An enhanced multi-point dynamics methodology for collision and contact problem

The general methodologies for collision and contact problems of a multibody system often artificially divide the movements of the objects into the rigid displacements and contact deformations. Both the parts of the movements are often analyzed independently, which should be simultaneously processed in nature. Therefore, this article proposes an enhanced methodology to unify the rigid displacements and the contact elastic deformations of a collision system. The rigid displacements accompanying flexible deformations in collision are expressed as the displacements of a number of equivalent points of the colliding bodies. This method converts the collision problem into the collisions between the points within a multi-point system, and can therefore precisely model the real contact forces and deformations of the system. Numerical simulations for the collision-contact problems are carried out to demonstrate the effectiveness of the method.