Primal and mixed forms of Hamilton's principle for constrained rigid body systems: Numerical studies (Q1181583)

In this paper, we extend the methodology of our previous work [the authors, ibid. 7, No. 1, 49-76 (1990; Zbl 0717.73098)] to incorporate the dynamics of holonomically and nonholonomically constrained systems. The constraint equations are cast in a variational form, which may be included easily, in the time finite element framework. The development of the weak constraint equations and their associated ``tangent'' operators is presented. We also show that this approach to constraint equations may be employed to develop time finite elements using a quaternion parametrization of finite rotation. Familiarity with the notation and methodology of our previously presented work is assumed.