OBJECT-ORIENTED DYNAMICS SIMULATOR

Multibody Dynamics and Object Oriented Programming are both leading technologies in their fields. This research combines them to produce a general purpose multibody dynamics code which is robust and easy to maintain. The simulator permits creation of mechanical systems from information specifying the properties and locations of parts, joints, springs, dampers, forces, gravity, etc. The mechanical components of the system are mirrored by software objects which interact to automatically assemble and integrate the equations of motion. This paper presents a multibody dynamics formulation suitable for object oriented programming, the principles of OOP and the procedures to create software objects with specific behaviors to represent parts, joints, forces springs, dampers etc. The aim is to demonstrate the use of OOP in serious engineering computing.