Some Applications of Graph Theory to the Structural Analysis of Mechanisms

Abstract

Concepts in graph theory, which have been described elsewhere [2, 4, 6] have been applied to the development of (a) a computerized method for determining structural identity (isomorphism) between kinematic chains, (b) a method for the automatic sketching of the graph of a mechanism defined by its incidence matrix, and (c) the systematic enumeration of general, single-loop constrained spatial mechanisms. These developments, it is believed, demonstrate the feasibility of computer-aided techniques in the initial stages of the design of mechanical systems.