Structural Engineering and Mechanics

Volume 4, Number 1, 1996, pages 91-107

DOI: 10.12989/sem.1996.4.1.091

Large displacement Lagrangian mechanics .2. Equilibrium principles

Underhill WRC, Dokainish MA

Abstract

In Lagrangian mechanics, attention is directed at the body as it moves through space. Each body point is identified by the position it would have if the body were to occupy an arbitrary reference configuration. A result of this approach is that the analyst often describes the body by using quantities that may involve more than one configuration. This is particularly common in incremental calculations and in changes of the choice of reference configuration. With the rise of very powerful computing machinery, the popularity of numerical calculation has become great. Unfortunately, the mechanical theory has been evolved in a piecemeal fashion so that it has become a conglomeration of differently developed patches. The current work presents a unified development of the equilibrium principle. The starting point is the conservation of momentum. All details of configuration are shown. Finally, full dynamic and static forms are presented for total and incremental work.

Key Words

large displacement, equilibrium principle, updated Lagrangian

Address

Underhill WRC, MCMASTER UNIV,DEPT MECH ENGN,HAMILTON,ON L8S 4L7,CANADA<br />MCMASTER UNIV,DEPT CIVIL ENGN & ENGN MECH,HAMILTON,ON L8S 4L7,CANADA