Abstract
This paper deals with the formulation that can analyze vibration noise problems practically in the flexible multibody systems. Many kinds of formulations have been proposed on the flexible multibody systems so far. They are categorized into several groups according to their purposes and coordinate systems. The floating frame of reference formulation is at present the most popular method for general purpose simulations among them. The formulation uses Cartesian coordinates for the position of a body, Euler angles or Euler parameters for the orientations, and modal coordinates for the elastic degrees of freedom. The equations of motion with these different kinds of coordinates are complicated because of coupling between rigid body motion and elastic vibration. On the other hand, the linear theory of elasto-dynamics appears to be simple and could be practical for some limited uses. But it neglects the effect of the elastic deformation on the rigid body motion. In many cases, the effect is significant and essential. In this paper, we propose a new formulation with rigid body modes and a local observer frame (LOF) for large amplitude rigid body motion, and with elastic modes for small amplitude elastic vibration. The LOF is updated properly to compensate the gap between rigid body motion and the LOF motion. The new formulation makes the coupling terms as simple as possible without any loss of the effect of the elastic deformation on the rigid body motion and gives the uniform description in each modal coordinate.
