Rigid Body Dynamics

Abstract

This chapter follows the same lines as those proposed in Chapter 4, but we now focus on systems for which the dimension of the bodies is no longer negligible. Starting from phenomenologic observations, one can observe that in many situations bodies can be assumed to undergo rigid motions, i.e., the distance of any pair of points belonging to the same body can be thought to remain unchanged during the motion. Then, in these mechanical models the dimensions of the bodies, but not their deformability, are taken into account. Of course, this has to be regarded as an approximation of the real behavior of systems, since all bodies deform slightly when acted on by external forces. However, several pieces of useful information can be recovered by the analysis of the related mathematical models deduced in this chapter, which uses technical calculations reported in Appendix II, where suitable knowledge of kinematics and mass geometry are given.