[Physics] How to determine the axis of rotation of a rigid body

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How can I determine the axis of rotation of a rigid when there is net external force on the Centre of mass of the body.
For example consider the following semicircular disc undergoing pure rolling motion on a rough ground.How can I determine whether the body will rotate an axis passing through its COM or point O as there are torques around both the axes
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Best Answer

In the diagram shown there are external forces. The reaction from the ground is such that the velocity on the contact point is horizontal only. This means the center of rotation is somewhere along the vertical line passing through the contact point.

But where? This depends on the friction condition at the contact point. Consider the general case below:

Hemi

In order to find the equations of motion we need to establish how this thing moves. We describe this with the variable $x$ for horizontal position of the center A and the angle $\theta$ the part makes with the vertical direction.

Consider sequentially the velocities of points A, B and C when $x$ and $\theta$ vary only.

$$\begin{aligned} \mathbf{v}_A & = \pmatrix{\dot{x} \\ 0} \\ \mathbf{v}_B & = \pmatrix{\dot{x} + r \dot{\theta} \\ 0} \\ \mathbf{v}_C & = \pmatrix{\dot{x} + h \,\dot{\theta} \cos \theta \\ h \, \dot{\theta} \sin \theta} \end{aligned}$$

where $\dot{x}$ and $\dot{\theta}$ are the first time derivatives.

Take the time derivative of the velocity at C to get the acceleration of the center of mass

$$ \mathbf{a}_C = \pmatrix{ \ddot{x} + h\,\ddot{\theta} \cos\theta - h\,\dot{\theta}^2 \sin\theta \\ h\,\ddot{\theta} \sin \theta + h\,\dot{\theta}^2 \cos\theta} $$

Now let's look at the equations of motion by considering all the forces acting on the body.

Hemi2

The equations of motion have to consider the balance of moments about the center of mass (point C) to be valid.

$$ \begin{aligned} \pmatrix{F \\ N - m g } & = m \mathbf{a}_C & & \mbox{sum of forces} \\ -(h\sin\theta) N + (r-h \cos\theta) F & = I_C \ddot{\theta} & & \mbox{sum of moments} \end{aligned} $$

There are three equations and 4 unknowns ($N$, $F$, $\ddot{x}$, $\ddot{\theta}$). To solve them you need an expression descripting the contact condition. Here are the three scenarios

  • No Slipping - Solve with $\dot{x} + r \dot{\theta}=0$, or $\ddot{x}=-r\,\ddot{\theta}$ for $$\begin{aligned} \ddot{\theta} &= - \frac{h\,m (g+r \dot{\theta}^2) \sin\theta}{I_C+m (r^2+h^2-2 h r \cos\theta)} \\ \ddot{x} & = \frac{r\,h\,m (g+r \dot{\theta}^2) \sin\theta}{I_C+m (r^2+h^2-2 h r \cos\theta)} \end{aligned}$$ The center of rotation height above the ground is $c = r + \frac{\ddot{x}}{\ddot{\theta}} = 0$ so the body is always rotating about point B. This can be confirmed by the fact that the parallel axis theorem in the denominator of $\ddot{\theta}$ contains the distance between B and C.

  • Zero Friction - Solve with $F=0$ for $$\begin{aligned} \ddot{\theta} & = - \frac{h\, m \sin\theta (g+h \dot{\theta}^2 \cos\theta)}{I_C +m h^2 \sin^2 \theta} \\ \ddot{x} & = \frac{h^2 m \sin\theta\cos\theta (g+h \dot{\theta}^2 \cos\theta)}{I_C + m h^2 \sin^2 \theta} + h \dot{\theta}^2 \sin\theta \end{aligned} $$ The center of rotation height above the ground is $c = r + \frac{\ddot{x}}{\ddot{\theta}}$ which initially (when $\dot{\theta}=0$) is equal to $c = r-h \cos\theta$. So the body rotated about a point along the contact normal with the same height as the center of mass.

    • Coulomb Friction - Solve with $F =\pm \mu N$ for $\ddot{x}$, $\ddot{\theta}$ and $N$. I am omitting this solution here for brevity because it is rather complex. The body rotated about a point between the two other solutions depending on the value of $\mu$.

For the particular problem, I assumed no slipping, so set $\theta = \frac{\pi}{2}$, $\dot{\theta}=0$ and $\ddot{x}-r \ddot{\theta} = 0$ to get the center of rotation at the contact point B and the angular acceleration $$\ddot{\theta} =- \frac{h m g}{I_C + m (h^2+r^2)}$$

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