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MBDyn is the first and possibly the only
free*
general-purpose
MultiBody
Dynamics
analysis software, released under
GNU's
GPL 2.1
(get a cached copy here).
It has been developed at the Dipartimento di Ingegneria Aerospaziale of the University "Politecnico di Milano", Italy.
MBDyn features the integrated multidisciplinary analysis of multibody,
multiphysics systems, including nonlinear mechanics of rigid and flexible
constrained bodies, smart materials,
electric networks, active control, hydraulic networks,
essential fixed-wing and rotorcraft aerodynamics.
What is a multibody system? Find out here (but come back!)
MBDyn allows to simulate the behavior of heterogeneous mechanical,
aeroservoelastic systems based on first principles equations.
MBDyn can be easily coupled to external solvers for co-simulation
of multiphysics problems, e.g. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD),
using a C, C++ or Python peer-side API.
MBDyn is being actively developed and used in the aerospace,
wind energy, automotive and mechatronic fields for the analysis
and simulation of the dynamics of complex systems.
The extension of available analysis domains to new models
and of new analysis domains is planned, and problem-driven:
if you need to solve a specific problem,
let us know.
Dynamic linking of user-defined modules
is heavily exploited to let users extend the feature library
(elements, drives, constitutive laws, and more).
On GNU/Linux, real-time execution is supported under
RTAI,
the Real-Time Application Interface, and POSIX tight scheduling.
|
Feedback
Are you using MBDyn for a research or an industrial project? Would you like to share your experience with other users? Send us a link to a webpage describing your work, and a brief description to appear in the research page. |
- What MBDyn is:
- a command-line, direct initial-value problem solver with a large, flexible multifield element library
- a research tool
- a community developed, research driven free software
- What MBDyn is not:
- a complete out-of-the-box 'bells and whistles' GUI for solid modeling
- a commercial tool
- a 24/7 supported software
Semispan Wing WRATS Tiltrotor Model
(rendered by ADAMS/View)
- 2012-04-18: MBDyn is used in the "Helicopter Rotor Aeroelasticity" class taught by Prof. Giuseppe Quaranta.
- 2012-01-18: MBDyn 1.4.3 is out. Minor cleanup of the previous release. This is likely the last release of the 1.4 series.
- 2012-01-09: MBDyn 1.4.2 is out. Minor new features and bug fixes (many are the result of users' feedback, which is duly acknowledged).
- 2012-01-01: Happy new year.
- Past news...
- The MBDyn Project.
- The MBDyn Team.
- Contributing.
- Read the licensing issues ...
- ... and the disclaimer.
- Download the latest release of the source code.
- Browse the change log.
- Have a look at the related packages...
- ... and the supported platforms.
- MBDyn input can be generated using Blender and the Blender and MBDyn customization scripts. They can also visualize the results.
- MBDyn output can be formatted for use with EasyAnim.
- Following the above lines, MBDyn output can be formatted for use with other visualization tools. If you would like your favorite visualization tool to be supported by MBDyn, and it complies with very simple technical and licensing requirements, please drop us a note.
- Subscribe to announce;
browse the archives.
This list is intended as a place to post announcements related to MBDyn, e.g. new releases, events and other related issues. Very low traffic is expected.
Only the project manager can post to this list. - Subscribe to users;
browse the archives.
This list is intended as a forum to discuss the use of MBDyn. Since no dedicated bug tracking mechanism has been put in place yet, please post here about problems or what you suppose is a bug.
Only subscribers can post to this list. The list is moderated.
- send public inquiries to mbdyn-users@mbdyn.org (only subscribers can post to this list; see mailing lists for details). Public discussion is open and free, since it may be beneficial to all users; it implies that all exchanged data and information is public;
- send private inquiries to mbdyn@aero.polimi.it. Note that private discussion could end up to the point where it configures as consulting. In the latter case, an economical agreement might be required to continue support, since the software is free and open, but its developers' time is not (see our consulting services for details).
- Here is the documentation center.
- Input manual: see the documentation of the software version you're using.
- Installation manual: see the documentation of the software version you're using.
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Tutorials.
- Applications.
- Examples.
- FAQ.
- Browse some publications on the subject.
- Here is some research involving MBDyn.
- Here are some links about MBDyn.
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CVS tree (authorized users only).
The CVS at present is not freely browsable essentially because the development is currently done mostly here at Politecnico di Milano, and we do not have the resources (mostly time) required to maintain a publicly accessible repository; however, if you have any special needs, or you believe you need access to the repository, drop us a note. - Patches should be submitted using
the mailing lists (only subscribers can post to the lists):
- for bug fixes to mbdyn-users@mbdyn.org
- for new features to mbdyn-users@mbdyn.org
- It is recognized that MBDyn's documentation lags a bit behind
source code releases.
As such, this link hosts the input manual and other docs
that may refer to yet unreleased code, but that are likely
to be more accurate and useful of those accompanying
any of the official releases, and get updated more often;
the intention is to refresh them quite often.
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Input manual
(last updated August 13, 2010)
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Technical manual
(last updated August 13, 2010)
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Input manual
- Known bugs & unresolved issues.
- Future enhancements.
- Found a bug? Got a problem? Ideas for an improvement? Let us know (only subscribers can post to this list; see mailing lists for details).
- Check our consulting services.
- Links to Aerospace Engineering, Rotorcraft Dynamics and Multibody Analysis.
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Related projects:
- Blender & MBDyn, a pre/post processor based on Blender. See also Vimeo for some videos featuring Blender & MBDyn.
- Blended MBDyn was a previous effort, also based on Blender.
- MBDyn sim suite, a collection of pre and post-processing tools and models forming a general purpose simulation environment for structural dynamics with an emphasis on wind turbines.
- RTAI, the Real-Time Application Interface to GNU/Linux, a key component of RT-MBDyn.
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Some pics and movies are available here.