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The stability of the permanent rotation of a free multibody system

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Summary

The stability problem of the permanent rotation of a torque-free multibody system with spherical joints is discussed by use of Liapunov's direct method. The system is described by the Hooker-Margulies equations in vector-dyadic form, and there exist the integrals of angular momentum and of energy for the torque-free case. The first integrals obtained are used to establish the Liapunov function, then a stability criterion in analytical form is found for the system composed of two symmetrical bodies coupled by a frictionless joint. It is proven that the permanent rotation of such a system about the coincident axis of symmetry is always stable.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Engineering Mechanics, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 200 030, Shanghai, People's Republic of China

    Y. Z. Liu (Professor)

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  1. Y. Z. Liu
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With 4 Figures

Presented to the XVII-ICTAM, Grenoble 1988.

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Liu, Y.Z. The stability of the permanent rotation of a free multibody system. Acta Mechanica 79, 43–51 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01181479

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01181479

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