Some Applications of Screw Theory to Lumped-Parameter Modeling of Visco-Elastically Coupled Rigid Bodies

This work considers the problem of modeling visco-elastically coupled rigid bodies, with application to modeling and computer simulation of spatial, flexural mechanisms. Two modeling methods are presented, both of which use elements of screw theory and dual number calculus. The potential utility of the methods is demonstrated by simulating the behavior of a complex spatial, flexural mechanism. Computational details are given in appendices.