The main purpose of this paper is to present and discuss a methodology for a dynamic modeling and analysis of rigid multibody systems with translational clearance joints. The methodology is based on the nonsmooth dynamics approach, in which the interaction of the elements that constitute a translational clearance joint is modeled with multiple frictional unilateral constraints. In the following, the most fundamental issues of the nonsmooth dynam-ics theory are revised. The dynamics of rigid multibody systems are stated as an equality of measures, which are formulated at the velocity-impulse level. The equations of motion are complemented with constitutive laws for the normal and tangential directions. In this work, the unilateral constraints are described by a set-valued force law of the type of Signorini’s condition, while the frictional contacts are characterized by a set-valued force law of the type of Coulomb’s law for dry friction. The resulting contact-impact problem is formulated and solved as a linear complementarity problem, which is embedded in the Moreau time-stepping method. Finally, the classical slider-crank mechanism is considered as a demonstrative ap-plication example and numerical results are presented. The results obtained show that the existence of clearance joints in the modeling of multibody systems influences their dynamics response.
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