A Prototype Software Framework for Internet-Enabled Collaborative Development of a Structural Analysis Program

Abstract

This paper describes a prototype implementation of a software platform that enables the utilization and collab- orative development of structural analysis programs, taking advantage of the Internet and web-based technologies. The new platform would allow users to have easy access to the structural analysis platform via the Internet. Users can have direct access to the analysis program and the analysis results by using a web-browser or other application programs, such as MATLAB. Furthermore, the platform is intended to serve as a common finite element structural analysis tool for which researchers and users can build, test, and incorporate new developments. Researchers and developers can link the analy- sis platform with their developments by utilizing pre-defined Internet-enabled communication interfaces. The prototype system is applied to perform a nonlinear dynamic analysis for a two-dimensional frame structure. It is shown that the Internet-enabled collaborative paradigm can potentially provide greater flexibility and extendibility than traditional structural analysis programs, which are typically packaged individually.