Use of computer algebra in Hamiltonian calculations

The use of Hamilton’s Principle in determining the governing partial differential equations of motion for such problems as the free vibration of complex elastodynamic systems has been known for many years, but the implementation of the integration procedure using symbolic computation does not appear to have been solved. In this paper we present the application of a computer algebra package called REDUCE that takes away the human cost. We show the use of this package in a simple example, and for a twisted beam such as an idealised helicopter blade.