Equations of motion of a multibody system and Lie groups (Q1892039)

The author presents a generalized procedure for finding governing equations of motion for multibody systems. The procedure, employing Lie groups, produces expressions useful for symbolic development of numerical code. An illustration with a vehicle crash victim is also presented. The paper is written in an interesting and philosophical style discussing many of the long established issues in the optimal development of governing equations. In this sense the paper is somewhat theoretical and as such it will probably be primarily of interest to theoreticians working in multibody system dynamics.