ARDS User Manual

Abstract

Personal computers (PCs) are now used extensively for engineering analysis. their capability exceeds that of mainframe computers of only a few years ago. Programs originally written for mainframes have been ported to PCs to make their use easier. One of these programs is ARDS (Analysis of Rotor Dynamic Systems) which was developed at Arizona State University (ASU) by Nelson et al. to quickly and accurately analyze rotor steady state and transient response using the method of component mode synthesis. The original ARDS program was ported to the PC in 1995. Several extensions were made at ASU to increase the capability of mainframe ARDS. These extensions have also been incorporated into the PC version of ARDS. Each mainframe extension had its own user manual generally covering only that extension. Thus to exploit the full capability of ARDS required a large set of user manuals. Moreover, necessary changes and enhancements for PC ARDS were undocumented. The present document is intended to remedy those problems by combining all pertinent information needed for the use of PC ARDS into one volume.