MEE2002 ENGINEERING DYNAMICS - LECTURE NOTES

LECTURE 2: KINEMATICS: CURVILINEAR MOTION

REVIEW OF BASIC VECTOR MATHEMATICS

Vector: A quantity having both magnitude and direction. It is expressed mathematically as follows:

𝐴⃑ = 𝐴𝑥 𝑖̂ + 𝐴𝑦 𝑗̂ + 𝐴𝑧 𝑘̂

Vector Magnitude: The length of a vector. It can be determined as follows:

‖𝐴⃑‖ = √𝐴2𝑥 + 𝐴2𝑦 + 𝐴2𝑧

Unit Vector: A vector divided by its magnitude. The magnitude of a unit vector is therefore always 1. A
unit vector can be determined as follows:

𝐴⃑
𝐴̂ =
‖𝐴⃑‖

Dot Product: For any two vectors 𝐴⃑ and 𝐵

⃑⃑ with their tails placed together, the dot product of the two
vectors allows us to determine the projection of one vector onto another. The angle between the
vectors is denoted by the symbol θ. The dot product is defined mathematically as:

𝐴⃑ ∙ 𝐵
⃑⃑ = ‖𝐴⃑‖‖𝐵
⃑⃑‖cos⁡(𝜃)

Cross Product: For any two vectors 𝐴⃑ and 𝐵⃑⃑ with their tails placed together, the cross product of the two
vectors allows us to generate a vector orthogonal to the two vectors. The angle between the vectors 𝐴⃑
⃑⃑ is denoted by the symbol θ. The cross product is defined mathematically as:
and 𝐵

⃑⃑ = ⁡ (𝐴𝑦 𝐵𝑧 − 𝐴𝑧 𝐵𝑦 )𝑖̂ + (𝐴𝑧 𝐵𝑥 − 𝐴𝑥 𝐵𝑧 )𝑗̂ + (𝐴𝑥 𝐵𝑦 − 𝐴𝑦 𝐵𝑥 )𝑘̂

𝐴⃑ × 𝐵

The magnitude of the vector cross product can be determined by the following equation:

‖𝐴⃑ × 𝐵
⃑⃑‖ = ‖𝐴⃑‖‖𝐵
⃑⃑‖sin⁡(𝜃)

RECTANGULAR COMPONENTS OF MOTION

Position Vector: A position vector points to a location in three dimensional space. It can be defined
mathematically as follows:

𝑟⃑ = 𝑥𝑖̂ + 𝑦𝑗̂ + 𝑧𝑘̂

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The magnitude of the position vector can be determined by the equation:

‖𝑟⃑‖ = √𝑥 2 + 𝑦 2 + 𝑧 2

Velocity Vector: The time derivative of the position vector. It is defined mathematically as follows:

𝑑𝑟⃑ 𝑑 𝑑 𝑑
𝑢
⃑⃑ = = (𝑥𝑖̂) + (𝑦𝑗̂) + (𝑧𝑘̂ )
𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡
𝑑 𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑖̂ 𝑑𝑥
(𝑥𝑖̂) = 𝑖̂ + 𝑥 = 𝑖̂
𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡
𝑑 𝑑𝑦 𝑑𝑗̂ 𝑑𝑦
(𝑦𝑗̂) = 𝑗̂ + 𝑦 = 𝑗̂
𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡

𝑑 𝑑𝑧 𝑑𝑘̂ 𝑑𝑧
(𝑧𝑘̂ ) = 𝑘̂ + 𝑧 = 𝑘̂
𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡

𝑑𝑟⃑ 𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑦 𝑑𝑧
𝑢
⃑⃑ = = 𝑖̂ + 𝑗̂ + 𝑘̂ = 𝑢𝑥 𝑖̂ + 𝑢𝑦 𝑗̂ + 𝑢𝑧 𝑘̂
𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡

The corresponding magnitude of the velocity vector can be determined by the equation:

⃑⃑‖ = √𝑢𝑥 2 + 𝑢𝑦 2 + 𝑢𝑧 2
‖𝑢

Acceleration Vector: The second time derivative of the position vector or the time derivative of the
velocity vector. It can be determined from the following equation:

⃑⃑ 𝑑2 𝑟⃑ 𝑑2 𝑥
𝑑𝑢 𝑑2 𝑦 𝑑2 𝑧 𝑑𝑢𝑥 𝑑𝑢𝑦 𝑑𝑢𝑧
𝑎⃑ = = 2 = 2 𝑖̂ + 2 𝑗̂ + 2 𝑘̂ = 𝑖̂ + 𝑗̂ + 𝑘̂ = 𝑎𝑥 𝑖̂ + 𝑎𝑦 𝑗̂ + 𝑎𝑧 𝑘̂
𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡

Comment: The procedure used to determine the time derivatives of the position vector must be used
to determine the time derivative of the velocity vector. That step was not shown above!

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The corresponding magnitude of the acceleration vector can be determined by the equation:

‖𝑎⃑‖ = √𝑎𝑥 2 + 𝑎𝑦 2 + 𝑎𝑧 2

NORMAL AND TANGENTIAL COMPONENTS OF MOTION

Path Function: A function defining a curve in three dimensional space. It is denoted by s and is a
function of time.

Unit Normal Vector: The unit vector which always points toward the center of curvature at any given
point along the path. This vector is denoted by qn and lies along the n (normal) axis.

Note: The normal vector always lies on the concave side of the curve.

Unit Tangent Vector: The unit vector which is always tangent to the path at any given point. This vector
is denoted by qt and lies along the t (tangent) axis.

Note: The tangent vector always points in the positive direction of increasing s.

Unit Binormal Vector: The unit vector which is always perpendicular to both the normal and tangent
vectors. This vector is denoted by qb and lies along the b (binormal) axis.

Note: The binormal vector can be determined by taking the cross product of the normal and tangential
vectors.

Velocity Vector: The time derivative of the path function. The velocity vector always acts along the
tangent axis. It can be determined mathematically as follows:

𝑢
⃑⃑𝑡 = 𝑢𝑞̂𝑡

where:

𝑢 = 𝑠̇

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Acceleration Vector: The time derivative of the velocity vector. The acceleration vector has both normal
and tangential components. It can be determined mathematically as follows:

𝑎⃑ = 𝑎𝑡 𝑞̂𝑡 + 𝑎𝑛 𝑞̂𝑛

where:

𝑎𝑡 = 𝑢̇

𝑎𝑡 𝑑𝑠 = 𝑢⁡𝑑𝑢

𝑢̇ 2
𝑎𝑛 =
𝜌

𝑎 = ‖𝑎⃑‖ = √𝑎𝑡2 + 𝑎𝑛2

Note: In the expression for the normal component of acceleration, ρ is the radius of curvature.

CYLINDRICAL COMPONENTS OF MOTION

Unit Radial Vector: The unit vector which always points in the direction of increasing radius. This vector
is denoted by 𝑞̂𝑟 and always points in a direction normal to the z axis.

Unit Angular Vector: The unit vector which always points in the direction of increasing θ. This vector is
denoted by 𝑞̂𝜃 and always points in a direction normal to the unit radial vector.

Unit Displacement Vector: The unit vector which always points in the direction of positive increasing
displacement z. This vector is denoted by 𝑞̂𝑧 and is always normal to both the unit radial and unit
angular vectors.

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Position Vector: Points to the location of the particle in three dimensional space. The components of
the position vector when expressed in cylindrical coordinates are r, θ, and z.

𝑟⃑𝑝 = 𝑟𝑞̂𝑟 + 𝑧𝑞̂𝑧

Velocity Vector: A vector comprised of the components of velocity in the radial, angular, and
displacement (z) directions. The velocity vector in cylindrical components is expressed mathematically as
follows:

𝑢
⃑⃑ = 𝑢𝑟 𝑞̂𝑟 + 𝑢𝜃 𝑞̂𝜃 + 𝑢𝑧 𝑞̂𝑧

⃑⃑‖ = √𝑢𝑟2 + 𝑢𝜃2 + 𝑢𝑧2

𝑢 = ‖𝑢

where:

𝑢𝑟 = 𝑟̇

𝑢𝜃 = 𝑟𝜃̇

𝑢𝑧 = 𝑧̇

Acceleration Vector: A vector comprised of the components of acceleration in the radial, angular, and
displacement (z) directions. The acceleration vector in cylindrical components is expressed
mathematically as follows:

𝑎⃑ = 𝑎𝑟 𝑞̂𝑟 + 𝑎𝜃 𝑞̂𝜃 + 𝑎𝑧 𝑞̂𝑧

𝑎 = ‖𝑎⃑‖ = √𝑎𝑟2 + 𝑎𝜃2 + 𝑎𝑧2

where:

𝑎𝑟 = 𝑟̈ − 𝑟𝜃̇ 2

𝑎𝜃 = 𝑟𝜃̈ + 2𝑟̇ 𝜃̇

𝑎𝑧 = 𝑧̈

Example 1: A rally car approaches a steep uphill U turn at a velocity of 55 km/hr. The navigator looks at
his course map and tells the driver that there is a cliff at the exit of the U turn! The driver, realizing that
they have gone the wrong way, slams on the brakes as he enters the U turn. Knowing that the elevation
increases steadily by 10 m through the turn and that the U turn radius is 300 m, derive an expression for
the acceleration vector of the car through the turn and determine the minimum deceleration required
to stop the car before the cliff. Use a gravitational constant of 10 m/s2.

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 𝑎⃑ = 𝑎𝑟 𝑞̂𝑟 + 𝑎𝜃 𝑞̂𝜃 + 𝑎𝑧 𝑞̂𝑧

The radius of the turn is constant; therefore, the radius does not change with time and all derivatives
are equal to zero. This simplifies the terms of the acceleration vector to the components shown below:

𝑎𝑟 = 𝑟̈ − 𝑟𝜃̇ 2 = −𝑟𝜃̇ 2

𝑎𝜃 = 𝑟𝜃̈ + 2𝑟̇ 𝜃̇ = 𝑟𝜃̈ = [−𝑔𝑠𝑖𝑛(𝛼) − 𝑏]𝑐𝑜𝑠(𝛼)

𝑎𝑧 = 𝑧̈ = [−𝑔𝑠𝑖𝑛(𝛼) − 𝑏]𝑠𝑖𝑛(𝛼)

Therefore, the acceleration vector for the car as it slows down through the turn is:

𝑎⃑ = −𝑟𝜃̇ 2 𝑞̂𝑟 − [𝑔𝑠𝑖𝑛(𝛼) + 𝑏]𝑐𝑜𝑠(𝛼)𝑞̂𝜃 − [𝑔𝑠𝑖𝑛(𝛼) + 𝑏]𝑠𝑖𝑛(𝛼)𝑞̂𝑧

where b is the component of deceleration due to the driver braking and:

𝑧
𝛼 = 𝑡𝑎𝑛−1 ( )
𝑟𝜃

In order to determine the minimum deceleration required to slow down the car before the end of the
cliff, we simply need to recognize that the final velocity of the car at the edge of the cliff is equal to zero
and that the deceleration is a constant. The deceleration of the car up the incline is given by the
following equation:

𝑎 = [−𝑔𝑠𝑖𝑛(𝛼) − 𝑏]

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In order to solve for b, we utilize the following relation for constant acceleration:

𝑢2 = 𝑢02 + 2𝑎(𝑠 − 𝑠0 )

which after substituting in for a and applying the appropriate boundary conditions, we obtain the
following expression for b:

𝑢02
𝑏= 1 − 𝑔𝑠𝑖𝑛(𝛼)
2[(𝑟𝜃)2 + 𝑧 2 ]2

Substituting in the known values into the equation and solving, we determine the minimum
deceleration to be 0.0177 m/s2.

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