Author(s)

Claudio H. B. Resende¹, Pedro C. Lopes², Rafael L. Rangel³, Luis F. Paullo Muñoz¹, Luiz F. Martha^1*

¹Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
²Institute of Computing, Fluminense Federal University, Niterói, Brazil.
³International Centre for Numerical Methods in Engineering (CIMNE), Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain.

This paper introduces a new version of the open-source educational software, LESM (Linear Elements Structure Model), developed in MATLAB for structural analysis of one-dimensional models such as frames, trusses, and grillages. The updated program includes dynamic analysis, which incorporates inertial and damping effects, time-dependent load conditions, and a transient solver with multiple time integration schemes. The software assumes small displacements and linear-elastic material behavior. The paper briefly explains the theoretical basis for these developments and the reorganization of the source code using Object-Oriented Programming (OOP). The updated Graphical User Interface (GUI) allows interactive use of dynamic analysis features and displays new results such as animations, envelope diagrams of internal forces, phase portraits, and the response of degrees-of-freedom in time and frequency domain. The new version was used in a structural dynamics course, and new assignments were elaborated to improve students’ understanding of the subject.

Structural Analysis, Structural Dynamics, Educational Software, MATLAB, Graphical User Interface

Resende, C. , Lopes, P. , Rangel, R. , Muñoz, L. and Martha, L. (2023) An Educational GUI-Based Software for Dynamic Analysis of Framed Structural Models. Journal of Software Engineering and Applications, 16, 265-286. doi: 10.4236/jsea.2023.167014.