Two main approaches are used when studying impact problems involving rigid bodies: impulsive and compliant. In an impulsive approach, the impact time interval is considered to be negligible, and so the system configuration is assumed to be constant. The final mechanical state can be obtained directly from the initial one by means of algebraic equations and energy dissipation assumptions. In a compliant approach, the colliding surfaces are modeled through nonlinear springs and dampers, and the differential equations of motion are integrated to solve the forward dynamics. In this paper, the performance of the two approaches is compared in two biomechanical application examples.

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