EXAMPLE 4: KINEMATICS OF RIGID BODIES

Calculate the velocity and acceleration of point D if at the current instant the cart has a constant velocity of and the rectangular plate C has an angular velocity and angular acceleration .

SOLUTION:

Velocity of D:

Point O moves with the cart

The length of OD is constant. Therefore,

Substitution into (1) gives

Acceleration of D:

The cart has constant velocity so that its acceleration is

Using (3) we get

Substitution yields,

Substitution into (4) yields