This new release of MBDyn is a software engine that calculates the dynamics states of kinematic, rigid, or flexible multibody systems. An MBDyn multibody system may consist of multiple groups of articulated chains, trees, or closed-loop topologies. Transient top ologies are handled through conservation of energy and momentum. The solution for rigid-body systems is exact, and several configurable levels of nonlinear term fidelity are available for flexible dynamics systems.

The algorithms have been optimized for efficiency and can be used for both non-real-time (NRT) and real-time (RT) simulations. Interfaces are currently compatible with NASA’s Trick Simulation Environment. This new release represents a significant advance in capability and ease of use. The two most significant new additions are an application programming interface (API) that clarifies and simplifies use of MBDyn, and a link-list infrastructure that allows a single MBDyn instance to propagate an arbitrary number of interacting groups of multibody topologies.

MBDyn calculates state and state derivative vectors for integration using an external integration routine. A Trickcompatible interface is provided for initialization, data logging, integration, and input/output.

This work was done by John Maclean, Thomas Brain, Leslie Quiocho, An Huynh, and Tushar Ghosh of Johnson Space Center. MSC-24925-1