Motion of N articulated rigid bodies with chain structure in the field of two mutually attracting massive centers: General formalism and a survey of the chain's planar motion

摘要

In this paper we describe a new model consisting of N articulated rigid bodies with open chain structure, that move in the combined gravitational field of two mutually attracting massive centers. We derive the general equations of motion of the chain and we study the conditions for the planar motion of the individual centers of mass of the links.