Constitutive relations of planar and spatial external forces and torques

Abstract

In this chapter constitutive relations of some commonly used (passive and active) force and torque elements will be discussed. They usually act due to relative motion of system components. An important class of forces is associated with compliant elements such as coil springs, leaf springs, dampers, tyres, shock absorbers. and other deformable media that generate reaction forces and torques between — most times two — bodies. They may be a function of the relative position and velocity of the components. Sometimes they may also depend on their relative acceleration. Another class of forces and torques are those that act on a single body like, for example, the gravitational force.