Collision of Rigid Bodies. Multiple Collisions

Abstract

In Chap. 7, the contact of two deformable solids was investigated. It was seen that it is difficult to describe non-smooth evolutions involving collisions because shock waves appear. The wish to have both simplicity and efficiency is difficult to fulfil when dealing with collisions. Thus the necessities of engineering have given rather simple, crude theories based on rigid body mechanics. They can be traced back to Newton to whom the notion of a restitution coefficient is attributed. In this chapter, the same approach is followed in order to produce a simple, usable collision theory. The only improvement is a step toward continuum mechanics. The idea is developed that a system made of two rigid bodies is deformable because the distance between the two solids can change.