Computational Dynamics, 3rd Edition

PREFACE

Computational dynamics has been the subject of extensive research over the last three decades. This subject has grown rapidly as a result of the advent of high-speed digital computers and also as a response to the need for simulation and analysis computational capabilities for physics and engineering systems that consist of interconnected bodies. These systems are highly nonlinear in nature and their analysis requires the use of matrix, numerical, and computer methods. It is the objective of this book to present an introduction to the subject of computational dynamics at a level suitable for senior undergraduate and first-year graduate students. The book introduces students to concepts, definitions, and techniques used in the field of multibody system dynamics. To achieve this goal, classical approaches are first discussed in order to help students review some of the fundamental concepts and techniques in the general field of mechanics. The book then builds on these concepts to demonstrate the use of the classical methods as a foundation for the study of computational dynamics. Various computational methodologies that are used in the computer-aided analysis of multibody systems are presented. In the analysis presented in this book, only rigid body dynamics is considered.

CONTENTS

The third edition of the book is organized into nine chapters that cover the basic concepts and computational methods in kinematics and dynamics of multibody systems. Simple examples are used in most ...