On the choice of coordinates for computational multibody dynamics

Abstract The choice of coordinates for the description of multibody dynamics has a strong impact on the form of the equations of motion. In the talk two alternative formulations are compared: (i) joint coordinates along with Euler angles for the orientation of rigid bodies, and (ii) redundant coordinates where the orientation of rigid bodies is described in terms of direction cosines. In the case of multibody systems with tree structure the use of generalized coordinates yields equations of motion in the form of ordinary differential equations. In contrast to that, the choice of redundant coordinates yields differential‐algebraic equations. The two alternative formulations are compared and their influence on the numerical time integration is highlighted. (© 2011 Wiley‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)