Paper Info
Title
Development of structural analysis virtual modules for iPad application.
Abstract
Structural Analysis is a course to study structures subjected to different loading conditions, which employs engineering mechanics, material science, and applied mathematics to determine structural deformation, internal forces, and structural support reactions. Without any lab demonstrations, students taking the course miss the opportunity to observe key visual concepts of structural analysis. To address this issue, this paper aims to develop an iPad application, iStructure, which will illustrate and teach key concepts of structural analysis and can be used as an instructional tool for instructors and learning tool for students. iStructure covers three main structural modules: beam, truss, and frame. This paper reports structural analysis methods and computer algorithms used to develop iStructure and its applications. The structural characteristics, such as structural deformation, internal force diagrams, stress and strain diagrams, and influence line are illustrated and simulated within each module using Objective-C programming. The Frame and Truss Modules employ Matrix Structural Analysis methods for determining the conditions of the structure. The modules incorporate a modified and efficient matrix structural analysis procedure through the use of pointer addresses, which avoid developing multiple large matrices for structural analysis by using the DOF indices to develop the global partition matrix directly. This procedure provides faster computation and less memory demands, while making instant structural analysis of relatively complicated structural configurations possible. The Beam Module utilizes a predefined beam formulas method for determining the conditions of the structure. This method significantly reduces the structural analysis computation demand and is necessary for the development of the Influence Line, which requires multiple structural analyses iteration.
Year
DOI
Venue
2018
10.1002/cae.21889
COMPUTER APPLICATIONS IN ENGINEERING EDUCATION
Keywords
Field
DocType
cyber-teaching lab,experiential learning,iPad application development,structural analysis,virtual modules
Computer science,Human–computer interaction
Journal
Volume
Issue
ISSN
26.0
2.0
1061-3773
Citations 
PageRank 
References 
0
0.34
1
Authors
2
Name
Order
Citations
PageRank
Nicolas Pena100.34
An Chen2158.21