Free body diagram | EPFL Graph Search

In physics and engineering, a free body diagram (FBD; also called a force diagram) is a graphical illustration used to visualize the applied forces, moments, and resulting reactions on a body in a given condition. It depicts a body or connected bodies with all the applied forces and moments, and reactions, which act on the body(ies). The body may consist of multiple internal members (such as a truss), or be a compact body (such as a beam). A series of free bodies and other diagrams may be necessary to solve complex problems. Free body diagrams are used to visualize forces and moments applied to a body and to calculate reactions in mechanics problems. These diagrams are frequently used both to determine the loading of individual structural components and to calculate internal forces within a structure. They are used by most engineering disciplines from Biomechanics to Structural Engineering. In the educational environment, a free body diagram is an important step in understanding certain topics, such as statics, dynamics and other forms of classical mechanics. A free body diagram is not a scaled drawing, it is a diagram. The symbols used in a free body diagram depends upon how a body is modeled. Free body diagrams consist of: A simplified version of the body (often a dot or a box) Forces shown as straight arrows pointing in the direction they act on the body Moments are shown as curves with an arrow head or a vector with two arrow heads pointing in the direction they act on the body One or more reference coordinate systems By convention, reactions to applied forces are shown with hash marks through the stem of the vector The number of forces and moments shown depends upon the specific problem and the assumptions made. Common assumptions are neglecting air resistance and friction and assuming rigid body action. In statics all forces and moments must balance to zero; the physical interpretation is that if they do not, the body is accelerating and the principles of statics do not apply.

Three-dimensional evaluation of the transverse rotator cuff muscle's resultant force angle in relation to scapulohumeral subluxation and glenoid vault morphology in nonpathological shoulders

Alexandre Terrier, Alain Farron, Patrick Goetti, Matthieu Boubat

Background: Static posterior subluxation of the humeral head (SPSH) results in glenohumeral osteoarthritis. Treatment strategies for SPSH with or without resulting osteoarthritis remain challenging. There is growing interest in evaluating the rotator cuff ...

Mosby-Elsevier2024

Lumped Drag Model Identification and Real-Time External Force Detection for Rotary-Wing Micro Aerial Vehicles

Alcherio Martinoli, Lucas Cédric Wälti

This work focuses on understanding and identifying the drag forces applied to a rotary-wing Micro Aerial Vehicle (MAV). We propose a lumped drag model that concisely describes the aerodynamical forces the MAV is subject to, with a minimal set of parameters ...

2024

Implementation of multi-component Zhdanov closure in SOLEDGE3X

Davide Galassi, Madhusudan Raghunathan, Eric Serre

The multi-component fluid closure derived by Zhdanov (2002 Transport Processes in Multicomponent Plasma (London: Taylor and Francis)) is implemented in the fluid code SOLEDGE3X-EIRENE to deal with arbitrary edge plasma composition. The closure assumes no d ...

2022