Modal analysis of multi-degrees-of-freedom systems with singular matrices: analytical dynamics approach

Complex mechanical (e.g., multibody) systems with different types of constraints are generally performed through analytical dynamics methods. In some cases, however, it is possible that the (augmented) mass and/or stiffness matrices may derive to be singular; consequently, modal analysis, which is used extensively in the classical dynamics literature, fails. In this paper, if the uniqueness condition is satisfied by the constraints, a properly modified modal analysis is elucidated into analytical dynamics leading to the evaluation of the natural frequencies in a simple and straightforward way. Under that framework, advances of both classical and analytical dynamics are taken into consideration for evaluating the structural response.