration arrays: each is a 3n p array

r1 
r˙1 
r˙˙1 
     
r = 
 , r˙ = 
 , ˙r˙ = 

r n p  r˙ n p  r˙˙ n p 
     
Kinetics
Mass of each particle: m ; i = 1, ..., n p
i

Mass matrix ( 3
3) for each particle: M ; i = 1, ..., n p

i

f1 
 
Array of applied forces: f = 

f n p 
 
Equations of Motion: M r˙˙ = f

M1 0 0 
 
where M =  0  0  = diag M
M p
1 n
[ ]
0 0 M p 
n


Two Particles Connected by A Rigid (massless) Rod

A d
z A B
r

rB
y

x B
x A 
 B A
Applied forces are not shown; d = r
r = y
y  ; magnitude of d is
.
B A

z j
zA 
 
Kinematics
Position constraint:
Expanded form: 1
2 ((x B

x ) + (y
y ) + (z
z ) ) = 12 (
)
A 2 B A 2 B A 2 2

Compact form: d d = 12 (
)

1
2
T 2

1
Note: The factor “ 2 ” is included in order to eliminate the “2” factor from the velocity
and acceleration equations, and also from the elements of the Jacobian matrix.
Velocity constraint:
Expanded form: (x
x )( x˙
x˙ ) + (y
y )( y˙
y˙ ) + (z
z )( z˙
z˙ ) = 0
B A B A B A B A B A B A

T˙
Compact form: d d =0
Acceleration constraint:
Expanded form: (x
x )( x˙˙
x˙˙ ) + (y
y )( y˙˙
y˙˙ ) + (z
z )( z˙˙
z˙˙ ) =
B A B A B A B A B A B A

( x˙ B
x˙ A )2
( y˙ B
y˙ A )2
(z˙ B
z˙ A )2
Expanded matrix form:

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  x˙˙A 
 A
 ˙y˙ 
 z˙˙A 
[
x B
+ xA
yB + yA
zB + z A xB
x A yB
y A z B
z A ] B  =
 x˙˙ 
 y˙˙B 
 B
 z˙˙ 

( x˙
x˙ )
( y˙
y˙ )
(z˙
z˙ )
B A 2 B A 2 B A 2

˙r˙ A 
Compact matrix form: [
d T
d ] B  =
d˙ d˙
T

˙˙
T

 
r
Jacobian matrix:
Expanded form:

(x B
x A )
(y B
y A )
(z B
z A ) (x B
x A ) (y B
y A ) (z B
z A ) 
Compact form: [
d dT ]
T

Kinetics
Equations of motion:
mA r˙˙ A = f A + f B ,A
mB r˙˙ B = f B + f A ,B
or,

M A 0  r˙˙
f
f

A A B ,A

 B  B  = +
 B   A ,B 
 0 M ˙r˙  f  f 
B,A A,B
Vectors f and f are the unknown reaction forces the two particles apply on each other. We
=
f . How do we determine the reaction forces? We first describe the reaction forces
B,A A ,B
expect f
in terms of the transpose of the Jacobian matrix times a multiplier (an unknown coefficient) as:
f B ,A  
d
 A ,B = 

f   d 
This yields f
A,B
=
f B ,A =  d . If we determine the value of the multiplier
we can then
compute the components of the reaction forces. This technique is known as the method of
Lagrange multipliers. The number of multipliers must be equal to the number of constraints! We
append the acceleration constraint(s) to the equations of motion to get
M A 0
d
˙r˙A  f A
 
 0 MB d r˙˙B  =  f B 
0     
d˙ d˙ 

d T T T
 d
Now we have as many equations as the number of unknowns.

Three Particles Connected by Two Rigid Rods

d1 C
A
z
d2 B
y

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Kinematics
All equations in compact form!
Position constraints:
1
2 d1T d1 = 12 (
1 )2
1
2 dT2 d2 = 12 (
2 )2
Velocity constraints:
r˙ A 

d T
0 d  B  0
T


r˙ = 
1 1


d
T
2 dT2 0   C  0
r˙ 
Acceleration constraints:
˙r˙ A 

d T
0 d  B  
d˙1T d˙1 
T


r˙˙ = 
1 1


d 0   C  
d˙ T2 d˙ 2 
T
2 dT2
˙r˙ 
Jacobian matrix:

d1T 0 d1T 
 T 

d 2 dT2 0
Kinetics
Equations of motion:
M A 0 0
r˙˙ f 
d1
A A

d 2

  B B   1
0  ˙r˙  = f  +  0 d2  
B
 0 M
 2 
 0 M  r˙˙  f   d1 0 
C C C
 0
If we append the acceleration constraints to the equations of motion, we get
M A 0 0
d1
d 2
r˙˙  f
A A

 B  B B
 0 M 0 0 d2  ˙r˙ f
 0  C C
0 r˙˙  =  f 
C
0 M d1
 T  T

d1 0 d1T 0 0  1
d˙ 1 d˙ 1
 T 

d 2 dT2 0 0 0   2  
d˙ T2 d˙ 2 
Note that the angle between the two rods can change when the particles move.

Three Particles, Two Rigid Rods, and One Angle Constraint

Kinematics
All equations are presented only in compact form!
Position constraints:

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 1
2 d1T d1 = 12 (
1 )2
1
2 dT2 d2 = 12 (
2 )2
d1T d2 =
1
2 cos

Velocity constraints:

d1T 0 d1T r˙ A  0

 B   

d 2 0
r˙ = 0
T
dT2

d T
dT
 1 2 dT2 d1T
 r˙ C  0
Acceleration constraints:

d1T 0 d1T r˙˙ A  
d˙ 1T d˙ 1 

 B   

d 2
T
dT2 0
r˙˙ = 
d˙ T2 d˙ 2

d T
dT
 1 2 dT2 d1T
 r˙˙C  
2d˙ 1T d˙ 2 
Jacobian matrix:

d1T 0 d1T 
 

d 2
T
dT2 0

d T
dT dT2 d1T 
 1 2
Kinetics
Equations of motion:
M A 0 0
r˙˙ A f A 
d1
d 2
d1
d2
1
   
 0 MB 0  r˙˙ B  = f B  +  0 d2 d2  2 
 0
 0 MC  r˙˙C  f C   d1 0

d1  3 
If we append the acceleration constraints to the equations of motion, we get
 MA 0 0
d1
d 2
d1
d2
r˙˙ A  f A
 B  B B
 0 M 0 0 d2 d2  r˙˙ f
  C
   =  T 
r˙˙ f
C C
0 0 M d1 0 d1


d1
T
0 d1T 0 0 0  1
d˙ 1 d˙ 1
 

d 2
T
dT2 0 0 0 0   2
d˙ T2 d˙ 2


d1T
dT2 dT2 d1T 0 0 0   3  
2d˙ 1T d˙ 2 

General Problem; A System of n p Particles and m constraints

Kinematics
All equations in compact form!
Position constraints:

(r) = 0 m constraints (mostly nonlinear in coordinates)
Velocity constraint:

˙  D r˙ = 0 m constraints (linear in velocities)
Acceleration constraint:

˙˙  D r˙˙ + D
˙ r˙ = 0 m constraints (linear in accelerations)
Jacobian matrix:
D An m
3n p matrix

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Kinetics
Equations of motion:
M r˙˙ = f + D

T
3n p equations
If we append the acceleration constraints to the equations of motion, we get
M DT  r˙˙   f 

 =  ˙ 3n p + m equations in 3n p + m unknowns
 D 0   
Dr˙ 

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