Positioning and driving virtual prototyping with metaphors in dynamic analysis

In the process of dynamic analysis for virtual prototyping based on multibody system equations, from which the external force and moment are isolated as a kind of drive to simulation. Two models are proposed for the external force/moment to define the behavior property of the generalized external force vector, and they are banded together with metaphors which associate users with the artifacts in virtual environment so as to make some parameters of the prototype adjusted on-line and simulation process more flexible. It turns out that this method should be effective and intuitive very much by analyzing a slider crank mechanism of an automotive engine as a virtual prototyping instance.