AUTOMATIC ELIMINATION OF THE UNDETERMINED MULTIPLIERS IN KANE EQUATIONS USING A PSEUDO UPTRIANGULAR DECOMPOSITION (PUTD) METHOD

The formulation of the equations of motion for constrained multibody systems is presented. The procedures employed use Kane's equations as developed by R. L. Huston et al. and use a tree-like configuration array as a basis for analysis. A Pseudo Uptriangular Decomposition method along with the Gramm-Schmidt process is developed to modify Kane's equations when the constraint equations are introduced using the undetermined multipliers. This approach is far reaching in its application and is tailored for general purpose algorithms used in the development of computer programs for complex structure dynamics.