Dynamic Analysis of Flexible Bodies Using Extended Bond Graphs

Abstract

An Extended Bond Graph (EBG) formulation is described for analyzing the dynamics of a flexible multibody system. This work extends the EBG method, which was originally developed for systems with small spatial motion, to rigid and flexible multibody systems exhibiting large overall motions. The development uses modular models for the elements so that complex system models can be derived by coupling these modules. The EBG formulation for moving reference frames is used to derive models of one-link and two-link flexible manipulator systems. This approach has several advantages over the Lagrangian and Newtonian methods, such as its ability to solve the forward and inverse dynamic problems using the same bond graph. Finally, the EBG formulations for cantilever beams and for multi-rigid body dynamic systems are shown to be special cases of the general EGBs for flexible bodies.