FER/Mech - a software with interactive graphics for dynamic analysis of multibody system

Development of user-friendly and flexible scientific programs is a key to their usage, extension and maintenance. This article presents an Object-Oriented Programming approach for the development of FER/Mech-a software with interactive graphics for use in the design and analysis of two and three dimensional multibody dynamic systems. The general organization of the developed software system is given which includes the solver and the pre/postprocessors with a friendly Graphical User interfaces. The concept of absolute natural coordinates is discussed to model rigid bodies in order to satisfy the constraints of modularity. Two case studies with graphical representations illustrate some functionalities of the program. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.