PORT-BASED FINITE ELEMENT MODEL OF A FLEXIBLE LINK

摘要

In this paper, the finite element approximation of the dynamics of a flexible link is discussed. The starting point is a model in distributed port Hamiltonian form that, differently from the Euler-Bernoulli or Timoshenko beam, is able to describe large deflections in 3-D space. The spatial discretization technique is based on physical considerations so that, by exploiting the geometric structure of a distributed port Hamiltonian system, a finite dimensional approximation still in port Hamiltonian form that obeys to the same energy balance relation of its infinite dimensional counterpart can be obtained.