This came in on another list
Turbo Rick
http://www.turborick.com
I thought that this may interest some of you who may be looking for a
(legitimate) freeware 3D-CAD program to design suspension links, etc on. It
comes as a 4.6Mb zip and 9kb update patch from:
http://www.askoh.com
I haven't had a play with it, but it may be useful for basic design work.
Some of the functions it offers are normally only available on packages
costing a lot of money (or half that amount if you don't live in the UK).
Blurb from the README file is under the asterisks below
Did I mention that it is free?
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What is 'freeCAD'?
'freeCAD' is a basic 3D CAD with advanced Motion Simulation capabilities.
It is suitable for anyone interested in learning 3D CAD and Motion
Simulation
for free before using more sophisticated packages. Educators, students and
new engineers will find it ideal for the teaching and learning of geometry,
kinematics, dynamics, vibrations, mechanisms, linkages, cams, machine design
and physics. The program runs on Windows, Macintosh PPC, Linux PC and
other Unix's. Assembly data are unchanged across platforms. It is a
FREEWARE which is sponsor supported. Releases will be made quarterly.
'freeCAD' allows users to create and manipulate assemblies, which are
collections of parts. The parts are simple 3D solids, which can be connected
by joints, constraints, contacts, motors, actuators, springs, dampers,
forces,
torques or gravity. The parts and connections define the structure,
mechanism
or machine of interest. Both open and closed 3D loops are permitted.
'freeCAD' performs full Multibody Dynamics analysis on the assembly to
predict the motion according to Newton's Laws. Animation using the
simulated data produces realistic dynamic behavior of the system.
Users can also study the mechanical dynamics in the form of plots and
tabular
output. Data series available include linear and angular displacements,
velocities, accelerations, forces, torques, momenta and kinetic energies.
Acceleration data include transverse, centripetal and Coriollis
accelerations.
Users can view forces and torques from joints, constraints, actuators,
springs,
dampers, applied forces and inertia.
What are the features of 'freeCAD'?
'freeCAD' is capable of full 3D pan, zoom, tilt and rotate. Available solids
are
extrusions of rectangles, circles, ellipses and polygons. The solids can be
positioned and oriented exactly in space, as are markers on the solids.
Exact
specification of linear and angular velocities of solids in space are also
possible. Mass and inertia properties can be user specified or automatically
computed based on uniform density. Available joints are spherical (ball),
revolute (pin), translational (slider), cylindrical, planar, fixed,
universal, point in
line, point in plane, parallel, perpendicular, no rotation, constant
velocity, rack
pinion, screw. Both open and closed 3D loops are permitted. The
curve-curve contact allows liftoffs and collisions based on coefficient of
restitution. Available actuators are rotational and translational. Their
motions
are user prescribed functions of time. Forces and torques are user
prescribed
functions of time, displacements and velocities in all three components or
along connecting markers. Example formulas for spring, damper, bushing,
beam, aerodynamic, inverse square law and other forces and torques are
given. Users can specify constant gravity of arbitrary magnitude and
direction.
'freeCAD' can compute kinematic, quasi-static or dynamic solutions based on
the assembly and user requests. 'freeCAD' does redundant constraint removal
automatically. Simulation progress is animated and the simulation can be
stopped any time. After simulation, the computed solution can be used for
animation or frame by frame analysis. Full 3D pan, zoom, tilt and rotate is
available during simulation and animation. Users can also obtain engineering
data in the form of plots and tabular output. Data series available include
linear and angular displacements, velocities, accelerations, forces,
torques,
momenta and kinetic energies. Acceleration data include transverse,
centripetal and Coriollis accelerations. Users can view forces and torques
from joints, constraints, actuators, springs, dampers, applied forces and
inertia. Individual parts can be save into files and reinserted into any
assembly
repeatedly. Assemblies can be save with simulation data for later reload.
'freeCAD' runs on Windows, Macintosh PPC, Linux PC and other Unix's.
Assembly data are unchanged across platforms.
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