Introduction -- Contact force models for multibody dynamics preface

Abstract

The prediction of the dynamic behavior of multibody mechanical systems typically involves the formulation of the governing equations of motion and the numerical evaluation of their kinematic and dynamic characteristics. This desideratum is reached when all the necessary ingredients that affect the response of the multibody mechanical systems are adequately taken into account. The contact-impact phenomena are among the most important and complex to model because they depend on many factors, such as the geometry of the contacting bodies (surfaces), the material properties, and the constitutive law utilized to represent the interaction among the different bodies that comprise the multibody mechanical systems.