Application of Singular Value Decomposition for Analysis of Mechanical System Dynamics

Abstract

A singular value decomposition method for efficient solution of mixed differential-algebraic equations of motion of mechanical systems is developed. Differential equations of motion are written in terms of a maximal set of Cartesian generalized coordinates that are related through nonlinear algebraic constraint equations. Singular value decomposition of the constraint Jacobian matrix is used to define a new set of generalized coordinates that are partitioned into optimal independent and dependent sets. Integration of only independent generalized coordinates generates all system information. A numerical example is presented to demonstrate effectiveness of the method.