VISUALISATION OF THE RESPONSE OF A CANTILEVER BEAM UNDER A CONCENTRATED LOAD S. Jankovic*, L. Jankovic**, A. H. C. Chan*, G. H. Little* *School of Civil Engineering **School of Computer Science University of Birmingham Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, United Kingdom e-mail: jankovic@civ-fs3.bham.ac.uk Abstract Current numerical methods have slow dynamic visualisation capability, which is usually separate from the calculation phase. This paper investigates whether an analogue virtual reality (VR) model of a structure can integrate calculation and visual representation. The paper shows how the user can interact with a VR analogue model of a cantilever beam, move a concentrated load along the length of the beam, change the value of the force, and visualise deflection of the beam using the analytical solution of the problem. Keywords: visualisation, virtual reality, analogue, interactive, modelling, animation. Introduction The aim of this research is the optimisation of the efficiency of computational processes in structural analysis. The approach presented in this paper is just one investigation out of number of efforts to model the beam, as reported in [3]. Modern finite element packages have visualisation facilities based on comparison of the undeformed and the deformed shape of the structure. The user always has to wait between two images for the calculation process to take place. In this way, we can visualise results of structural analysis in LUSAS [2], which was chosen among a number of software packages, to compare visualisation capabilities. The better way to visualise results of structural action is an animated image. Although LUSAS has animation facilities, it is not possible to change the load interactively and to observe continuously the structural behaviour. Can we interactively apply the load on the model of a structure on the screen, and visualise every sequence of the structural action? To give the answer to that question, the authors have developed a solution using an object-oriented approach of modelling structures in virtual reality. This paper describes the result of this work, a VR visual beam model. The development of the model is described, and results of operation and validation are reported on. The paper shows how a large number of LUSAS simulations can be replaced with a single interactive model in virtual reality for a given geometry where analytical solution is available. As analytical solution is used, the comparison with LUSAS was made only on the visualisation side.