Abstract
This paper details a constant stepsize, multirate integration scheme which has been proposed for multibody dynamic analysis. An Adams-Bashforth Moulton integration algorithm has been implemented, using the Nordsieck form to store internal integrator information, for multirate integration. A multibody system has been decomposed into several subsystems, treating inertia coupling effects of subsystem equations of motion as the inertia forces. To each subsystem, different rate Nordsieck form of Adams integrator has been applied to solve subsystem equations of motion. Higher order derivative information from the integrator provides approximation of inertia force computation in the decomposed subsystem equations of motion. To show the effectiveness of the scheme, simulations of a vehicle multibody system that consists of high frequency suspension motion and low frequency chassis motion have been carried out with different tire excitation forces. Efficiency of the proposed scheme has been also investigated.