Definition of Standard Input Data in Launch Dynamics of Multibody Systems

At present, each program for launch dynamics of multibody systems (LDMS) has its own data structure without a unified standard, which is not beneficial to the program development and maintenance. To improve the program's versatility, it is important to study the standardization of the data structure and input data for the LDMS code. Based on the launching subsystem proposed in (Zhou et al., Def Technol 17(6), 2011–2026 [4]), we design a general data structure and standard input data (SID) for the codes of the launching subsystem dynamics in this work. Based on object-oriented programming (OOP) technology, the unified modeling language (UML) is adopted to describe the geometry, kinematics, kinetics and subjected forces of the launching subsystem. The UML class diagram is used to describe the variable properties, such as definitions, types, and default units within each data structure. At the same time, the relationship among various classes is represented by straight or dashed line segments with a specialized convention. Further, the input data structure of the launching subsystem dynamics code is designed: the SID is defined for parameter initialization, which is stored in an extensible markup language (XML) document and read by the program. This work provides a theoretical basis and important guidance for the program design of LDMS.