The aim of this work is the development of a robust and accurate time integrator for the simulation of the dynamics of multibody systems composed by rigid and/or flexible bodies subject to frictionless contacts and impacts. The integrator is built upon a previously developed nonsmooth generalized-α scheme time integrator which was able to deal well with nonsmooth dynamical problems avoiding any constraint drift phenomena and capturing vibration effects without introducing too much numerical dissipation. However, when dealing with problems involving nonlinear bilateral constraints and/or flexible elements, it is necessary to adopt small time step sizes to ensure the convergence of the numerical scheme. In order to tackle these problems more efficiently, a fully decoupled version of the nonsmooth generalized-α method is proposed in this work, avoiding these inconveniences. Several examples are considered to assess its accuracy and robustness.

We present a new node-to-face frictional contact element for the simulation of the nonsmooth dynamics of systems composed of rigid and flexible bodies connected by kinematic joints. The equations of motion are integrated using a nonsmooth generalized-α time integration scheme and the frictional contact problem is formulated using a mixed approach, based on an augmented Lagrangian technique and a Coulomb friction law. The numerical results are independent of any user-defined penalty parameter for the normal or tangential component of the forces and, the bilateral and the unilateral constraints are exactly fulfilled both at position and velocity levels. Finally, the robustness and the performance of the proposed algorithm are demonstrated by solving several numerical examples of nonsmooth mechanical systems involving frictional contact.

The aim of this work is to extend the finite element multibody dynamics approach to problems involving frictional contacts and impacts. The nonsmooth generalized-alpha (NSGA) scheme is adopted, which imposes bilateral and unilateral constraints both at position and velocity levels avoiding drift phenomena. This scheme can be implemented in a general purpose simulation code with limited modifications of pre-existing elements. The study of the woodpecker toy dynamics sets up a good example to show the capabilities of the NSGA scheme within the context of a general finite element framework. This example has already been studied by many authors who generally adopted a model with a minimal set of coordinates and small rotations. It is shown that good results are obtained using a general purpose finite element code for multibody dynamics, in which the equations of motion are assembled automatically and large rotations are easily taken into account. In addition, comparing results between different models of the woodpecker toy, the importance of modelling large rotations and the horizontal displacement of the woodpecker's sleeve is emphasized.

The aim of this work is to extend the finite element multibody dynamics approach to problems involving frictional contacts and impacts. Since rigid bodies and joints involve bilateral constraints, it is important to avoid any drift phenomenon. Therefore, the nonsmooth generalized-α method is used, which imposes the constraints both at position and at velocity levels. Its low intrusiveness allows one to reuse an existing library of elements without major modifications. The study of the woodpecker toy dynamics sets up a good example to show the capabilities of the nonsmooth generalized-α within the context of a general finite element framework. This example has already been studied by many authors who generally adopt a model with a minimal set of coordinates and small rotations. We show that using a finite element approach, the equations of motion can be assembled automatically, and large rotations can be easily considered.