Application of software tools for symbolic description and modeling of mechanical systems

Abstract

The paper presents two software tools (graphical editor and software package). The editor is designed for the formation of a symbolic description of a mechanical system using the Lagrange formalism. A system of the absolutely rigid bodies connected by joints is considered as a mechanical system. The editor is a user interface by which one sets the structure of the interconnection of bodies (system configuration) as well as the geometric and kinematic characteristics for each body of the system. The created structure and the entered data are automatically presented in the form of a text file, which is used as an input file for the software package for modeling mechanical systems in a symbolic form with a computer. The use of these software tools is shown in detail in the example of the analysis of the dynamics of a satellite with a gravitational stabilizer in a circular orbit. For this system, the kinetic energy and force function of an approximate Newtonian gravitational field were obtained, nonlinear and linearized equations of motion were constructed, and the question of the stability of the relative equilibrium position was considered.