Calculation of Trusses System in MATLAB—Multibody

Abstract

This article discusses the software tool (Simscape—Multibody program of MATLAB) primarily intended for dynamic and kinematic processes with practical applications in static calculations. Currently, there are few published scientific works utilizing this tool for tasks like basic static calculations of truss systems. We were interested in comparing the calculation using the tools we use in our work and research activities for theoretical calculation; the potential reliance on simulations in the future could help to avoid the necessity of complex theoretical calculations, which can be time-consuming and prone to errors. Despite the fact that the structure may appear simple, in practice, there may not always be time for a verification calculation in the theoretical field (proper model creation, inclusion of all conditions, etc.). The beam system is intentionally both externally and internally statically indeterminate. For this reason, it is logically necessary to also consider deformation conditions. The achieved results were interesting in terms of accuracy compared to SOLIDWORKS, which was used for computation verification. Through very simple optimization, we were able to further increase the calculation accuracy without complicating other parameters.

Keywords

• FEM
• static analyses
• beam
• bars
• trusses
• MATLAB