A review of bushing modelling approaches for MultiBody simulations

Rubber bushing elements are largely used in different industrial sectors thanks to their ability to withstand large reversible deformations and attenuate vibrations. Nonetheless, they are complex mechanical components that present several nonlinearities with respect to the excitation amplitude, frequency and operational temperature. These characteristics are the result of phenomenological features, such as nonlinear elasticity, viscoelasticity and Mullin's effects, that are challenging to be accurately represented in simulation environments. An additional level of complexity is then encountered when such components are included in system-level models. This work provides a general overview of rubber bushing properties and analyses different strategies to formulate bushing elements in Multibody frameworks that can be used as Virtual Sensors to predict physical quantities difficult or impossible to directly measure in the real systems. Constitutive lumped parameters models are reviewed and discussed with particular focus on the overlay approach.