Stabilization of computational procedures for constrained dynamical systems

A new stabilization method of treating constraints in multibody dynamical systems is presented. By tailoring a penalty form of the constraint equations, the method achieves stabilization without artificial damping and yields a companion matrix differential equation for the constraint forces; hence, the constraint forces are obtained by integrating the companion differential equation for the constraint forces in time. A principal feature of the method is that the errors committed in each constraint condition decay with its corresponding characteristic time scale associated with its constraint force. Numerical experiments indicate that the method yields a marked improvement over existing techniques.