Summary
Considered in a straightforward manner multibody systems with many multiple unilateral contacts involve a combinatorial problem of huge dimensions, which can be solved reasonably only by the introduction of the complementarity idea. It states that for unilateral contacts either relative kinematics is zero and the corresponding constraint forces are not zero, or vice versa. This leads to a complementarity problem which is related to linear programming problems. This paper discusses the theoretical and practical background of complementarity.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Received 15 May 2002; accepted for publication 10 September 2002
Printed from: Proc. DETC'01, VIB-21328, ASME 2001, with allowance ASME
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Pfeiffer, F. The idea of complementarity in multibody dynamics. Archive of Applied Mechanics 72, 807–816 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00419-002-0256-3
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00419-002-0256-3