Summary
This paper presents a novel formulation for multibody systems with unilateral interactions. We address the forward dynamics simulation problem in which the dynamics formulation is solved under given loads, and as a result, the motion is determined. This simulation problem involves two main parts: the solution of the dynamics problem, momentum/velocity update, and the solution of a kinematics problem, position update. For the dynamics problem, rigid bodies are modelled using equimomental systems of point masses. After determining the velocities of the point masses with such a model, the kinematics problem is solved using the rigid body representation. With the proposed approach, the accuracy of smooth and nonsmooth problems may be improved using first-order integration methods.
