Handling Flexible Bodies in Multi-Body-Dynamics

The Multi-Body-Dynamics (MBD) approach was developed in the USA between the seventies and the eighties to analyze the response of moving mechanisms. The first computer programs were used in academic environments, but rather quickly they turned into usable commercial products. The first MBD software which appeared in the market is certainly ADAMS (Automated Dynamic Analysis of Mechanical Systems), which was fallowed soon by DADS (Dynamic Analysis and Design System). Starting from these early roots, many researchers worldwide have developed new numerical technologies, with the aim of making the multi-body approach more versatile, easier to use, and more consistent. Among the products that are leaving deep traces in the history of multi-body dynamics, RecurDyn deserves a special mention. RecurDyn, whose name is a combination of the words RECURsive and DYNamics, has been developed in Republic of South Korea since the early nineties. It was born to efficiently simulate any type of closed loop mechanism, but very soon it became a general-purpose tool. Thirty years of development at FunctionBay, Inc. have made the solver more versatile, reliable and efficient. Today RecurDyn is an excellent product to perform multi-flexible-body-dynamics (MFBD) simulation. Indeed, in the same RecurDyn model, we can include rigid bodies, bodies having linear flexibility (Craig-Bampton method), and bodies having non-linear flexibility (RecurDyn's proprietary method). Preparing the support data and changing the formulation assigned to each body are easy tasks, because RecurDyn includes an internal mesher, an internal FE solver, and a smart assistant that drives the user throughout the entire process.