Non-linear rigid body dynamics: Energy and momentum conserving algorithm

The dynamics of flexible systems, such as robot manipulators, mechanical ch ains or cables, is becoming increasingly important in engineering. The main question arising from the numerical modelling of large overall motions of multibody systems is an appropriate treatment for the large rotations. In t he present work an alternative approach is proposed leading to a time-stepp ing numerical algorithm which achieves stable solutions combined with high precision. In particular, in order to check the performance of the proposed approach, two examples having preserved constants of the motion are presen ted.