A Model Reduction Strategy for Flexible-Link Multibody Systems

In this paper a novel strategy is presented to perform the reduction at system level of flexible-link multibody models based on the equivalent rigid-link system modeling approach. Such a strategy is aimed at obtaining reduced models ensuring an accurate description of the full-order model dynamics in a frequency range of interest and in a wide subset of the workspace. Starting from the wellknown Craig-Bampton reduction technique, and the interior mode ranking method a configuration-dependent reduction transformation is formulated, which allows obtaining a minimum-size reduced model, accurately describing the dynamics of interest. The proposed strategy has been validated by applying it to the model of a flexible-link planar manipulator driven by three motors.