Guest Editorial

Abstract

Multibody system (MBS) dynamics is a very open discipline in the sense that different authors propose drastically different approaches. Several steps are required to address the simulation of a multibody system: modeling, coordinates selection, formulation of the equations of motion, integration of the equations of motion, and computer implementation of the final algorithm. Many alternatives are possible for each of them. Moreover, these steps are tightly related such that a decision made for one step usually affects some of the others. And, in addition, there can be issues often just tiny details not even described in papers, that must be taken into account in order to have a successful implementation of a MBS formulation. In multibody dynamics, no formulation can be considered as the best for all problems, and different approaches can lead to very different results for a given problem, both from the accuracy and efficiency points of view.