CHAPTER FOUR

PLANE KINEMATICS OF RIGID BODIES

 Introduction
• In particle kinematics, we develop the relationship

governing the displacement, velocity, and acceleration of

points as they moved along a straight or curved paths.

• In rigid body kinematics we use these same relationships

but must also account for the rotational motion of the

body as well.
 PLANAR KINEMATICS OF A RIGID BODY

• There are cases where an object cannot be treated as

a particle. In these cases the size or shape of the body
must be considered.

• For example, in the design of gears, cams, and links in

machinery or mechanisms, rotation of the body is an
important aspect in the analysis of motion.
• We will now start to study rigid body motion. The
analysis will be limited to planar motion.

• A body is said to undergo planar motion when all parts

of the body move along paths equidistant from a
fixed plane.
 PLANAR RIGID BODY MOTION

 There are three types of planar rigid body motion.

• Translation: Translation occurs if every line segment on

the body remains parallel to its original direction during
the motion.
• When all points move along straight lines, the motion is
called rectilinear translation.
• When the paths of motion are curved lines, the motion is
called curvilinear translation.
 PLANAR RIGID BODY MOTION (continued)

• Rotation about a fixed axis. In this case, all the particles of

the body, except those on the axis of rotation, move along
circular paths in planes perpendicular to the axis of rotation.
 PLANAR RIGID BODY MOTION (continued)

• General plane motion. In this case, the body undergoes both

translation and rotation.
• Translation occurs within a plane and rotation occurs about
an axis perpendicular to this plane.
 PLANAR RIGID BODY MOTION (continued)

• An example of bodies undergoing E D

the three types of motion is B

shown in this mechanism. C
A

• The wheel and crank (A and B) undergo rotation about a

fixed axis. In this case, both axes of rotation are at the
location of the pins and perpendicular to the plane of the
figure.
PLANAR RIGID BODY MOTION (continued)
• The piston (C) undergoes rectilinear
E D
translation since it is constrained to slide
in a straight line. The connecting rod (D) B
A
undergoes curvilinear translation, since it C

will remain horizontal as it moves along a

circular path.
• The connecting rod (E) undergoes general plane motion, as it
will both translate and rotate.
 RIGID-BODY MOTION: TRANSLATION
• The positions of two points A and B on
a translating body can be related by
rB = rA + rB/A
• where rA & rB are the absolute position
vectors defined from the fixed x-y
coordinate system, and rB/A is the
relative-position vector between B and
A.
• The velocity at B is vB = vA+ drB/A/dt .

• Now drB/A/dt = 0 since rB/A is constant. So, vB = vA, and by

following similar logic,

aB = aA.

• Note, all points in a rigid body subjected to translation

move with the same velocity and acceleration.
 Rotation
• The rotation of the a rigid body is described by its angular
motion.
• By considering the figure, the relation
2  1  
• Differentiating with respect to time gives
   
 2   1 and  2   1
• During a finite interval
2  1
• All lines on a rigid body in its plane of motion have the
same angular displacement, the same angular velocity
and the same angular acceleration.
 ANGULAR MOTION RELATIONS
• Angular velocity, , is obtained by taking the time
derivative of angular displacement:

  d dt rad s  +
• Similarly, angular acceleration is
d 2 d
 2 
dt dt

d
d
 rad s 
2

  
d  d or  d    d
• For rotation with constant angular acceleration, the integral
become   o  t
1
   o  0t  t 2
2
 2  o2  2    o 
• o and o are the initial values of the body’s angular position
and angular velocity. Note these equations are very similar to
the constant acceleration relations developed for the
rectilinear motion of a particle.
 ROTATION ABOUT A FIXED AXIS
• All points on the body rotates in concentric circle
about a fixed axis.
v  r
an  r   v
2
v
2
r
at  r
• These quantity may be expressed alternatively using
the cross product relationship of vector notation.

• From the definition of the vector cross product, we

see that the velocity vector v is obtained by crossing
 into r, and gives the correct magnitude and
direction for v 
v  r r
 • The acceleration is obtained by differentiating the cross
product expression for v, which gives

  
a  v    r   r

     r    r
 v  r


•    stands for the angular acceleration

of the body
• Using the normal and tangential coordinate
v r
an      r 
at    r

• The magnitude of the acceleration vector is

a  an2  at2
 ABSOLUTE PLANE MOTION ANALYSIS

• In the absolute motion analysis of plane kinematics of rigid

bodies, we make use of geometric relations that define the
configuration of the body involved and then proceed to take
the time derivatives of the defining geometric relations to
obtain velocities and acceleration.

• This approach is useful for all rigid bodies as long as the

geometric description is not very complex.
 RELATIVE GENERAL PLANE MOTION ANALYSIS
• RELATIVE VELOCITY
Consider a rigid body in general plane motion
From the figure
B – B’ = A – A’’ : translating only
A’’ – A’ = rotation about B’ only, With B as the
reference point the total displacement of A is:
  
 r A   r B   r A/ B
• Dividing the above equation by t and taking the limit
  
v A  v B  v A/ B
• where 
 r A/ B

 r 
 r A / B  r  lim  lim    vA / B
t 0 t t 0
 t 
v A / B  r AB
v A / B   AB  r
• Consider a rigid body

• Note: VB/A is always perpendicular to the line joining

point A and B.
• Example/ point A as a reference
• Note: in relative general motion analysis we can use
1. Vector algebra method
2. Scalar method
3. Graphical method
• In both of the above cases it is a good practice to sketch
a vector polygon.
• The choice of method to be used depends on the
particular problem at hand.
RELATIVE ACCELERATION
• From relative velocity analysis we have
  
v A  v B  v A/ B
• Differentiating this equation with respect to time
  
d v A d v B d v A/ B
 
dt dt dt
  
a A  a B  a A/ B
• From circular motion, we have

a A / B   a A / B    a A / B 
  
  

 n  t In scalar form  a   r 2
 A/ B 
 n
• Where  a A / B      r 
  
   
 a   r
 n    A/ B 
 t
   
 a A/ B    r
 t

It is important to observe that the relative acceleration terms

depend on the respective absolute angular acceleration and angular
velocity
• Consider a rigid body in general plane motion

• Note: in solving relative acceleration problems, it is

better to solve velocities first.
APPLICATIONS (continued) Application

• Gears, pulleys and cams, which

rotate about fixed axes, are often
used in machinery to generate
motion and transmit forces.
• The angular motion of these
components must be understood to
properly design the system.
 Problem 5/5

• The circular disc rotates about its

center O in the direction shown. At
a certain instant point P on the rim
has an acceleration given by a=-3i-
4j m/s2. for this instant determine
the angular velocity w and angular
acceleration of the disc.
 Problem 5/22
• A v-belt speed reduction drive is shown where pulley A drives the
two integral pulleys B which in turn drive pulley C. If A starts from
rest at time t=0 and is given a constant angular acceleration 1,
drive expressions for the angular velocities of C and the magnitude
of the acceleration of a point P on the belt, both at time t.
 Problem 5/39
• The telescoping link is hinged at o, and
its end A is given a constant upward
velocity of 200mm/s by the piston rod
of the fixed hydraulic cylinder B.
calculate the angular velocity and the
angular acceleration of link OA for the
instant when y = 600mm.
 Problem 5/43

• The hydraulic cylinder C gives

end A of link AB a constant
velocity Vo in the negative x-
direction. Determine expression
for the angular velocity and
angular acceleration of the link
in terms of x.
 Problem 5/65

• The circular disc rolls without

slipping with a clockwise
angular velocity =4rad/s. For
the instant represented write
the vector expressions for the
velocity of A with respect to B
and for the velocity of P.
 Sample Problem 5/10

• The power screw turns at a speed that gives the threads

collar C a velocity of 0.25m/s vertically down. Determine
the angular velocity of the slotted arm when =300
 Problem 5/75

• Rod CB slides through the

pivoted collar attached to link
OA. If CB has a clockwise
angular velocity of 2rad/s,
determine the angular velocity
OA of link OA when =600.
 Problem 5/129

• Determine the angular

acceleration of link AB and
the linear acceleration of A



for =900 if   0 and  3rad / s 2

at the position. Carry out

your solution using vector
notation.
 Problem 5/135

• Calculate the angular

acceleration of the plate in
the position shown where
control link AO has a
constant angular velocity
OA=4rad/s and =600 for
both links.
 Problem 5/137

• For the instant when = =600,

the hydraulic cylinder gives A a
velocity VA=1.2m/s which is
increasingly by 0.9m/s each
second. For this instant
determine the angular
acceleration of link BC.
 Problem 5/146

• Motion of link ABC is controlled by the

horizontal movement of the piston rod
of the hydraulic cylinder D and by the
vertical guide for the pinned slider at
B. For the instant when =450 the
piston rod is retracting at the constant
rate vc=180mm/s. Determine the
acceleration of point A for this instant.
Instantaneous center of zero velocity
 INSTANTANEOUS CENTER OF ZERO VELOCITY

• This method provides us an alternative way for

solving problems involving the velocities of various
points of a body in plane motion.

• In this article we will solve the problem by choosing a

unique reference point that momentarily has zero
velocity.
• This technique, in particular, is graphical and more
visual, and some problems will be more accessible this
way.

• The idea behind the “instantaneous center” approach

is to ask, “Can we find a position A such that
     
vA  0 so that vB  vA    rB / A    rB / A
HOW DO WE FIND THE IC OF ZERO VELOCITY?:
• The position of the instantaneous center can be defined in
two ways:
 If the direction of the velocities of two particle A and
B of the body are known and if they are different, the
instantaneous center is obtained by drawing the
perpendicular to vA through A and the perpendicular to
vB through B and determining the point in which these
two lines intersect.
 
vA    rA/ C
 
vB    rB / C
 If the velocities vA and vB of two particles A and B
are perpendicular to the line AB and if their
magnitudes are known, the instantaneous center can
be found by intersecting the line AB with the line
joining the extremities of the vectors vA and vB.
 If the instantaneous center C would be at an infinite
distance and would be zero; and all points on the
body would have the same velocities.
 
vA    rA/ C
 
vB    rB / C
• The instantaneous center of a body in plane motion
can be located either on the body or outside.

• If it lies outside the body it may be visualized as

laying on the body extended.
• However, it should be noted that the instantaneous
center of rotation is valid only at a given instant.
• Thus, the particle of the body which coincides with
the instantaneous center at time t will generally not
coincide with the instantaneous center at time t+ t.
• In general, the particle does not have zero
acceleration.
 Problem 5/93

• For the instant represented, when crank OA passes

the horizontal position, determine the velocity of the
center G of link AB by the method of instantaneous
center of zero velocity.
 Problem 5/97

• Motion of the bar is controlled by the constrained

paths of A and B. If the angular velocity of the bar is
2rad/s counterclockwise as the position =450 is
passed, determine the velocity vA and the magnitude
of the velocity p.
 Problem 5/115

Vertical oscillation of the spring-loaded

plunger F is controlled by a periodic change in
pressure in the vertical hydraulic cylinder E.
For the position θ=600, determine the angular
velocity of AD and the velocity of the roller A
in its horizontal guide if the plunger F has a
downward velocity of 2m/s