md adams r3 release guide

MD Adams R3

Release Guide

Corporate MSC.Software Corporation2 MacArthur PlaceSanta Ana, CA 92707USATelephone: (800) 345-2078FAX: (714) 784-4056

EuropeMSC.Software GmbHAm Moosfeld 1381829 MunichGERMANYTelephone: (49) (89) 43 19 87 0Fax: (49) (89) 43 61 71 6

Asia PacificMSC.Software Japan Ltd.Shinjuku First West 8F23-7 Nishi Shinjuku1-Chome, Shinjuku-Ku Tokyo 160-0023, JAPANTelephone: (81) (3)-6911-1200Fax: (81) (3)-6911-1201

Worldwide Webwww.mscsoftware.com

DisclaimerThis documentation, as well as the software described in it, is furnished under license and may be used only in accordance with the terms of such license.MSC.Software Corporation reserves the right to make changes in specifications and other information contained in this document without prior notice.The concepts, methods, and examples presented in this text are for illustrative and educational purposes only, and are not intended to be exhaustive or to apply to any particular engineering problem or design. MSC.Software Corporation assumes no liability or responsibility to any person or company for direct or indirect damages resulting from the use of any information contained herein.User Documentation: Copyright © 2008 MSC.Software Corporation. Printed in U.S.A. All Rights Reserved.This notice shall be marked on any reproduction of this documentation, in whole or in part. Any reproduction or distribution of this document, in whole or in part, without the prior written consent of MSC.Software Corporation is prohibited.This software may contain certain third-party software that is protected by copyright and licensed from MSC.Software suppliers. Portions of this software are owned by UGS Corp. © Copyright 1997. All Rights Reserved.The MSC.Software corporate logo, Adams, Adams/, MD, MD Adams, MSC, MSC Nastran, and MD Nastran are trademarks or registered trademarks of the MSC.Software Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. FLEXlm is a registered trademark of Macrovision Corporation. Parasolid is a registered trademark of UGS Corp. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

MDAM*R3*Z*Z*Z*DC-REL-PDF

C o n t e n t sMD Adams R3 Release Guide

PrefaceWelcome to MD Adams R3 vi

About MSC.Software viiOverview viiAbout Virtual Product Development and Adams vii

Technical Support viiiWeb viiiPhone and Fax ixEmail ixTraining ix

Internet Resources xi

1 What’s NewOverall Product Improvements 2

What’s New 4Adams/Car 4Adams/Car Ride 6Adams/Chassis 7Adams/Controls 8Adams/Driveline 10Adams/Durability 10Adams/Engine 14Adams/Flex 15Adams/Mechatronics 26Adams/SmartDriver 29Adams/Solver (C++ and FORTRAN) 30Adams/Tire 34Adams/Vibration 36Adams/View 36

MD Adams R3 Release Guide

iv

2 Running Adams ProductsStarting Adams Products 46Starting Adams Products on UNIX 46Starting Adams Products on Windows 47

Setting Preferences 48Setting Preferences on UNIX 48Setting Preferences on Windows 48

Setting Your Working Directory 49

3 Getting HelpTool Tips 52

Online Help 53Versions of Web Browsers 54Accessing the Online Help 55Searching 58Printing 58Index 58

Tutorials and Examples 59

4 Supported Versions of Integration ProductsSupport for Easy5 and MATLAB 62Easy5 62MATLAB 62

Supported Versions of Integration Products 63

Index 65

MD Nastran 2006 Installation and Operations Guide

Preface

Welcome to MD Adams R3

About MSC.Software

Technical Support

Internet Resources


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Welcome to MD Adams R3Thank you for purchasing MD Adams R3 products. The MD Adams R3® is motion simulation software for analyzing the complex behavior of mechanical assemblies. With it, you can test virtual prototypes and optimize designs for performance, safety, and comfort, without having to build and test numerous physical prototypes.

The major aspects of Adams include the ability to transfer loads and motion information from Adams to MD Nastran for stress, durability, vibration and harshness analysis.

viiPreface

About MSC.Software

OverviewMSC.Software Corporation is the leading global provider of virtual product development (VPD) tools, including simulation software and professional services. MSC.Software helps companies make money, save time, and reduce costs associated with designing, testing, producing, and supporting manufactured products.

MSC.Software works with thousands of companies worldwide, in hundreds of industries, to develop better products faster by using information technology, software, and services to enhance and automate the product design and manufacturing process. Simulating your product performance reduces development costs, time to market, and warranty costs.

About Virtual Product Development and AdamsYou’ve heard it before: manufacturing companies today face intense global competition, demanding customers, fragmented markets, increasing product complexity, compressed product cycles, price and profit pressures, strict regulatory and liability environments, systems integration and supply chain issues, skyrocketing costs of testing and physical prototyping, and on and on…

What you don’t often hear, though, is a strategy for enabling your company to improve your new product development process to meet these challenges.

Whether you are delivering airplanes, automobiles, ships, biomedical devices, golf clubs or children’s toys to your customers, MSC.Software’s goal is to help you improve your new product development process, allowing you to be significantly better at your concept development, design, testing, and production activities through the application of VPD.

VPD is an environment that uses an integrated combination of both simulation software technology and traditional techniques to design, test, manufacture, and support products. The result is that cost-effective designs that meet all performance, safety, durability, and reliability requirements can be brought to market in less time and for less cost.

Adams, as part of VPD, is focused on enhancing your ability to make better product development decisions, explore innovative design alternatives, and consistently get the product right. It is the world's most widely used mechanical system simulation software. It enables you to produce virtual prototypes, realistically simulating the full-motion behavior of complex mechanical systems on your computers and quickly analyzing multiple design variations until an optimal design is achieved. This reduces the number of costly physical prototypes, improves design quality, and dramatically reduces product development time.


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Technical SupportFor help with installing or using an MSC.Software product, contact your local technical support services. Our technical support provides the following services:

• Resolution of installation problems• Advice on specific analysis capabilities• Advice on modeling techniques• Resolution of specific analysis problems (e.g., fatal messages)• Verification of code error.

If you have concerns about an analysis, we suggest that you contact us at an early stage.

You can reach technical support services on the web, by telephone, or e-mail.

WebGo to the MSC.Software website at www.mscsoftware.com, and click on Support. Here, you can find a wide variety of support resources including application examples, technical application notes, available training courses, and documentation updates at the MSC.Software Training, Technical Support, and Documentation web page.

In addition, we provide several excellent sources of online information:

• Knowledge Base - Find solutions to problems in this repository of troubleshooting tips, examples, and frequently asked questions. To access the knowledge base, go to:http://support.mscsoftware.com/kb/

• VPD Community - The VPD community is where to go when you are looking for peer support, as well as technical expertise. Many of our consultants, developers, and technical support staff monitor the forums. To sign up for the forums, go to:http://forums.mscsoftware.com

Then:• To view the Adams discussions, select Adams.• To view product alerts and company news and events, select MSC News.

http://support.mscsoftware.com/kb/

http://forums.mscsoftware.com

ixPreface

Phone and Fax

EmailSend a detailed description of the problem to the email address below. You should receive an acknowledgement that your message was received, followed by an email from one of our Technical Support Engineers.

TrainingThe MSC Institute of Technology is the world's largest global supplier of CAD/CAM/CAE/PDM training products and services for the product design, analysis and manufacturing market. We offer over 100 courses through a global network of education centers. The Institute is uniquely positioned to optimize your investment in design and simulation software tools.

Our industry experienced expert staff is available to customize our course offerings to meet your unique training requirements. For the most effective training, The Institute also offers many of our courses at our customer's facilities.

United StatesTelephone: (800) 732-7284Fax: (714) 784-4343

United KingdomFrimley, CamberleySurrey, United Kingdom

Telephone: (44) (1276) 60 19 00 Fax: (44) (1276) 69 11 11

Munich, GermanyTelephone: (49) (89) 43 19 87 0Fax: (49) (89) 43 61 71 6

Tokyo, JapanTelephone: (03)-6911-1200Fax: (03)-6911-1201

Rome, ItalyTelephone: (390) (6) 5 91 64 50Fax: (390) (6) 5 91 25 05

Paris, FranceTelephone: (03)-6911-1200(03)-6911-1201

Moscow, RussiaTelephone: (7) (095) 236 6177Fax: (7) (095) 236 9762

Gouda, The NetherlandsTelephone: (31) (18) 2543700Fax: (31) (18) 2543707

Madrid, SpainTelephone: (34) (91) 5560919Fax: (34) (91) 5567280


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The MSC Institute of Technology is located at:

2 MacArthur PlaceSanta Ana, CA 92707Phone: (800) 732-7211 Fax: (714) 784-4028

The Institute maintains state-of-the-art classroom facilities and individual computer graphics laboratories at training centers throughout the world. All of our courses emphasize hands-on computer laboratory work to facility skills development.

We specialize in customized training based on our evaluation of your design and simulation processes, which yields courses that are geared to your business.

In addition to traditional instructor-led classes, we also offer video and DVD courses, interactive multimedia training, web-based training, and a specialized instructor's program.

Course Information and RegistrationFor detailed course descriptions, schedule information, and registration call the Training Specialist at (800) 732-7211 or visit www.mscsoftware.com.

xiPreface

Internet ResourcesMSC.Software (www.mscsoftware.com)MSC.Software corporate site with information on the latest events, products and services for the CAD/CAE/CAM marketplace.

MSC.Software Store (store.mscsoftware.com)store.mscsoftware.com is a virtual marketplace where clients can find engineering expertise, and engineers can find the goods and services they need to do their job


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MD Nastran 2006 Installation and Operations GuideMD Nastran

1 What’s New

Overall Product Improvements

What’s New


2

Overall Product ImprovementsSome highlights of the MD Adams R3 release include:

Product Integration• Common MD Database (MD DB) format for flexible body which allows for storage of several

flexible bodies in a single MD Nastran file (.MASTER).• Element-level Adams2Nastran export allows for individual components of the entire system to

be more easily replaced when using the white box export option.• Adams/Mechatronics (new plugin) for Adams/View standardizes how control systems are

integrated with multi-body system models.• MD Release of Adams/Engine introduces new capabilities and rounds out the MD Adams

offering.

Performance• Faster animation speed for flexible bodies and modal force contouring helps you visualize your

results sooner.• 64-bit support on Windows and Linux platforms combined with improved processing speed

when importing XML results files help to make large scale models more easy to deal with.• Parallel processing support for Adams/Tire results in faster run times on multi-CPU machines

when using SMP with Adams/Solver (C++).

New Capabilities• 3D Contact is now enhanced to support contact between modal flexible bodies and solid

geometry when using Adams/Solver (C++).• Adams/Car capabilities have been extended and usability improved with General Actuation

Analysis (GAA), a new Road Builder for analytical roads, as well as a consolidation of suspension testrigs.

• Adams/SmartDriver has been enhanced with a utility for path planning which support corner-cutting, a new discrete GSE implementation for improved accuracy at larger output steps, and capability for driving backwards.

• Quantitative Ride Index measures in Adams/Car Ride are handy for quantifying ride quality and assessing vibration impact on occupants.

• Hiller-Anantharaman STIFF integrator (HASTIFF) with SI1 and SI2 formulations requires fewer function evaluations to converge and has improved stability at small time steps.

• New DELAY run-time function is available in Adams/Solver (C++) can be used to introduce signal and actuator delays in controller models.

3CHAPTER 1What’s New

Other Additions• Adams/Tire 3D tire modeling technology is suitable for use on uneven road surfaces.• A new command line utility, MNFXFORM, is useful for mirroring a flexible body MNF, or

transforming/rotating the flexible body coordinate system.• New documentation added for plugins and usability enhancements.


4

What’s NewThe following are highlights of additions to existing products. For Known Issues and updated Release Notes, look for MD Adams R3 on the Support site

http://support.mscsoftware.com

Adams/Car• General Actuation Analysis

• Road Builder for Analytical Roads

• Consolidation of Suspension Testrigs

• SmartDriver Path Planning (1-55043956)

• Plugin Documentation and Enhancement (1-38696031)

General Actuation AnalysisBeginning in MD Adams R3, we are introducing a new functionality called General Actuation Analysis (GAA). You will discover that the interface for GAA saves a lot of time over manual approaches you may have used in the past. It helps you to define all the necessary inputs for actuator-driven analysis by selecting actuators from the model and input files from a database to control the simulation. Base functionality uses familiar components making it simpler to:

• Perform actuation analysis on assemblies • Create and modify RPC request map files in a much easier fashion with a Request Map Editor• Create and modify actuator setting files (actuator input files) to import/export actuator settings• Modify actuator parameters in an assembly• Activate/Deactivate Actuators from within an Actuator Table

For an example, see Knowledge Base Article 1-58133558.

http://support.mscsoftware.com/kb/results_kb.cfm?S_ID=1-58133558

Road Builder for Analytical RoadsA new tab Road Generator has been added to the Road Builder which allows you to:

• Create roads from scratch or import data• View road in a table and graphically as well.• Export Points to Data Table for use in spreadsheet programs• Create multiple segments and append them to one another• Enter math functions to describe segments

Using the Road Generator you create analytical road data from multiple segments, each segment representing predefined types, including:


http://support.mscsoftware.com


LinearCurvatureHelixTransition User FunctionUser Points

The transition segment allows bridging of gaps and closing the road profile. User point segment allows for easy pasting from a spreadsheet. The resulting road profile is a concatenation of the segments you have defined and can be visualized as shell graphics.



Consolidation of Suspension TestrigsAdditional capabilities have been added to the suspension testrigs to help reduce the amount of user customization needed to control suspension setup(s).

Parallel Travel

• Vertical Setup Mode You can select the mode (wheel center or contact patch) during setup phase (time=0). Useful when including an adjustable force.

• Control Mode of Wheel Displacement for You can select the control mode (absolute or relative) of vertical displacement during analysis phase. The desired displacement is then considered as the relative displacement with respect to the setup phase.

Roll Analysis

Vertical Mode can be set to Force or Length. If set to 'Length' for roll analysis, the vertical displacement of the table center is fixed.

Dynamic Analysis

Tire forces (Cornering, Braking, Traction, etc.) can be defined as solver function expressions.

SmartDriver Path Planning (1-55043956)With MD Adams R3 we are providing a tool to help you build a path around a closed road course that approximates the optimum or fastest path for a given vehicle. Given a road, this new tool will pre-calculate the optimal path, based on your input parameters such as corner cutting coefficient.

This tool can be accessed from the Standard User Interface in Adams/Car: Simulate -> Full Vehicle Analysis -> Path Optimization



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Supported InputsAdams roads (.rdf, .xml) Driver road (.drd)

OutputDriver road (.drd)

See Adams/SmartDriver section for further details.



Plugin Documentation and Enhancement (1-38696031)New documentation has been added for plugins which you can find in the Adams Help System under Learning Basics -> Setting Up Adams/View -> Plugins. Some usability enhancements have also been made so that user plugins are easier to manage when integrating with vertical applications and dealing with site and private search paths.



Adams/Car Ride

Quantitative Ride Index MeasuresWith this release we are introducing a means of measuring and quantifying the ride quality of a vehicle and for assessing vibration impact on occupants. When the Adams/Car Ride plugin is loaded, new dialog boxes are available to estimate ISO Ride Index:

Ride -> Full-Vehicle Analysis -> ISO Ride Index...Ride -> Full-Vehicle Vibration Analysis -> ISO Ride Index...

New functions have been added to the Function Builder under the Misc. Functions category:

RIDE_WARMSRIDE_INDEXRIDE_WEIGHTINGPOWA

The RIDE_WARMS (RIDE Weighted Acceleration RMS) and RIDE_INDEX functions return real arrays and are to be used with results from time domain or frequency domain analyses. RIDE_WEIGHTING and POWA are utility functions useful for creating 1/3 octave frequencies and validating ISO weighting curves.




To calculate Ride Index for Full-Vehicle Analysis:

1. From the Ride menu, point to Full-Vehicle Analysis, and then select ISO Ride index. 2. Press F1 and then follow the instructions in the dialog box help for ISO Ride Index. 3. Select OK.

To calculate Ride Index for Full-Vehicle Vibration Analysis:

1. From the Ride menu, point to Full-Vehicle Vibration Analysis, and then select ISO Ride index. 2. Press F1 and then follow the instructions in the dialog box help for ISO Ride Index. 3. Select OK.



Notes:

• Adams/Car Ride follows the guidelines set in ISO 2631-1:1997(E) for quantifying whole-body vibrations in relation to human health and comfort. The frequency weighting and vibrations in more than one direction and at more than one point are combined as suggested by ISO.

• For convenience two new markers have been added to the full vehicle assembly, one at the driver seat location and another at the passenger seat location. A general outline of their use is as follows: Using Adams/Car Ride, you would open a full vehicle four-post assembly. Run time-domain or frequency-domain analysis with 4-post testrig excitation of your choice. Use the function builder to calculate (by way of the marker's acceleration requests) the Weighted Acceleration RMS (WARMS) values and/or various Point Vibration Total Values (PVTV) and Overall Vibration Total Value (OVTV). Then make use of ISO guide (Appendix B: health, Appendix C: comfort and perception) to find effects of vibration on health, comfort and perception.

Adams/Chassis

Road Builder for Analytical RoadsA new tab Road Generator has been added to the Road Builder which allows you to:

• Create roads from scratch or import data• View road in a table and graphically as well.• Export Points to Data Table for use in spreadsheet programs• Create multiple segments and append them to one another• Enter math functions to describe segments



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Using the Road Generator you create analytical road data from multiple segments, each segment representing predefined types, including:

LinearCurvatureHelixTransition User FunctionUser Points

The transition segment allows bridging of gaps and closing the road profile. User point segment allows for easy pasting from a spreadsheet. The resulting road profile is a concatenation of the segments you have defined and can be visualized as shell graphics.



Adams/Controls• Support for MATLAB R2007b

• Support for Linear Matrices in Easy5 Extension Block (1-61356762)

• MATLAB/RTW Setup Simplification for Control System Import (1-62728811)

• Mechatronics for Adams/View

• DELAY Function

Support for MATLAB R2007b

MATLABThe supported version of MATLAB is R2007b (MATLAB 7.5, Simulink 7.0). Please note that some platforms supported in the past are no longer supported by The MathWorks in MATLAB R2007b and beyond.

For more information on MATLAB platforms and compatibility, see http://www.mathworks.com/support/sysreq/previous_releases.html http://www.mathworks.com/support/sysreq/roadmap.html


http://www.mathworks.com/support/sysreq/previous_releases.html

http://www.mathworks.com/support/sysreq/roadmap.html


Support for Linear Matrices in Easy5 Extension Block (1-61356762)In order to simplify the Easy5 model and prevent the need to swap linear blocks for a non-linear block, the Easy5 extension block (AD) now supports linear matrices in addition to the Function Evaluation and Co-Simulation options. These linear models require the A, B, C (and if available D) matrices (typically exported from Adams) in the Easy5 working directory and are solved completely within Easy5 (i.e, not co-simulation with Adams).

MATLAB/RTW Setup Simplification for Control System Import (1-62728811)A new MATLAB function (setup_rtw_for_adams) has been added to simplify the setup of MATLAB/Real-Time Workshop (RTW) for Adams/Controls System Import. This function can be submitted on command line in MATLAB to create the local Adams/Controls .tlc and .tmf files.

The old method using process.py is still available, as process.py has not been removed -- this new matlab function is a wrapper for it that also handles all of the tedious tasks. In other words, the use of process.py is unchanged -- you can still run process.py the old way.

The MATLAB script detects the current version of MATLAB and sets up the environment variable MATLAB_ROOT (preserving the old value if this is already set) and then runs process.py with the appropriate flag. If desired, you user can also run the command with an argument to pick a different version of MATLAB to make the files. (e.g., setup_rtw_for_adams('75'))

You can also get help in MATLAB by typing: help setup_rtw_for_adams

Help for process.py can be provided by typing: setup_rtw_for_adams('h')

(or any other value that is not recognized as a version flag).

Tip: If you want to co-simulate with MATLAB and you are running Adams/Controls on one of the platforms that is not supported by MATLAB, use TCP/IP communication. This allows Adams/Controls to communicate with MATLAB even though the codes are running on different platforms. Please refer to Adams/Controls help to learn more about TCP/IP communication using the Adams Daemon Process (adams_daemon.py).

Note: Adams/Controls supports MATLAB R2006b and R2007b, with some exceptions: MATLAB 7.1 (R14SP3) is only supported on HPUX, as this was the last version available for this platform. MATLAB R2007b does not support Control System Import on Solaris, since MATLAB only supports 64-bit platforms, and a 32-bit library cannot be generated for Adams.


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Mechatronics for Adams/ViewIt is now easier to integrate your control systems into MD Adams/View and MD Adams/Car. The Mechatronics plugin has been extended to Adams/View and the license has been moved from MD Adams/Car Package into MD Adams for broader usage and accessibility.

See Adams/Mechatronics section for details.

DELAY FunctionWith this release a new simplified method for introducing delays in function expressions has been added to Adams/Solver. The DELAY function can be used for modeling signal and actuator delays in controllers.

See the Adams/Solver (C++ and FORTRAN) (or Adams/View) section for further details about the DELAY function.

For an example and more details, see Knowledge Base Article 1-57632260.


Adams/Driveline

MaintenanceThis release of Adams/Driveline is primarily a maintenance release.

Adams/Durability• Modal Velocity Export (1-63200603)

• FEMDATA Support for Flex-Body Contact

Modal Velocity Export (1-63200603)The following dialog boxes have been updated with an Include modal velocities checkbox:

Durability -> FE Modal Export

NASTRAN Modal ExportANSYS Modal Export

Durability -> FE-Fatigue

FE-Fatigue Export



You can select to include modal velocities along with modal deformations in the exported file. If not selected, only the modal deformations are included in the exported file.

Sample Adams/View Command Language:

mdi durability export_q & analysis = .model_1.mdr3 & flex_body = .model_1.FLEX_BODY_1 & file_name = "mdr3_test_nastran_vel_output2.mdf" & format = nastran & native = yes & addvelo = yes & remove1g = yes & start_time = 0.3 & end_time = 0.4 & skip_step = 2

mdi durability export_q & analysis = .model_1.mdr3 & flex_body = .model_1.FLEX_BODY_1 & file_name = "mdr3_test_ansys_vel.out" & format = ansys & native = no & basis = orthonormal & addvelo = yes

Notes:

• The above dialog boxes support modal velocity export for time-domain simulation results.

FEMDATA Support for Flex-Body ContactThe majority of flexible bodies used in flex-body contact are usually created for the purposes of studying motion or system loads and typically do not have sufficient enough modal content to accurately capture contact stress distributions. By using FEMDATA you can generate load cases from Adams that can be used for subsequent stress recovery in your finite element package (Nastran, Ansys, etc.). Contact Incidents for the flexible body (or Node Incidents data if available) will be written to the FEMDATA output file, in the supported file formats.


!----------------------------------------------------------------- ! Create FEMDATA for loads on flexible body !----------------------------------------------------------------- output_control create femdata & femdata_name = .model_1.FEMDATA_1 & adams_id = 1 & output_type = loads_on_flex & flex_body = .model_1.FLEX_BODY_1 & no_inertia = no & file_name = "flex_body_loads.dat" & start = 0.21 & end = 0.211


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!----------------------------------------------------------------- ! Use ANSYS format for output of FEM loads !----------------------------------------------------------------- output set output model = .model_1 loads = ansys

Sample output for Contact Incidents:

Loading Points are from Contact Incidents when results file does not contain node incidents, like this:

output set results model=.model_1 contact_incidents=on node_incidents=off

! ******** A N S Y S ********! ****** LOADS DATA SET FRAGMENT ******! Load File Created From Adams Analysis! TO BE MERGED WITH ANSYS INPUT FILE!! Created: Mon Feb 25 11:40:37 2008! Number of Load Cases: 2! Units: Mass = kg! Length = mm! Force = newton! Time = sec! *************************************! ! Load Point Information (Global Reference Frame):! Node ID Adams ID X Y Z Marker Label! -------- -------- ------------ ------------ ------------ ------------! 1 3 0.00000e+000 5.00000e+001 5.00000e+001 MARKER_3! 147 1 1.00000e+003 5.00000e+001 5.00000e+001 MARKER_1! ! NOTE: Replace these Contact Incidents with node IDs at specified location:! CI ID X Y Z (wrt FEM CS)! CI1 4.13111e+002 9.85295e+001 3.00048e+001!! LOAD CASE = 1!TIME,2.10000e-001FDEL, ALLACEL,1.04214e+004,-3.46427e+004,1.94250e+003OMEGA,3.48444e-002,-4.81997e-003,-9.34180e-001DOMEGA,-2.59679e+001,5.32941e+000,2.09596e+002F, 1, FX,-4.21184e+002F, 1, FY,1.99692e+003F, 1, FZ,-5.43325e+001F, 1, MX,5.06744e+004F, 1, MY,4.86461e+004F, 1, MZ,5.69669e-001F, 147, FX,-8.40605e+000F, 147, FY,2.55870e+003F, 147, FZ,4.83245e-001F,CI1, FX,4.23024e+002F,CI1, FY,-2.59903e+003F,CI1, FZ,-1.95514e+000LSWRITE


Sample output for Node Incidents

Loading Points are from Flex Contact Node Incidents when results file contains node incidents, like this:

output set results model=.model_1 node_incidents=on

! ******** A N S Y S ********! ****** LOADS DATA SET FRAGMENT ******! Load File Created From Adams Analysis! TO BE MERGED WITH ANSYS INPUT FILE!! Created: Mon Feb 25 11:40:28 2008! Number of Load Cases: 2! Units: Mass = kg! Length = mm! Force = newton! Time = sec! *************************************! ! Load Point Information (Global Reference Frame):! Node ID Adams ID X Y Z Marker Label! -------- -------- ------------ ------------ ------------ ------------! 1 3 0.00000e+000 5.00000e+001 5.00000e+001 MARKER_3! 147 1 1.00000e+003 5.00000e+001 5.00000e+001 MARKER_1! ! The Following Loading Points are from Flex Contact Node Incidents! Load Point Information (Coordiantes are same as in MNF):! Node ID X Y Z ! -------- -------- ------------ ------------ ------------ ! 225 4.00020e+002 1.00000e+002 0.00000e+000! 74 4.99960e+002 1.00000e+002 5.00000e+001! 72 3.99940e+002 1.00000e+002 5.00000e+001!! LOAD CASE = 1!TIME,2.10000e-001FDEL, ALLACEL,1.04214e+004,-3.46427e+004,1.94250e+003OMEGA,3.48444e-002,-4.81997e-003,-9.34180e-001DOMEGA,-2.59679e+001,5.32941e+000,2.09596e+002F, 1, FX,-4.21184e+002F, 1, FY,1.99692e+003F, 1, FZ,-5.43325e+001F, 1, MX,5.06744e+004F, 1, MY,4.86461e+004F, 1, MZ,5.69669e-001F, 147, FX,-8.40605e+000F, 147, FY,2.55870e+003F, 147, FZ,4.83245e-001F,225, FX,1.69360e+002F,225, FY,-1.03958e+003F,225, FZ,-7.82769e-001F,74, FX,5.48906e+001F,74, FY,-3.37089e+002F,74, FZ,-2.53698e-001F,72, FX,1.99040e+002F,72, FY,-1.22232e+003F,72, FZ,-9.19939e-001LSWRITE


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Adams/Engine• Conceptual Fatigue Analysis of a Crankshaft (Crank Concept Analysis)

• Gas Pressure Wizard for 4-stroke Engines

• Nonlinear Dual Mass Flywheel

• General Torsional Damper based on Poynting-Thomson Rheology

• Load Export for MSC Nastran Modal Frequency Response Analysis

• Extracting IMEP and FMP from Pslap Analysis Results

• Advanced Roller Chain

Conceptual Fatigue Analysis of a Crankshaft (Crank Concept Analysis) You can obtain safety factors in all fillets of the crankshaft system as a function of engine revolution speed. The following steps in the analysis are performed.

1. A torsion-twist analysis of the crankshaft system in the frequency domain based on the Hafner-Maass method.

2. A back-transformation of these results into the time domain. 3. A bending analysis of the crankshaft system per throw. 4. A safety factor calculation in all fillets of the crankshaft system as a function of engine revolution

speed.

Each of the involved analysis steps generate data-blocks that are written to ASCII-format files in the local user home directory.

Gas Pressure Wizard for 4-stroke Engines Gas pressure curves can be computed at user specified engine speeds based on the so called SEILIGER-cycle method, an idealized process for a 4-stroke combustion cycle. You input various thermodynamical and geometrical variables for each engine speed of interest, and the resulting gas pressure curves over crank angle per engine speed are computed and saved to a file.

Nonlinear Dual Mass Flywheel The torque from one part to another can be transmitted over a nonlinear torsional spring damper connected in parallel with user-defined characteristics. For the spring damper element you can specify stiffness and damping coefficients vs. relative angle between the secondary and primary part.

General Torsional Damper based on Poynting-Thomson Rheology The torque from one part to another can be transmitted via a Poynting-Thomson body with one hooke (spring) and up to six Maxwell elements. The Poynting-Thomson body is a one dimensional linear rheological model that can describe (in the current arrangement) the relaxation properties of a viscoelastic material with frequency dependent loss and storage modulus. Hence, this general torsional damper can be used to simulate the behavior of both a rubber damper and viscoelastic damper in the time


domain. You can enter hooke (spring) element torque vs. relative angle between the ring and hub part (linear or nonlinear characteristic) and the damping and stiffness coefficients of the Maxwell elements.

Load Export for MSC Nastran Modal Frequency Response Analysis You can run a frequency response analysis in MSC Nastran based on the results of an Adams/Engine flexible body analysis. Adams/Engine will assist you in creating an MSC Nastran input file of the driving forces acting on a flexible body in the engine model. Currently, only user-specified bearing forces are supported. Force data are extracted from the request file from an engine dynamic simulation. This data is transformed to the frequency domain and stored in MSC Nastran input file format. The resulting file can be included with MSC Nastran bulk data of the flexible body, and a modal frequency response analysis performed.

Extracting IMEP and FMP from Pslap Analysis Results You can calculate the indicated mean effective pressure (IMEP), and the piston and piston rings friction mean pressure (FMP) after a piston secondary motion analysis from one or more request file(s). The results are written to an output file as a function of engine speed.

Advanced Roller Chain Roller chain modeling has been enhanced to include alternating pitch lengths, pin parts, and guide interface enhancements. You can now enter two pitch lengths for the roller chain. You can also include gaps between the pins and bushings of the roller chain model.

Adams/Flex• Flexible Body Contact using Modal Formulation (C++ Solver Only)

• Common MD Database (MD DB) for Flexible Body (MD-Only feature)

• Flexible Body Linear Limit Check (C++ Solver Only) (1-FDB29608, 1-57595636)

• MNFXFORM Utility for Flexible Body Mirroring (1-34798033, 1-59620605)

• MNFRES Utility for Nodal Displacement Recovery (1-FDB16381)

• Double-precision Flexible Body Matrix (.mtx) File

• Faster Modal Force Contouring (1-FDB43969)

Flexible Body Contact using Modal Formulation (C++ Solver Only)Expand your modeling possibilities by simulating flex-flex and flex-rigid contact. With Adams/Flex you can now include flexible body contacts in your models. If you are interested in motion and movement of flexible components and are not as interested in stresses, our solution, which uses a modal formulation, gives you an easy way to simulate contact with a flexible body. Applications include rolling and sliding contact (gears, struts, booms, etc.) for mechanism design and performance. You may use your existing MNF files, provided that they were generated from a finite element model that contained solid elements.


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Adams/View has been enhanced to support pre- and post-processing of contacts between flexible bodies and/or 3D solid geometry. The interface for creating the flex-body contact is similar to rigid-body contact and is accessible from Main Toolbox -> Force Pallete -> Contact. The Contact Create dialog box has been updated with the new contact options for creating these contacts:

Flex Body to Solid

Flex Body to Flex Body

You can perform 'what-if' studies easily to see the effect(s) of component flexibility. If you have defined a flex-body contact and you wish to see how the system would behave if it were rigidized, you can simply toggle the Inertia Modeling (INVARIANTS) for the flexible body from Partial coupling to Rigid body (via the Flexible Body Modify dialog box) and re-run as there is no need to redefine or change the contact definition.

In Adams/PostProcessor you can plot the flex-body contact Node Incidents and Contact 'TRACKS' (analogous to rigid-body contact 'TRACKS'). The XML results file has been updated to store Node Incidents and you can control whether or not you want to save Contact Incidents and/or Node Incidents. See the Adams/View section for more details.

Settings -> Solver -> Output -> More -> Results (.res) ContentContact IncidentsNode Incidents


contact create & contact_name = .model_1.CONTACT_3 & adams_id = 3 & i_flex = .model_1.FLEX_BODY_2 & j_geometry_name = .model_1.PART_2.ELLIPSOID_1 & stiffness = 1.0E+004 & damping = 10.0 & exponent = 2.2 & dmax = 0.1

contact create & contact_name = .model_1.CONTACT_6 & adams_id = 6 & i_flex = .model_1.FLEX_BODY_2 & j_flex = .model_1.FLEX_BODY_1 & stiffness = 1.0E+004 & damping = 10.0 & exponent = 2.2 & dmax = 0.1

part modify flexible_body name_and_position & flexible_body_name = .model_1.FLEX_BODY_1 & adams_id = 1 & modal_neutral_file_name = "./link.mnf" & invariants = yes, yes, yes, yes, no, no, yes, yes, no & location = 0.0, 0.0, 0.0 &


orientation = 0.0, 0.0, 0.0

output set results model=.model_1 & contact_incidents=off & node_incidents=on

Sample Adams/Solver Statement(s):

CONTACT/3 , IFLEX = 2 , JGEOM = 5 , IMPACT , STIFFNESS = 10000 , DAMPING = 10 , DMAX = 0.1 , EXPONENT = 2.2

CONTACT/6 , IFLEX = 2 , JFLEX = 1 , IMPACT , STIFFNESS = 10000 , DAMPING = 10 , DMAX = 0.1 , EXPONENT = 2.2

FLEX_BODY/1 , MATRICES = 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 , QG = 0, 0, 0 , MNF_FILE = ./link.mnf , INVARIANTS = T:T:T:T:F:F:T:T:F

FLEX_BODY/2 , MATRICES = 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24 , QG = 0, 0, -10 , MNF_FILE = ./FE_solids.mnf

GRAPHICS/5 , ELLIPSOID, CM = 1 , XSCALE = 20, YSCALE = 20, ZSCALE = 20

RESULTS/XRF , NOCONTACTS , NODE_INCIDENTS

Notes:

• The geometry for the Flexible Body (used for contact detection) is extracted from the Modal Neutral File (MNF).

• For this release, only solid FE elements (in MNF) are supported for CONTACT; we do not support CONTACT for flexible body MNF(s) containing shells at this time.


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• Lists of flexible bodies or solid geometries (JGEOM) are not supported. However, you can make as many individual contacts as you like, referencing a given flexible body for each individual contact.

• The flexible body is required to be the I-body (IFLEX) for contact between a flexible body and 3D solid geometry.

• The restitution (POISSON) method is not supported when using CONTACT with flexible bodies, use the IMPACT method instead.

• Flexible body contact is only supported with the default CONTACT_GEOMETRY_LIBRARY. Specifying PREFERENCES/CONTACT_GEOMETRY_LIBRARY = PARASOLIDS will cause an error message:---- START: ERROR ----

Contact Error: CONTACT_GEOMETRY_LIBRARY cannot be Parasolid for flex/flex or flex/rigid contact, CONTACT=4, it must be set to Default_library instead.

---- END: ERROR ----

• CONTACT involving flex-to-flex or flex-to-solid contact pairs is only supported with Adams/Solver (C++). Any attempt to submit said models to Adams/Solver (Fortran) will result in an error being issued, for instance:---- ERROR ----

Solver could not run because one or more model elements are only supported by the C++ Solver.

Unsupported element names:

CONTACT_3

CONTACT_6

• An environment variable, ADAMS_STATIC_LOADVEC_SCALE, was added to Adams/Solver. It allows the user to scale down the mode shapes (and, therefore, the load vector for the flexible modes) to help find static equilibrium. Acceptable values for the environment variable are between 0 and 1 (inclusive).

• An environment variable MNF_MAX_MODE_MEMORY has been added to improve performance of flex-body contact models. It specifies how much memory each MNF can use to keep the modes in memory. The default value is 20MB. The value of MNF_MAX_MODE_MEMORY should be a number specifying the amount of memory in MB (Mega Bytes). For example, MNF_MAX_MODE_MEMORY=40, indicating 40 MBytes. Again, it should be a number, 40 is good and 40MB is not. This environment variable may be removed in future releases upon further improvement of flexible body contact technology.

Windows example: set MNF_MAX_MODE_MEMORY=50





Common MD Database (MD DB) for Flexible Body (MD-Only feature)With this release we allow flexible bodies to be imported directly from the MD Nastran database (MD DB) without any MNF conversion. This technology provides numerous benefits over the traditional MNF:

• Easier to Manage:• Streamlined use of Nastran component models by directly accessing MD DB• Common data format (.MASTER) shared with Nastran• No need for MNF file creation• Store several flexible components in a single database and access via index

• Faster:• Read access time for mode data is quicker than MNF• Screen updates faster when using internal solver to monitor solution at every output step• Create several flexible bodies from the MD DB in one operation.

The genesis of an MD DB would typically begin in MD Nastran R3, using the ADAMSMNF case control command (e.g. ADAMSMNF, EXPORT=DB). Bearing this in mind we do, however, also allow the creation of an MD DB from an existing MNF (or collection of MNFs) via the command line interface to the Adams/Flex Toolkit. For instance, you can combine more than one MNF into a single MD DB by running the mnf2mtx translator two times, like this:

Windows Example:

adamsmdr3 flextk mnf2mtx first.mnf -O dual.MASTER adamsmdr3 flextk mnf2mtx second.mnf -O dual.MASTER

To demonstrate how the MD DB can be created using Nastran, a new example, plate_mdr3.dat is available in /install_dir/flex/examples/MSCNASTRAN/demo

plate_mdr3.datplate_mdr3.MASTERplate_mdr3_101.mnfplate_mdr3_201.mnfREADME

The .dat file defines two flexible bodies and uses 'ADAMSMNF, EXPORT=BOTH' option to create both MNFs and MD DB. The provided plate_mdr3.MASTER works on Windows and Linux, one can easily create a .MASTER for Unix using the provided plate_mdr3.dat file. Please take note that plate_mdr3.MASTER contains two flexible bodies in it which you can access using the database index.

In Adams/View you begin by creating a flexible body in the usual way (Main Menu -> Build -> Flexible Bodies -> Adams/Flex...) and from the Create a Flexible Body dialog box you now have the option of selecting either MNF or MD DB as the source file. Likewise, the options in the Adams/Flex Toolkit have also been updated to support the MD DB format.


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part create flexible_body name_and_position & flexible_body = .model_1.windmill_blade_sec7 & adams_id = 40 & md_db_file_name = "./windmill.MASTER" & index_in_database = 7 & location = 0.0, 0.0, 0.0 & orientation = 0.0, 0.0, 0.0

Sample Adams/Solver Statement:

FLEX_BODY/40 , MATRICES = 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84 , QG = 0, 0, 0 , REULER = 0D, 0D, 0D , DB_FILE = ./windmill.MASTER , INDEX = 7 , INVARIANTS = T:T:T:T:F:T:T:T:F

Notes:

• The Create a Flexible Body dialog box in Adams/View has an Import All checkbox to allow the import of all flexible bodies contained in the MD DB. It creates one flexible body for each index contained in the .MASTER file, locating them all at 0,0,0 relative to ground, and setting the color attribute(s) so each individual flexible body is more easily identifiable.

• Unlike the MNF format, the MD DB is not platform independent so you need so sharing of MD DB files between dissimilar platforms is limited. Windows and Linux files are compatible with each other. Unix platforms are also compatible with each other.



Flexible Body Linear Limit Check (C++ Solver Only) (1-FDB29608, 1-57595636)Modal flexible bodies are linear modeling elements and, according to modal superposition theory, their deformations are assumed to be small and within the linear range. Otherwise with large deformations the assumptions of modal superposition are violated and the results will not be accurate. Sometimes a flexible body used in a multi-body system model becomes deformed beyond its linear limit, this can happen unintentionally as a result of excessive system loading or through poor modeling choices.

With this release we have introduced a new feature that, when enabled, checks whether or not the flexible body deformation has exceed the linear assumption. If the flex-body is undergoing large deformations (those exceeding 10% of its characteristic length) then the user is prompted with an alert message concerning this problem or the simulation is halted, depending on the limit action settings of the linear limit check.

The Linear Limit Check settings are accessible from the Main Menu:

Settings -> Solver -> Flex Bodies...



Limit Check: Skin, Selnod, or None (default)

Limit Action: Halt, Return, or Message Only

Skin - Adams/Solver (C++) will check the deformation of all the surface nodes on the skin of the flexible body to see whether they exceed the linear limit. To use this option, the MNF_FILE or DB_FILE arguments need to be specified in FLEX_BODY statement.Selnod - Adams/Solver (C++) will only check the nodes specified in SELNOD section in MTX file.

Limit action specifies what action the solver should take if a flexible body exceeds its linear limit.

Halt - Terminates execution of Adams/Solver (C++) Return - Stops the simulation and returns to the command levelMessage only - Issues a warning message only (Default)

The characteristic length of flexible body is obtained automatically from the MNF, by default. However, if you should wish to override the default you can do so by specifying your own from the Char Length field available on the Modify Body dialog box (Category: Name and Position) which is accessed from the Location button on the Flexible Body Modify dialog box.


executive set preferences model=.model_1 flex_limit_check=skinexecutive set preferences model=.model_1 flex_limit_check_action=halt

part modify flexible_body name_and_position & flexible_body_name = .model_1.FLEX_BODY_1 & characteristic_length=1000.0

Sample Adams/Solver Statement(s):

FLEX_BODY/1 , MATRICES = 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 , MNF_FILE = ./full_beam.mnf , CHAR_LEN = 1000

PREFERENCES/ , FLEX_LIMIT_CHECK = SKIN , FLEX_LIMIT_CHECK_ACTION = HALT

Sample Message(s) from Linear Limit Check of Skin with Halt action:

Flex Linear Limit Check enabled. Method: ALL Surface Nodes.

---- START: WARNING ----At time T=2.280000000E-01, the deformation of FLEX_BODY ID=1 exceeded its linear limit.


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Note: 1. The linear limit is defined as 10% of the characteristic length of the flexible body.2. This is the first occurrence and subsequent occurrences on this flexible body will not be reported.

---- END: WARNING ----

---- START: WARNING ---- model halting simulation at time 2.280000e-01

Notes:

• The Linear Limit Check is available in Adams/Solver (C++) only. There will be no support for this capability in Adams/Solver (Fortran) and any linear limit check specifications encountered will be altogether ignored.

• The linear limit is defined as 10% of the characteristic length of the flexible body. You can use CHAR_LEN argument on the FLEX_BODY statement to specify the characteristic length. If CHAR_LEN is not specified, then Adams/Solver (C++) will try to calculate the characteristic length using the MNF or the MD DB if MNF_FILE or DB_FILE is specified. Otherwise, it will issue an appropriate warning, such as:---- START: WARNING ----Invalid MNF or MD DB file specified for FLEX_BODY ID = 1.Linear limit check (ALL) will not be performed on this flexible body.---- END: WARNING ----

---- START: WARNING ----Can not get the characteristic length of FLEX_BODY ID = 1.Linear limit check (SELNOD) will not be performed on this flexible body.---- END: WARNING ----



MNFXFORM Utility for Flexible Body Mirroring (1-34798033, 1-59620605) A new command line utility, MNFXFORM, has been added to the Adams/Flex Toolkit. MNFXFORM can be used to translate, rotate and/or mirror MNF (or MD DB) as well as renumber interface node IDs. Use of this feature is envisioned in suspension applications where both the lower control arms and knuckle flexible bodies have left/right symmetry.

The data contained in MNF (MD DB), is defined with respect to the FE origin. MNFXFORM is a tool for translating, rotating, or mirroring the MNF (MD DB) with respect to the FE origin. Please take note that this is different from specifying position and orientation of a flexible body in Adams/View, which would only change how the FE origin is positioned and oriented in the Adams model and could not change how the flexible body was positioned and oriented with respect to the FE origin.



Without this tool, the only way one could change how a flexible body is positioned or oriented with respect to its FE origin was to go back to the finite element preprocessor to transform the FEA model and generate a new MNF (MD DB).

Some of the benefits that this tool provides include:

1. In high speed rotation simulation, the simulation speed can often be improved significantly if the rotation axis is aligned with the Z axis of the FE origin. With MNFXFROM, user can easily rotate the flexible body to this configuration.

2. It typically requires some extra efforts to generate a mirrored copy of an MNF (MD DB) from FEA code. With the MNFXFORM utility this task becomes trivial. Adams/Car users whose vehicle assemblies often involve symmetrical parts will find this tool is very handy for creating the right and left pairs of flexible components.

Usage:adamsmdr3 [-c] flextk mnfxform <option> <input_flex_file> <output_flex_file> <parameters> [-offset inc] [-id nid n1 n2 ...]

List of options:<option>

The option should be one of the following:-t for Translation. Needs direction and distance in <parameters>-r for Rotation. Needs axis and angle in <parameters>-m for Mirroring. Needs plane in <parameters>

input_flex_file Modal Neutral File or MD DB File.MD DB File is in the form of foo.MASTER[::#], foo.MASTER is thedatabase and # is the index of the body. For example,foo.MASTER::2 indicates the second flexible body in foo.MASTER.foo.MASTER, without ::#, indicates the first flexible body.

output_flex_file Output Modal Neutral File or MD DB File for given options.MD DB File is in the form of foo.MASTER.If foo.MASTER exists,the transformed body will be appended to it.

<parameters> Input the parameters needed by specified transformation:-p px py pz Specify a point P-r rx ry rz Specify a point R-s sx sy sz Specify a point S-v vx vy vz Specify a Vector V-d dist Specify Distance dist-a angle Specify Angle (Anti-clockwise in degrees)

-offset inc Offset the interface node IDs with inc.

-id nid n1 n2 ... Specify new interface node IDs.nid is the number of new IDs will be specified,


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n1 n2 ... are the new IDs

Notes:

1. How to specify direction and distancea. -v -d (Direction is V)b. -p -r -s -d (Direction is the normal of plane PRS)c. -p -r -d (Direction is PR)d. -p -r (Direction is PR, distance is length of segment PR)

2. How to specify axis and anglea. -v -p -a (Axis is in direction V and passes point P)b. -p -r -s -a (Axis is the normal direction of plane PRS and passes point P)c. -p -r -a (Axis is in the direction of PR and passes point P)

3. How to specify planea. -v -p (Plane passes point P and its normal direction is V)b. -p -r -s (Plane PRS)c. -p -r (Plane passes point P and its normal direction is PR)

Windows Examples:

1. adamsmdr3 flextk mnfxform.exe -m input.mnf output.mnf -v 1 0 0 -p 0 0 0 -offset 1 This example mirrors input.mnf about yz plane and increase the ids of the interface nodes by 1. Then the transformed flexible body is saved as output.mnf.

2. adamsmdr3 flextk mnfxform.exe -r input.MASTER::3 output.MASTER -p 1 0 0 -r 0 1 0 -s 0 0 1 -a 30 -id 5 10 11 12 13 14 This example rotates the 3rd flexible body in input.MASTER by 30 degrees (counter-clockwise) about the normal direction of plane PRS (defined by three points). Then the first five interface node ids are renumbered to (10, 11, 12, 13, 14). Finally the transformed flexible body is saved to MD DB output.MASTER. If output.MASTER exists, the transformed body will be appended to it.



MNFRES Utility for Nodal Displacement Recovery (1-FDB16381)The Adams/Flex Toolkit now includes mnfres, a command line utility for recovering the nodal displacement, velocity, and acceleration of a flexible body after a time-domain simulation.

Usage:adamsmdr3 [-c] flextk mnfres [options] <Adams_results_file> <input_flex_file>

List of options:-t <time> : output results only up to specified time



-n <name> : specify flexible body when several exist-g : include rigid body motion-r : also report nodal rotations. Only effective when -g is not specified.

-s <file> : report only on nodes listed in <file>-L <unit> : specify length unit used in the Adams model, e.g.,METER,INCH, FOOT, MILE, MILLIMETER, CENTIMETER, KILOMETER. Abbreviation is accepted. Default value is METER.

-T <unit> : specify time unit used in the Adams model, e.g.,SECOND, MILLISECOND, DAY, HOUR, MINUTE. Default value is SECOND. Abbreviation is accepted.

-i <key> : report specific results. <key> values are:

d : Nodal displacementsv : Nodal velocitiesa : Nodal accelerations

<Adams_result_file>: Adams result file

<input_flex_file> : Modal Neutral File (MNF) or MD DB File. MD DB File is in the form of foo.MASTER[::#], foo.MASTER is the database and # is the index of the body. For example, foo.MASTER::2 indicates the second flexible body in foo.MASTER. foo.MASTER, without ::#, indicates the first flexible body.

Notes:

1. By default, the output will be printed to the screen. You can use > filename to redirect the output to a file, which is recommended since the output will be voluminous.

2. If -g option is not specified, the output value is in flexbody PBCS. If specified, the output is with respect to ground.

3. By default the outputted results use METER and SECOND. So if the length unit used in the Adams model is not METER, you must specify -L <unit> option in order to get correct results. Same is true for time unit.

Windows Example:

adamsmdr3 flextk mnfres -t 0.1 -i d -L MM -n FLEX_BODY_1 my.res link.mnf > time_pt01.dat

Outputs the nodal deformation at 0.1 seconds for all nodes of flexible body FLEX_BODY_1, whose mnf file is link.mnf using the analysis results contained in the results file my.res. The displacements do not include rigid motion, the length unit is MILLIMETER, and the output is redirected to a file, time_pt01.dat. The time_pt01.dat file written would contain output like the following...

Begin execution of Adams/Flex Toolkit (mnfres)...

% Results File: my.res


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% Modal Neutral File: link.mnf% Flexible Body Name: FLEX_BODY_1% Info Type: nodal displacments % Time Unit: SECOND% Length Unit: MILLIMETER% Translations only: YES% Include rigid body motion: NO% Node list size: 558%% At time 0.100000% 1 1.342403e-005 2.562719e-004 4.070182e-008 2 1.536674e-005 1.850717e-004 1.330479e-007 3 1.810361e-005 1.158133e-004 1.249246e-007 4 1.974926e-005 4.985316e-005 2.566157e-008-etc.- 814 3.877575e-005 2.322163e-004 6.975335e-009 815 3.877575e-005 2.322163e-004 -6.975420e-009 816 4.283421e-005 2.241734e-004 9.118401e-009 817 4.283421e-005 2.241734e-004 -9.118501e-009 1000 -2.951352e-005 2.569748e-004 -1.203375e-014 1001 1.553010e-005 2.152513e-004 9.371702e-015

Double-precision Flexible Body Matrix (.mtx) FileIn prior releases the flexible body matrix file (.mtx) was always written with single-precision numbers, regardless of whether or not the MNF was of single-or double-precision. With this release the precision of the .mtx file will correspond to the precision of the MNF file. If the MNF has been optimized to single-precision to reduce its size, any .mtx file generated from the MNF will also be single-precision. If the MNF is double-precision format, any matrix file generated from the MNF will also be in double-precision format.

For more information, see Knowledge Base Article 1-63339050.


Faster Modal Force Contouring (1-FDB43969)Performance improvements have been implemented for time-domain animation contouring of modal force results on flexible bodies. As a result of removing some inefficiencies identified in MNF file I/O operations, we have seen significant performance improvements -- up to a factor 30 times faster in two test cases.

Adams/Mechatronics• Adams/Mechatronics Plugin for Adams/View

• DELAY Function Support (C++ Solver Only)



Adams/Mechatronics Plugin for Adams/ViewIncorporating control systems into your Adams models is made easier with Adams/Mechatronics. Now packaged as a plugin to Adams/View (it requires Adams/Controls) and leverages the methodology (introduced previously as Adams/Car Mechatronics in MD R2) to standardize the method for integrating control systems -- enabling transfer of information to/from a control system. This means that the process of performing complete system level investigations is defined so you can more easily tackle complex model-controller interaction problems or pursue optimizations you may not have been able to consider before. Based on analysis results, one could quickly alter the multi-body system (MBS) characteristics and/or control parameters and then analyze the combined system again to evaluate the effects of the alterations. For example, you can change the control code parameters to see which ones yield the best stability characteristics for your controlled mechanism when there are disturbances and/or signal delays.

You can load an Adams/Mechatronics model containing a control system as you would any other model. A Signal Manager is provided for setting up the connections between the transducers/actuators of the MBS model and the control systems. The settings you choose in the Signal Manager are automatically stored, so that the next time the model is opened, no user action related to setting up the control system is needed to submit the analysis. Types of control systems supported include: Function Expression, External System Library, and Co-Simulation. Activity types for Transducer Signals and Actuator Signals are supported, useful for making a control system inactive or to build intelligence into your mechanical/controlled systems. Adams/Mechatronics also supports arbitrary units in transducers, actuators and control systems and includes logic to conveniently take care of units conversions that may be needed. Several informational tools are available to enable you to query the model get a good overview of the coupled system.

New tutorials have been created and are available from the Help System under MD Adams Package -> Plugins -> Adams/Mechatronics -> Tutorials

• Adams/View - Setup and run Ball and Beam model• Adams/View - Setup and run Excavator model

If you have an existing Adams/Controls model that contains a Controls_Plant entity you can use the Convert Controls Plant tool to automatically create the required Adams/Mechatronics components (transducer/actuator signals, control system) and to establish the signal connections. This will give you a good starting point for refining your control system further with the additional capabilities that Adams/Mechatronics offers.

Menu Picks:

Mechatronics -> Tools -> Convert Controls Plant...

Sample Output:

-------------------------- Create transducer signals: -------------------------- Creating transducer signal: ues_cst_PistEndPos Creating transducer signal: ues_cst_PistEndVel


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----------------------- Create actuator signals: ----------------------- Creating actuator signal: ues_csa_HydForceV Set state variable (HydForceV) to actuator signal (ues_csa_HydForceV) --------------------- Create Control System: --------------------- Creating control system input: ues_csi_Controls_Plant_1_PistEndPos Creating control system input: ues_csi_Controls_Plant_1_PistEndVel Creating control system output: ues_cso_Controls_Plant_1_HydForceV Creating cosim control system: ues_Controls_Plant_1 ----------------- Connect signals: ----------------- actuator signal: SpringMass.ues_csa_HydForceV is connected... control system input: SpringMass.ues_csi_Controls_Plant_1_PistEndPos is connected... control system input: SpringMass.ues_csi_Controls_Plant_1_PistEndVel is connected...

Adams/Mechatronics components were successfully created from a standard controls plant!



DELAY Function Support (C++ Solver Only)With the MD Adams R3 release you now have the possibility of adding a delay to the control system signals in Adams/Mechatronics. Similar to the 'Disturbance', the 'Delay' can be applied to all types of control signals by using the 'Delay' tab in the corresponding dialog box(es):

Control System InputsControl System Outputs

Example:

Mechatronics -> Mechanical System -> Transducer Signal -> Modify...

Delay functionality in Adams/Mechatronics helps you in producing the appropriately defined delayed signal. You can set either a constant time delay or a user-defined time delay expression, applied before or after the disturbance. The delay can be placed in three different positions with respect to the signal function and a disturbance. In addition to the delay position, you need to specify the delay time function (whose value must be positive or zero), and delay initial history, that is, the initial value of delay function. Please refer to dialog box help (F1 help) for details on the different settings.



Notes:

• The new DELAY function introduced in Adams/Solver (C++) is available from the Adams/View function builder under Math functions. It provides an easy way to delay the onset of a function and can be used for modeling signal and actuator delays in controllers. For more details about the DELAY function please refer to the Adams/Solver Release Notes.

• Only Adams/Solver (C++) supports the DELAY function. The Adams/Solver (Fortran) does not recognize the DELAY function and, if encountered, will issue an error message:---- ERROR ----An unsupported function was found in a function expression. Either modify your expression to not use this function or run this model using the Cxx Solver.

Adams/SmartDriver• SmartDriver Path Planning (1-55043956)

• Discrete GSE for SmartDriver

SmartDriver Path Planning (1-55043956)Given a road data file (.rdf) or a driver road data (.drd) file, SmartDriver will drive a vehicle down the center-line of the road. However, for racing and marketing studies where vehicles are driven at high speeds on a closed course in an attempt to produce the shortest lap times, the fastest or optimum path around the road is not the center-line of the road. The fastest path is one where vehicle cuts corners by crossing over the center-line as necessary to shorten the path and to decrease the path curvature.

With MD Adams R3 we are providing a tool to help you build a path around a closed road course that approximates the optimum or fastest path for a given vehicle. Given a road, this new tool will automatically optimize the path by minimizing distance and curvature. It also provides visualization of the input road file overlaid with the center line for the optimized path.

This tool can be accessed from the Standard User Interface in Adams/Car:

Simulate -> Full Vehicle Analysis -> Path Optimization



Discrete GSE for SmartDriverIn prior releases, Adams/SmartDriver used a REQSUB-based scheme which required use of a small output step size in order to get accurate results. Due to the small output interval, undesirably large results files (.res) were being produced. With the MD Adams R3 release a discrete GSE has been implemented to replace the REQSUB. The discrete GSE-based approach has the advantage of setting its own update



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interval(s) to obtain desired accuracy and, as a result, SmartDriver is no longer as restricted to small output step sizes.



Adams/Solver (C++ and FORTRAN)• HASTIFF Integrator: SI1 and SI2 Formulations (C++ Solver Only)

• DELAY Function (C++ Solver Only)

• LINEAR/EXPORT for Element-level Adams2Nastran Export (C++ Solver Only) (MD Only feature)

• Control CONTACT Incident output with RESULTS statement (C++ Solver Only)

• Support for multiple planes in point-to-plane CONTACT (C++ Solver Only)

• ADAMS_SMP_GROUP Utility Subroutine (C++ Solver Only)

HASTIFF Integrator: SI1 and SI2 Formulations (C++ Solver Only)The family of integrators available in Adams/Solver (C++) has been extended to include HASTIFF (Hiller-Anantharaman STIFF integrator). HASTIFF supports both Stabilized Index-1 (and Index-2) DAE formulations which provide improved stability at small time steps. You should find that HASTIFF does not give up as easily as GSTIFF and it typically requires fewer function evaluations to converge.

Note that the priority of the HASTIFF integrator is an emphasis on accuracy rather than speed. It should be used in applications where force, acceleration, or velocity are of importance. When compared to HHT/Newmark integrators, the HASTIFF results should have fewer numerical discontinuities.

Examples:

INTEGRATOR/HASTIFF, SI1, ERROR=1e-3 INTE/HASTIFF, SI2, ERR=1e-3, LIST



DELAY Function (C++ Solver Only)With this release we are introducing DELAY, a run-time function that provides an easy way to delay the onset of a function. You can specify fixed or variable delays without needing to introduce additional modeling elements or functions like DIFF or SENVAL. DELAY can be used for modeling signal and actuator delays in controllers. The DELAY function returns the value of an expression at a delayed time.




Format

DELAY(e_delayed, e_delay, e_history [, id])

Arguments

e_delayed - Adams expression to be delayed.

e_delay - Adams expression defining the magnitude of the delay. The delay can be constant or state dependent. The magnitude of the delay must be positive. Negative values will be taken as zero.

e_history - Initial history of the expression e_delayed for time less than zero (t<0). The history must be a function of TIME or a constant.

id - The identifier of an array of type IC containing: the order of interpolation, a jump threshold, an angle threshold, and a refinement parameter.

Adams/Solver Examples:

! adams_view_name='STEP5' VARIABLE/84, FUNCTION=STEP5(TIME, 0.2, 90, 0.3, +500)+STEP5(TIME, 0.3, 0, 0.4, -500)

! adams_view_name='STEP5_delayed' VARIABLE/85, FUNCTION=DELAY(VARVAL(84), 0.1, 90)

Here we show two signals, the input signal (VAR/84) and its delayed signal (VAR/85). The value(s) of VAR/85 will be just like the STEP5 functions prescribed in VAR/84, however it will be shifted forward in time by 0.1 seconds, the magnitude of the delay. Up until the time of 0.1 seconds the delayed signal, VAR/85, will take on the prescribed initial history value of 90. Although it is certainly not a requirement to use VARIABLEs and/or VARVALs as was done here, it can be a useful approach to take when you are dealing with very lengthy or complicated function expressions.

Notes:

• Neither DDE nor DDAE of the advance type (negative delays) are supported.• Only Adams/Solver (C++) supports the DELAY function. The Adams/Solver (Fortran) does not

recognize the DELAY function and, if encountered, will issue an error message:---- ERROR ----An unsupported function was found in a function expression. Either modify your expression to not use this function or run this model using the Cxx Solver.

For an example and more details, see Knowledge Base Article 1-57632260.


LINEAR/EXPORT for Element-level Adams2Nastran Export (C++ Solver Only) (MD Only feature)Previously in MD R2, one could use Adams2Nastran available from Adams/Vibration (and Adams/Car Ride) to recreate a full Adams model as a full Nastran equivalent model for use in Nastran modal or



32

frequency response analysis. This feature of creating a so-called Black Box representation of the entire model. With the MD Adams R3 release we've moved this technology into Adams/Solver and made improvements in the following areas:

• Capability: added a White Box export option for element-level model description• Accessibility: implemented in base Adams/Solver with a thin interface in Adams/View• Customizability: allowed user-configurable customizations via flat-text config file• Visualization: simple graphics of white box model created for viewing in Patran

The White Box export option allows individual components of the Adams model to be identifiable at an element level for subsequent replacement and/or modification in MD Nastran. The linearized model export can only be performed at static equilibrium operating points (static or quasi-static are acceptable).

Sample Adams/Solver Command(s):

PREFERENCES/SOLVER=CXX SIMULATE/STATICS LINEAR/EXPORT, TYPE=BLACKBOX, FILE=two_dof_static_blackbox.dat SIMULATE/STATICS,END=1.0,STEPS=50 LINEAR/EXPORT, TYPE=WHITEBOX, FILE=two_dof_qstatic_whitebox.dat

The above sequence of commands would produce, at the static operating point, a Nastran model data file (along with three INCLUDE files):

two_dof_static_blackbox.dat two_dof_static_blackbox_KVVV.dat two_dof_static_blackbox_MVVV.dat two_dof_static_blackbox_BVVV.dat

two_dof_qstatic_whitebox.dat two_dof_qstatic_whitebox_KVVV.dat two_dof_qstatic_whitebox_BVVV.dat two_dof_qstatic_whitebox_GRAPHICS.dat

Notes:

• The LINEAR/EXPORT capability is available in Adams/Solver (C++) only, if Adams/Solver (Fortran) encounters the command it will be ignored and an alert message will be issued:---- WARNING ----LINEAR command with EXPORT is only supported by the C++ Solver. The EXPORT option is being ignored.

• The Adams2Nastran tool will stop the export and alert you if the Adams system is not at a true static equilibrium configuration. By default, a static simulation at time t=0 restores the initial velocities found in the model definition. To change this behavior and prevent the restoration of the initial velocities you can set the environment variable: MSC_ADAMS_STATICS_NO_RESTORE_VELOCITIES. For confirmation an alert will be issued in the .msg file:


---- START: WARNING ----Environment variable MSC_ADAMS_STATICS_NO_RESTORE_VELOCITIES has been set. Velocities were not restored after the static simulation.---- END: WARNING ----

• In Adams/View this feature can be accessed from an icon button on the Simulation Control dialog box (Export a Nastran model from Adams) or from the Main Menu under Simulate -> Adams2Nastran.

• The Adams2Nasatran interfaces in Adams/Vibration and Adams/Car Ride from MD R2 have not been updated whatsoever. They have been retained for transitional purposes so that users dependent on prior method(s) may compare the results between the old method and the new. Future plans are to update these plugin interfaces to take advantage of the new implementation, including White Box export.



Control CONTACT Incident output with RESULTS statement (C++ Solver Only)When the XRF results file is used, detailed Contact Incident results output is written to the .res file, including:

• Contact Incidents – Values computed for individual contact points on Rigid and Flexible Bodies in contact.

• Node incidents – Values computed for FLEX_BODY nodes on Flexible Bodies in contact.

Users have been requesting that we allow writing of Contact Incident results to be turned off so as to keep the results file size more compact; Node incidents also contribute to large files. Therefore, two new arguments have been added to the RESULTS statement to allow some control over what output is being written.

RESULTS/XRF, NOCONTACTS, NODE_INCIDENTS

Where:

NOCONTACTS

Specifies that the results file is not to include contact incidents. The default is a results file that includes contact incidents.

NODE_INCIDENTS

Specifies that the results file is to include node incidents for contact on Flex Bodies. The default is a results file that does not include node incidents.



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Note:

• This feature is only supported with Adams/Solver (C++). To get a similar effect when using Adams/Solver (Fortran) you can use the environment variable MDI_ADAMS_CONTACT_OUT instead, which is documented in the Setting Environment Variables section of the Configuring MD Adams Online Help.

Support for multiple planes in point-to-plane CONTACT (C++ Solver Only)In the previous release, flexible body point-to-plane contact was allowed for an IGEOM list of POINTs but was limited to the case of a single PLANE. Now support has been extended so that CONTACT may be defined between multiple PLANE GRAPHICs on a single rigid PART (lists of ids for JGEOM) and multiple POINTs (list of IGEOM POINTs defined by MARKERs on a single FLEX_BODY).

Example:

CONTACT/1, IGEOM = 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, JGEOM = 1, 2, IMPACT, STIFFNESS = 1.0E+005, DAMPING = 10, DMAX = 0.1, EXPONENT = 2.2, COULOMB_FRICTION = OFF

ADAMS_SMP_GROUP Utility Subroutine (C++ Solver Only)A call to the ADAMS_SMP_GROUP subroutine informs Adams/Solver (C++) that, if the user-written subroutine is executed in parallel, it must be executed in the same thread as other subroutines with the same ADAMS_SMP_GROUP id. Note that this applies to each use of the user-written subroutine.

By identifying a group of user-written subroutines which must be executed in the same thread, some thread safety issues can be avoided such that models using these non-threadsafe user-written subroutines can still take advantage of parallel execution.

It is not recommended that this be used as a substitute to writing completely threadsafe user subroutines. User-written subroutines which are completely threadsafe will be able to take more effective advantage of parallelism in Adams.

Adams/Tire• Adams/Tire 3D Contact Replacement (1-55127831, 1-59245911)

• SMP Support for Adams/Tire (C++ Solver Only)

• Road Builder


Adams/Tire 3D Contact Replacement (1-55127831, 1-59245911)This 3D tire modeling technology has been developed by MSC.Software and is a replacement for the discontinued optional module (Adams/Tire 3D Contact). This solution, suitable for use on uneven road surfaces, is now delivered as part of Adams/Tire and uses the MDA_TireHandling licensed feature.



SMP Support for Adams/Tire (C++ Solver Only)With MD Adams R3 we are introducing Shared Memory Parallel (SMP) support for Adams/Car users running vehicle models with tires on multi-CPU machines. This multi-threaded parallel processing functionality is only available when using Adams/Solver (C++).

From the Adams/Car standard interface menu: Settings -> Solver -> Selection you can specify the number of threads in the Thread Count field when the Solver Selection has been set to CXX.

Likewise you could specify it with the PREFERENCES statement if you are working with an Adams/Solver dataset (.adm) file. For example on a dual-CPU machine you would specify two threads like this:

PREFERENCES/NTHREADS=2



Notes:

• By default, multi-threaded parallel processing functionality is not available for user-written tire models. To use SMP with your user-written tire model you can set the environment variable MSC_ADAMS_TIRE_SMP=TRUE. Please note that you must make sure that your user-written tire subroutines are threadsafe; more information about thread safety can be found in Knowledge Base article 1-58345731: Writing Threadsafe User-written Subroutines for Adams/Solver (C++) Solution#: 1-58345731


Road BuilderA Road Generator has been added to the Road Builder. Using the Road Generator you can create road data with multiple segments, each segment representing predefined formulations like Linear, Curvature, Transition Curve or through User Defined Functions and User Defined Points.

See Adams/Car or Adams/Chassis for further details.








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Adams/Vibration

MaintenanceThis release of Adams/Vibration is primarily a maintenance release. See Adams/Solver (C++ and FORTRAN) and Adams/View sections for some of the new capabilities.

Adams/View• Interface Support for Flex-Body Contact (C++ Solver Only)

• Support for Flex-Body Linear Limit Check (C++ Solver Only)

• Ability to turn off saving of Contact Incidents in Results (C++ Solver Only)

• Support for HASTIFF Integrator (C++ Solver Only)

• Element-level Adams2Nastran Export (C++ Solver Only) (MD-Only)

• Support for Distance Constraint (1-FDB13342) (C++ Solver Only)

• Support for ACF File Export & Import (1-FDB9685, 1-FDB10701, 1-66289301)

• ACF Script Builder for Activate & Deactivate (1-FDB51739, 1-59677105) (C++ Solver Only)

• Support for Flex Body MD DB File Format (MD-Only)

• DELAY Function Support (C++ Solver Only)

• 'Launch PPT' Button

• Plugin Documentation and Enhancement (1-38696031)

• Preference to Delete Cache File On Exit (CR 1-22984554)

• Faster Flexible Body Animation (1-FDB43969, 1-57632911)

• Mechatronics Plugin Support

Interface Support for Flex-Body Contact (C++ Solver Only)With Adams/Flex you can now easily include flex-to-rigid and flex-to-flex contacts in your models. Adams/View has been enhanced to support pre- and post-processing of contacts between modal flexible bodies and 3D solid geometry. Accessible from Main Toolbox -> Contact... the Contact Create dialog box has been updated with the new contact options for creating the flex-body contacts:

Flex Body to SolidFlex Body to Flex Body


Sample Adams/View Command(s):

contact create & contact_name = .model_1.CONTACT_3 & adams_id = 3 & i_flex = .model_1.FLEX_BODY_2 & j_geometry_name = .model_1.PART_2.ELLIPSOID_1 & stiffness = 1.0E+004 & damping = 10.0 & exponent = 2.2 & dmax = 0.1

contact create & contact_name = .model_1.CONTACT_6 & adams_id = 6 & i_flex = .model_1.FLEX_BODY_2 & j_flex = .model_1.FLEX_BODY_1 & stiffness = 1.0E+004 & damping = 10.0 & exponent = 2.2 & dmax = 0.1

Notes:

• The geometry for the Flexible Body (used for contact detection) is extracted from the Modal Neutral File (MNF).

• For this release, only solid FE elements (in MNF) are supported for CONTACT; we do not support CONTACT for flexible body MNF(s) containing shells at this time.

• Lists of flexible bodies or solid geometries are not supported. However, you can make as many individual contacts as you like, referencing a given flexible body for each individual contact.

• The flexible body is required to be the I-body for contact between a flexible body and 3D solid geometry.

• The Restitution method is not supported when using CONTACT with flexible bodies, use the Impact method instead.

• Flexible body contact is only supported with the default Contact Geometry Library. Specifying Parasolids as the Geometry Library will cause an error message when solving:---- START: ERROR ----Contact Error: CONTACT_GEOMETRY_LIBRARY cannot be Parasolid for flex/flex or flex/rigid contact, CONTACT=4, it must be set to Default_library instead.---- END: ERROR ----

• CONTACT involving flex-to-flex or flex-to-solid contact pairs is only supported with Adams/Solver (C++). If you forget this and try to solve with Adams/Solver (Fortran) it will result in an error, like this:


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---- ERROR ----Solver could not run because one or more model elements are only supported by the C++ Solver.Unsupported element names:

CONTACT_3CONTACT_6

• An environment variable MSC_FORCE_GRAPHICS_NODE has been added to control the display of force graphics on the I flex body or J flex body for Flex-to-flex contacts. If this variable has a value of I, then only force graphics originating from the I-flex body will be drawn, if the variable has a value of J, then force graphics originating from the J-flex body will be drawn. Absence of this environment variable will indicate that all force graphics for the node incidents will be drawn. Please take note that the setting is case sensitive, lower-case letters (i or j) will not work.

See Adams/Flex section for further details.



Support for Flex-Body Linear Limit Check (C++ Solver Only)The Flex-Body Linear Limit Check is a new feature of Adams/Flex that, when enabled, checks whether or not the flexible body deformation exceeds 10% of its characteristic length during run-tim. The Linear Limit Check settings are accessible from the Main Menu: Settings >- Solver -> Flex Bodies...

The characteristic length of flexible body is obtained automatically from the MNF, by default. However, if you should wish to override the default you can do so by specifying your own from the Char Length field available on the Modify Body dialog box (Category: Name and Position) which is accessed from the Location button on the Flexible Body Modify dialog box.


executive set preferences model=.model_1 flex_limit_check=skinexecutive set preferences model=.model_1 flex_limit_check_action=haltpart modify flexible_body name_and_position & flexible_body_name = .model_1.FLEX_BODY_1 & characteristic_length=1000.0

See Adams/Flex section for further details about this Adams/Solver (C++) feature.

Ability to turn off saving of Contact Incidents in Results (C++ Solver Only)When the XRF results file is used, detailed Contact Incident results output is written to the .res file, including:

• Contact Incidents – Values computed for individual contact points on Rigid and Flexible Bodies in contact.

• Node incidents – Values computed for flex-body nodes on Flexible Bodies in contact.



Users have been requesting that we allow writing of Contact Incident results to be turned off so as to keep the results file size more compact; Node incidents also contribute to large files. Therefore, two new arguments have been added to the RESULTS statement to allow some control over what output is being written.

Accessible from Settings - Solver - Output - Results (.res) content, you can choose to set the following options on or off.

• Contact Incidents• Node Incidents

Command Language

output set results model = .model_1 contact_incidents=on node_incidents=onoutput set results model = .model_1 contact_incidents=off node_incidents=off

Where:

• contact_incidents=offSpecifies that the results file is not to include contact incidents. The default is a results file that includes contact incidents.

• node_incidents=onSpecifies that the results file is to include node incidents for contact on Flex Bodies. The default is a results file that does not include node incidents.

Note:

• This feature is only supported with Adams/Solver (C++). To get a similar effect when using Adams/Solver (Fortran) you can use the environment variable MDI_ADAMS_CONTACT_OUT instead, which is documented in the Setting Environment Variables section of Configuring MD Adams in the Adams Help system.

Support for HASTIFF Integrator (C++ Solver Only)The Solver Settings dialog box has been updated to support HASTIFF integrator, with SI1 and SI2 formulations.

Command language:

executive_control set numerical_integration_parameters & model_name = .model_1 & integrator_type = hastiff & formulation = si1 & error_tolerance = 1.0E-003

See Adams/Solver (C++ and FORTRAN) section for further details about this Adams/Solver (C++) feature.


40



Element-level Adams2Nastran Export (C++ Solver Only) (MD-Only)Previously in MD R2, one could use Adams2Nastran available from Adams/Vibration (and Adams/Car Ride) to recreate a full Adams model as a full Nastran equivalent model for use in Nastran modal or frequency response analysis. With the MD Adams R3 release we've moved this Black Box linearized model capability into Adams/Solver and have provided basic user interface support in Adams/View. Furthermore we've extended the technology to allow creation of a White Box representation that allows for individual Adams components to be identified at the element-level for subsequent replacement with more detailed representations inside MD Nastran.

See Adams/Solver (C++ and FORTRAN) section for further details about this Adams/Solver (C++) feature.

In Adams/View this feature can be accessed from an icon button on the Simulation Control dialog box (Export a Nastran model from Adams) or from the Main Menu under Simulate -> Adams2Nastran. You can export the model at static equilibrium or quasi-static equilibrium operating points. The Create Simulation Script dialog box for Adams/View Command scripts has been updated to include the new Run Commands:

Nastran Export - Static Nastran Export - Quasi Static


simulation single_run nastran_export static & model_name=.model_1 & type=black_box & output_file_name="my_blackbox.dat" & write_to_terminal=off & reset_after_export=yes

simulation single_run nastran_export quasi_static & model_name=.model_1 & type=white_box & config_file="my_config.txt" & output_file_name="model_whitebox.dat" & write_to_terminal=off & number_of_steps = 10 & end_time = 1.0 & reset_after_export=yes






Notes:

• This feature is only supported when using Adams/Solver (C++), if you attempt to use Adams/Solver (Fortran) an error message will be displayed:ERROR: The Nastran export functionality is available only with the C++ solver.

• The Adams2Nasatran interfaces in Adams/Vibration and Adams/Car Ride from MD R2 have not been updated whatsoever. They have been retained for transitional purposes so that users dependent on prior method(s) may compare the results between the old method and the new. Future plans are to update these plugin interfaces to take advantage of the new implementation, including White Box export.

Support for Distance Constraint (1-FDB13342) (C++ Solver Only)Command language support has been added for the POINT_POINT joint primitive. This distance constraint, which had previously been available in stand-alone Adams/Solver (C++), can now be used within the Adams/View interface. You can create it from the Command Navigator (Tools - Command Navigator - constraint - create - primitive_joint - point_point).


constraint create primitive_joint point_point & jprim_name = .model_1.JPRIM_12 & adams_id = 12 & i_marker_name = .model_1.PART_2.MARKER_5 & j_marker_name = .model_1.ground.MARKER_6 & offset = 100.0

Support for ACF File Export & Import (1-FDB9685, 1-FDB10701, 1-66289301)Now there are easier ways to read in and write out Adams/Solver scripts (.acf). The File - Export dialog box has a new option for exporting an 'Adams/Solver Script' so you don't have to rely on using the write files only option from the Settings -> Solver -> Executable dialog box just for exporting the ACF file.

For consistency the File - Import dialog box has also been updated to include the option for importing Adams/Solver Script (*.acf) files. The old location for this feature (Simulate -> Simulation Script -> New...) continues to be available.


simulation script write_acf & sim_script_name = .model_1.SIM_SCRIPT_1 & file_name = "run_hht.acf”

simulation script read_acf & sim_script_name = .model_1.SIM_SCRIPT_2 & file_name = “run_hastiff.acf”


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ACF Script Builder for Activate & Deactivate (1-FDB51739, 1-59677105) (C++ Solver Only)The Adams/Solver ACF script builder dialog boxes have been updated to now include modeling elements that Adams/Solver (C++) allows you to ACTIVATE and DEACTIVATE, including:

CONTACT COUPLER GFORCE (General Force) VFORCE (Force Vector) VTORQUE (Torque Vector)

The dialog boxes for Activate and Deactivate are under the Append ACF Commands option list in the Create a Simulation Script dialog box for the Adams/Solver Script type accessible from the Simulate -> Simulation Script -> New... menu.

In previous releases you could have done it using manual entry in the script. The new interface is better because it avoids guesswork and there is less chance for making syntax errors. A potential use of the ACTIVATE and DEACTIVATE commands could be to improve performance in a complex contact model by activating contacts only at the time when they are needed in a given simulation event. Or to deactivate a coupler in a geared system after some period of time to let 3D solid-to-solid gear contact forces to become active after a steady state operational speed is reached.

For more information, see Knowledge Base Article 1-63467579.


Support for Flex Body MD DB File Format (MD-Only)With this release we allow flexible bodies to be imported directly from the MD Nastran database (MD DB) without any MNF conversion. The following dialog boxes in Adams/View have been updated with options to also support the MD DB file format as an alternative to the modal neutral file (MNF) format.

Main Menu -> Build -> Flexible Bodies

- Adams/Flex... (Create a Flexible Body)- Rigid to Flex... (Swap a rigid body for a flexible body)- Flex to Flex... (Swap a flexible body for another flexible body)


part create flexible_body name_and_position & flexible_body = .model_1.windmill_blade_sec7 & adams_id = 40 & md_db_file_name = "./windmill.MASTER" & index_in_database = 7 & location = 0.0, 0.0, 0.0 & orientation = 0.0, 0.0, 0.0



One nice feature of the MD DB (.MASTER) is that it may contain several flexible components in a single file. By using the Import All option on the Create a Flexible Body dialog box you can bring all of the individual flexible bodies into Adams/View with one operation. Or you can use the 'index_in_database' parameter to access a particular component of interest.

See Adams/Flex section for further details about this feature.

DELAY Function Support (C++ Solver Only)The new DELAY function is supported in the Adams/View function builder under Math functions. It provides an easy way to delay the onset of a function and can be used for modeling signal and actuator delays in controllers.

For more details about the DELAY function please refer to the Adams/Solver (C++ and FORTRAN) section.

Notes:

• Only Adams/Solver (C++) supports the DELAY function. The Adams/Solver (Fortran) does not recognize the DELAY function and, if encountered, will issue an error message:---- ERROR ----An unsupported function was found in a function expression. Either modify your expression to not use this function or run this model using the Cxx Solver.

'Launch PPT' ButtonAn icon for launching the PostProcessor has been added to the following dialog boxes:

• Simulation Control (Interactive and Scripted)• Animation Controls

Give it a try and see it can be more convenient to use than picking Review - Animation from the Main menu or the using F8 keyboard shortcut.

Plugin Documentation and Enhancement (1-38696031)New documentation has been added for plugins which you can find in the Adams Help System under Learning Basics -> Setting Up Adams/View -> Plugins. Some usability enhancements have also been made so that user plugins are easier to manage when integrating with vertical applications and dealing with site and private search paths.

Preference to Delete Cache File On Exit (CR 1-22984554)Flexible body animation cache files (.fcf) are written to disk and are beneficial whenever you intend to perform animations again later on, at a subsequent time. During early stages of model development the model itself is changing rapidly and the need for long-term preservation of a flex cache file is not necessary. For this reason, users have requested that we provide, for convenience, a feature to allow


44

automatic deletion of .fcf files upon exit instead of using a manual operation like Tools - Purge Cache Files.

Now the Animation Tab in the Edit - Preferences dialog box in Adams/PostProcessor has an option, Delete Cache File On Exit (Yes/No). When you Save settings it will store your preference in the 'aviewBS.cmd' settings file, like this:

!------------------------------------------- ! Cache File settings !------------------------------------------- defaults file_cache_purge delete_on_exit=yes

Faster Flexible Body Animation (1-FDB43969, 1-57632911)Performance improvements have been implemented for time-domain animation of flexible bodies. As a result of removing some inefficiencies identified in MNF file I/O operations, we have seen significant performance improvements -- up to a factor 30 times faster in two test cases where modal force contours were being displayed. You will notice speed improvements in cases where the MNF file size is big and the animation has many frames.

Mechatronics Plugin SupportThe Mechatronics plugin is now available for use in Adams/View. See Adams/Mechatronics section for more details about this new capability for integrating controls systems into your Adams models.


2 Running Adams Products

Starting Adams Products

Setting Preferences

Setting Your Working Directory


46

Starting Adams ProductsThis sections described how you can start your Adams products on UNIX and on Windows.

Starting Adams Products on UNIXThe Adams Toolbar is a starting point to using Adams products on UNIX. The toolbar is shown below.

You can also use the Adams Toolbar to:

• Customize, keep track of, and organize multiple libraries of standard Adams products• Create binaries• Manage custom memory models and product preferences

For more information on these or other Adams Toolbar operations, see the Running and Configuring online help (from the Help menu in any product, select Adams Help, on the left pane, select Configuring Adams).

To start a product on UNIX:1. To display the Adams Toolbar, at the command prompt, enter the command adamsmdx where x

is the version number, for example adamsmdr3.2. Click on the tool representing the product you want to start.

Adams Toolbar tool - Right click to set up Toolbar, manage memory models, access online help and Technical Support resources and more

Product tools - Click to run product or right-click to configure products and create user libraries.

Hold the cursor over a tool to see the name of the associated product.

Note: We recommend that you use the Adams Toolbar to start your Adams products, but if you want to automate certain operations, use the text-based Program Menu. For more information, see the Running and Configuring online help.

47CHAPTER 2Running Adams Products

Starting Adams Products on WindowsYou start any Adams product from the Start menu. You can also use the Start menu to:

• Change your license type• Generate problem reports • Uninstall products, demonstrations, and documentation• Set Adams preferences

For more information on these or other operations, see the Running and Configuring online help.

To start a product on Windows:• From the Start menu, point to Programs, point to MSC.Software, point to MD Adams R3,

point to the name of the product you want to start, and then select the product type. For example, point to ACar, and then select Adams - Car.

Tip: Select the corresponding desktop icon for the product, if you installed it on your desktop.


48

Setting PreferencesThis section describes how you can set preferences, such as your working directory, graphics setting, and memory model size.

Setting Preferences on UNIXYou use the Registry Editor from the Adams Toolbar to set a variety of preferences. For information on the preferences you can set, see the Running and Configuring online help.

To display the Registry Editor:• From the Adams Toolbar, right-click any product tool, and then select Change <Product

Name> Settings.

Setting Preferences on WindowsYou use the Settings menu to modify:

• Graphics settings• HOOPS settings• Memory model size

To display the Settings dialog box:• From the Start menu, point to Programs, point to MSC.Software, point to MD Adams R3, and

then select Adams - Settings.

49CHAPTER 2Running Adams Products

Setting Your Working DirectoryDuring a session in a default or custom product, you can select the directory where you want to place your model and output files.

For Adams/Adams/View, you can set the working directory from the Welcome dialog box.

To set your working directory:1. From the File menu, select Select Directory.2. In the dialog box that appears, select the working directory.


50


3 Getting Help

Tool Tips

Online Help

Tutorials and Examples


52

Tool TipsTool tips display information about the item the cursor is currently over in an Adams product. The following shows the tool tip that appears when you place the cursor over the link geometry tool.

To display tool tips:• Move the cursor over the item in the interface on which you’d like information.

A brief description of the item appears.

ToolTip

53CHAPTER 3Getting Help

Online HelpTo help you use the Adams products, MSC.Software provides online help (HTML format). To view the online help and tutorials, you can use your default Web browser. An example of online help is shown below

Products groupedby package

Search for documentationacross entire Help system

Bookmark topicsof interest

Navigate to nexttopic or previoustopic

Automatic sync toshow the currenttopic in TOC

All ProductsHelp Button


54

Versions of Web BrowsersFor the Adams Help system, all you need is a Windows, Macintosh, or UNIX computer running a fairly new browser with JavaScript enabled. If JavaScript is not enabled, then the Help set will not display in its entirety. You also need to have appropriate Acrobat reader to view PDF files from online help system. We recommend that you view the online help using one of the following browsers:

• Internet Explorer 5.x or 6.x • Netscape Navigator 7.x or 8.x • Mozilla/Firefox 1.x


Accessing the Online HelpYou can view help for a dialog box, a product, or for all Adams products. The figure below shows the help for all Adams products, called the integrated master site. You can use this site to view any product’s help and search across all product help. You can also access release notes for all products, and view the documents in Adobe Reader.

Use to viewPDF Print

View topics for any product help


56

To get help on a dialog box:1. Click in the dialog box for which you need help.2. Press F1.

Adams launches a browser window that contains information about the dialog box.

To get general help on your product:• From your product’s Help menu, select Product Name Help (where Product Name is the name

of your Adams product).Adams launches a browser window that contains the starting point for your product’s online help.

To get help on another Adams product:• Perform one of the following:

• If you’re in an Adams product, from its Help menu, select Adams Help.• If you’re in the help for an Adams product, use the “All Products Help” button ( )to get to

main help system. Your default browser starts and displays the master site for Adams online help.

To open the Adams online help from the Adams Toolbar:• Right-click the Adams Toolbar tool, and then select Online Help.

Your default browser starts and displays the master site for Adams online help.

To open the Adams online help from the Start Menu:• From the Start menu, point to Programs, point to MSC.Software, point to MD Adams xx

(where xx is the release number), and then select Adams - Online Help.Your default browser starts and displays the master site for Adams online help.


Navigating through the HelpYou navigate through the Adams help system as you do through any help system, selecting topics in the pane on the left. In addition, we’ve provided:

• Navigation arrows at the top of the pane to let you scroll through topics one at a time.

• Automatic sync to show you where your current topic is in the table of contents (TOC). This is very helpful if you, for example, search for a topic and want to know if there are more topics on the subject. It shows you where the topic is in the TOC, allowing you to see whether or not there are more topics with it.


58

SearchingYou can search all the help files in HTML format for a particular product or all Adams products.

If you are in a product specific help1. Open the online help for your product.

2. Press Search button at the top of the help window, enter the search text, and then press the Go button .

The results appear in the pane on the left, replacing the table of contents.3. Click the topic you want to view.

If you are in Adams help system1. Press search button at the top of help window, which will give an option to search All Available

products or A single product.2. Enter the search text and follow Steps 2 and 3 above

Printing

To print a file:

• In the help system you can select the Print button . to print the topic that you are viewing

• You can select the PDF button . to see the entire PDF file pertaining to the topic and print the file like a regular PDF file. Notice that some of the images in PDF file may be cropped.

IndexThe Index tab displays an alphabetical list of keywords associated with help topics. To view index entries, you can select a letter group to display the entries for that group. When you click on an index entry, the related topic will display in the topic frame. You can select Indexes in a product specific help or in the main help system.


Tutorials and ExamplesAdams products have a set of tutorials or getting started guides that step you through examples of using the product’s features, as well as introduce the basic concepts of the product. The getting started guides are online. In addition, many of the products have examples of its features that are stored in Knowledge Base Articles.

You will find links to all the tutorials and examples for a product under its Examples tab.

To access the tutorials and examples:• From the online help for a product, from the pane on the left, select Examples. • From the online help, from the left pane, select Getting Started and select the product that you

are interested in.

Adams/View Examples

Getting Started Guides


60


4 Supported Versions of Integration Products

Support for Easy5 and MATLAB

Supported Versions of Integration Products


62

Support for Easy5 and MATLAB

Easy5This release of Adams/Controls is certified to run with Easy5 2005 r1 SP4 and Easy5 2008r1.

Platform support is subject to change. For the latest information, see the Easy5 2005 and Easy5 2008 Hardware and Software Requirements at:

http://www.mscsoftware.com/products/easy5_support.cfm

MATLABThe supported versions of MATLAB are R2006b and R2007b, with the exception of HP HP-UX which supports only R14SP3. For further information regarding platform support for Adams/Controls, see Knowledge Base Article 1-68961283 (http://support.mscsoftware.com/kb/results_kb.cfm?S_ID=1-68961283). For more information on MATLAB platforms and compatibility, see:

http://www.mathworks.com/support

Note: If you want to co-simulate with Easy5 and you are running Adams/Controls on one of the platforms that Easy5 does not support, you should consider using TCP/IP communication. This allows Adams/Controls to communicate with Easy5 even though the codes are running on different platforms.

Note: If you want to co-simulate with MATLAB and you are running Adams/Controls on one of the platforms that is not supported by MATLAB, you should consider using TCP/IP communication. This allows Adams/Controls to communicate with MATLAB even though the codes are running on different platforms.



http://www.mscsoftware.com/products/easy5_support.cfm

http://www.mathworks.com/support/sysreq/release14sp3/unix.html

63CHAPTER 4Supported Versions of Integration Products

Supported Versions of Integration Products

Company Product Name Product VersionAdams Product Platform

The Mathwoks, Inc.

Release 2007bMATLABSimulinkReal-Time Workshop

Version 7.5Version 7.0Version 7.0

Adams/Controls

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 x64Sun Solaris 10 (64-bit co-sim

only)Windows 2000Windows Vista Enterprise Windows XP Professional Windows Server 2003 x64 Windows XP Professional x64

The Mathwoks, Inc.

Release 2006bMATLABSimulinkReal-Time Workshop


Adams/Controls

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 x64Sun Solaris 10 (32-bit only)Windows 2000Windows Vista Enterprise Windows XP Professional Windows Server 2003 x64 Windows XP Professional x64

The Mathwoks, Inc.

Release 14SP3MATLABSimulinkReal-Time Workshop


Adams/ControlsHP HP-UX 11i

MSC.Software Corporation

Easy5 2008 r1 (8.1.0) Adams/ControlsHP HP-UX 11iIBM AIX 5.3 Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4Sun Solaris 10Windows XP Professional Windows XP Professional x64


Easy5 2005 r1 SP4 (8.0.7) Adams/ControlsHP HP-UX 11iIBM AIX 5.3 Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4Sun Solaris 10Windows XP Professional


MD Nastran R1 and above Adams/Car Ride

Adams/Vibration

UNIX and Windows


64


MSC.Nastran V69.X and above Adams/Durability

Adams/Flex

UNIX and Windows


Marc 2005 and above

2003 and above

Adams/Durability

Adams/Flex

UNIX and Windows


Fatigue 2001 and above Adams/Durability UNIX and Windows

nCode FE-Fatigue Version 5.2 and above Adams/Durability UNIX and WindowsANSYS, Inc. ANSYS V6.0 and above

V5.4 and above

Adams/Durability

Adams/Flex

UNIX and Windows

Hibbitt, Karlsson & Sorensen, Inc. (HKS)

ABAQUS/ADAMS Version 6.3 and above

Version 6.1-1 and above

Adams/Durability

Adams/Flex

UNIX and Windows

UGS PLM Solutions

I-DEAS Mechanism Design

I-DEAS NX 10 and above

I-DEAS 8, 9, NX 10 and above

Adams/Durability

Adams/Flex

UNIX and Windows

Company Product Name Product VersionAdams Product Platform

MSC.Fatigue Quick Start Guide

I n d e xMD Adams R3 Release Guide

I n d e x

AAccessing

online help 55Adams

Starting 46Adams Toolbar

starting online help from 56Adams/Car

What’s New 4Adams/Car Ride

What’s New 6Adams/Chassis

What’s New 7Adams/Controls

What’s New 8Adams/Driveline

What’s New 10Adams/Durability

What’s New 10Adams/Flex

What’s New 15Adams/SmartDriver

What’s New 29Adams/Solver

What’s New 30Adams/Tire

What’s New 34Adams/Vibration

What’s New 36Adams/View

What’s New 36Automatic TOC sync, about 57

BBrowsers, versions for help 54

DDialog box, accessing help for 56

EEasy5 62enhancements 2Examples 59

FF1, using to access help 56Firefox version for help 54

Iimprovements 2

new capabilities 2other additions 2product integration 2

Integrated master site, about 55Integration Products 63Internet Explorer version for help 54

MMaster help site 55Matlab 62Mozilla, using with help 54

NNavigating through online help 57Netscape Navigator version for help 54


66

OOnline Help 53

accessing 55Online help

navigating through 57printing 58searching single product 58

PPreferences 48Printing online help 58

SScrolling through help 57Searching

online help 58Setting

Working Directory 49Starting

On Unix 46On Windows 47online help 55

Starting Adams 46Support for

Easy5 62Matlab 62

UUNIX

Preferences 48starting online help from 56

UnixStarting MD Adams 46

VViewing all product help 55

WWeb browsers, versions for help 54

What’s New 4Adams/Car 4Adams/Car Ride 6Adams/Chassis 7Adams/Controls 8Adams/Driveline 10Adams/Durability 10Adams/Flex 15Adams/SmartDriver 29Adams/Solver 30Adams/Tire 34Adams/Vibration 36Adams/View 36

WindowsPreferences 48starting MD Adams 47Starting online help from 56

md adams r3 release guide

Documents