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Static modes switching for more efficient flexible multibody simulation
Author(s) -
Heirman Gert H. K.,
Tamarozzi Tommaso,
Desmet Wim
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
international journal for numerical methods in engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.421
H-Index - 168
eISSN - 1097-0207
pISSN - 0029-5981
DOI - 10.1002/nme.3141
Subject(s) - classification of discontinuities , flexibility (engineering) , moment (physics) , set (abstract data type) , degrees of freedom (physics and chemistry) , mode (computer interface) , computer science , control theory (sociology) , multibody system , mathematics , physics , classical mechanics , control (management) , mathematical analysis , statistics , quantum mechanics , artificial intelligence , programming language , operating system
Body flexibility is of ever‐increasing importance in multibody simulation. The current state‐of‐the‐art simulation techniques typically have difficulties with systems in which flexible bodies can be loaded in many degrees of freedom (DOFs). However, in many applications, loading is possible in many DOFs but only few are loaded simultaneously at any given moment, such that at any moment only a low‐dimensional part of the reduced body flexibility description contributes to the solution. Static Modes Switching, the methodology proposed in this paper, exploits this by judiciously choosing the body flexibility mode set and at any moment only including those modes that contribute to the solution. Static Modes Switching does not improve simulation accuracy; however, it can significantly reduce simulation times. In a numerical experiment, results using Static Modes Switching match results for a conventional model using the same mode set. The approximation errors are negligible compared to the accuracy loss encountered when using a mode set without compensation for the quasi‐static response of the high‐frequency dynamics, while both simulation results are obtained at a comparable computational cost. Static Modes Switching numerically introduces discontinuities when removing a mode from the mode set. This is overcome by time integration schemes exhibiting high‐frequency numerical damping. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.