Can bottom-up modelling in virtual reality replace conventional structural analysis methods?

Conventional structural analysis methods are typically based on describing the structure as a system of simultaneous algebraic equations and solving the system by iteration. A common feature of such methods is a top-down approach to modelling where there is a global algorithm that controls the solution process. The top-down approach requires the knowledge of the entire state space of the model in order to program the solution, which often involves simplification and consequent inaccuracy whilst its computational intensity does not allow user interaction in real-time. This paper describes an alternative, bottom-up approach in which the solution process is controlled by local interaction of the structural components acting as independent objects in virtual reality and where the system model is created spontaneously by interaction of the component models. Early results of this research show that it is possible to have analogue virtual reality models of structures capable of real-time user interaction from which forces and other design parameters could be obtained through measurement without conventional calculation. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.