The existing computer programs for simulation of the motion of multi-body mechanical systems generally require excessive execution time for realistic systems and this renders them not suitable or inconvenient for use in design phase. Additionally, these programs do not have good provisions for common drive subsystems which often involve planar linkages or geared mechanisms. A dynamic formulation methodology based on the recognition that a large number of mechanical system can be modeled as consisting of an open loop chain or tree of bodies, which are the primary links of the system, and their drive subsystems, which together with the primary links always form local closed kinematic loops. The proposed research is to develop such a methodology that calls for the identification of independent generalized coordinates for the local closed loop through graph representation concept and kinematic analysis, the use of efficient recursive formalism for the primary chain or tree and the derivation of additional contributions from the local closed loops. It is anticipated that a user-friendly and computationally efficient program can evolve from this research and can be made commercially available to the public. The resulted program can enable mechanical system designers to perform effective simulation in the various design phases to reduce the design turn-around time and the design costs, and to improve the quality of design.
