Systematic construction of equations of motion for rigid‐flexible multibody systems containing open and closed kinematic loops

A systematic method for formulating the equations of motion for multibody systems containing rigid and flexible bodies is presented. The method of using joint co‐ordinates to derive the minimum number of equations of motion is utilized for rigid bodies and the finite element method is employed for flexible bodies. The equations of motion for flexible bodies are simplified into several steps using (a) a lumped mass assumption, (b) static condensation and (c) modal superposition. The combined rigid and flexible body formulation can be used to simulate dynamic response in a variety of applications such as ride handling, rollover and the crash analysis of vehicles, space structures, and biomechanical problems.