On the Normal Component of Centralized Frictionless Collision Sequences

Abstract

A typical assumption for rigid body collisions with multiple impact points is that all collisions occur simultaneously and are synchronized in their compression/expansion behavior, a useful assumption given the microscopic time scale at which collisions occur. In the case in which collisions are dependent upon one another, however, there is interaction between and within compression and expansion phases. Instead of treating the collisions as separate consecutive impacts or by activating all constraints at the same time, a rule is presented that orders the collisions as a sequence of interacting events at a point in time to handle the normal component of the collisions.