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Adams 2008 r1

Release Guide

Corporate
MSC.Software Corporation 2 MacArthur Place Santa Ana, CA 92707 USA Telephone: (800) 345-2078 FAX: (714) 784-4056

Europe
MSC.Software GmbH Am Moosfeld 13 81829 Munich GERMANY Telephone: (49) (89) 43 19 87 0 Fax: (49) (89) 43 61 71 6

Asia Pacific
MSC.Software Japan Ltd. Shinjuku First West 8F 23-7 Nishi Shinjuku 1-Chome, Shinjuku-Ku Tokyo 160-0023, JAPAN Telephone: (81) (3)-6911-1200 Fax: (81) (3)-6911-1201

Worldwide Web
www.mscsoftware.com

Disclaimer
This 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.

ADAM*V2008R1*Z*Z*Z*DC-REL

Contents
Adams 2008 r1 Release Guide

Preface
Welcome to Adams 2008 r1 vi About MSC.Software vii Overview vii About Virtual Product Development and Adams Technical Support Web viii Phone and Fax ix Email ix Training ix Internet Resources viii

vii

xi

Whats New
Overall Product Improvements Whats New 3 Adams/Car 3 Adams/Car Ride 5 Adams/Chassis 6 Adams/Controls 7 Adams/Driveline 9 Adams/Durability 9 Adams/Engine 12 Adams/Flex 14 Adams/SmartDriver 23 Adams/Solver (C++ and FORTRAN) Adams/Tire 27 Adams/Vibration 29 Adams/View 29 2

24

Running Adams Products


Starting Adams Products 38

iv Adams 2008 r1 Release Guide

Starting Adams Products on UNIX 38 Starting Adams Products on Windows 39 Setting Preferences 40 Setting Preferences on UNIX 40 Setting Preferences on Windows 40 Setting Your Working Directory 41

Getting Help
Tool Tips 44 46 47 Online Help 45 Versions of Web Browsers Accessing the Online Help Searching 49 Printing 49 Index 49 Tutorials and Examples

50

Supported Versions of Integration Products


Support for Easy5 and MATLAB Easy5 52 MATLAB 52 52

Supported Versions of Integration Products

53

Preface Adams 2008 r1 Release Guide

Preface
Welcome to Adams 2008 r1 About MSC.Software Technical Support Internet Resources viii xi vii vi

vi Adams 2008 r1 Release Guide


Welcome to Adams 2008 r1

Welcome to Adams 2008 r1


Thank you for purchasing Adams 2008 r1 products. The Adams 2008 r1 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.

Preface vii
About MSC.Software

About MSC.Software
Overview
MSC.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 Adams


Youve 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 dont 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 childrens toys to your customers, MSC.Softwares 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.

viii Adams 2008 r1 Release Guide


Technical Support

Technical Support
For 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.

Web
Go 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.

Preface ix
Technical Support

Phone and Fax


United States Telephone: (800) 732-7284 Fax: (714) 784-4343 United Kingdom Frimley, Camberley Surrey, United Kingdom Telephone: (44) (1276) 60 19 00 Fax: (44) (1276) 69 11 11 Munich, Germany Telephone: (49) (89) 43 19 87 0 Fax: (49) (89) 43 61 71 6 Rome, Italy Telephone: (390) (6) 5 91 64 50 Fax: (390) (6) 5 91 25 05 Moscow, Russia Telephone: (7) (095) 236 6177 Fax: (7) (095) 236 9762 Tokyo, Japan Telephone: (03)-6911-1200 Fax: (03)-6911-1201 Paris, France Telephone: (03)-6911-1200 (03)-6911-1201 Gouda, The Netherlands Telephone: (31) (18) 2543700 Fax: (31) (18) 2543707 Madrid, Spain Telephone: (34) (91) 5560919 Fax: (34) (91) 5567280

Email
Send 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.

Training
The 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.

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Technical Support

The MSC Institute of Technology is located at: 2 MacArthur Place Santa Ana, CA 92707 Phone: (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 Registration For detailed course descriptions, schedule information, and registration call the Training Specialist at (800) 732-7211 or visit www.mscsoftware.com.

Preface xi
Internet Resources

Internet Resources
MSC.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

xii Adams 2008 r1 Release Guide


Internet Resources

Chapter 1: Whats New Adams 2008 r1 Release Guide

Whats New
Overall Product Improvements Whats New 3 2

2 Adams 2008 r1 Release Guide


Overall Product Improvements

Overall Product Improvements


Some highlights of the Adams 2008 r1 release include: 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. 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++). 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.

Chapter 1: Whats New 3


Whats New

Whats New
The following are highlights of additions to existing products. For Known Issues and updated Release Notes, look for Adams 2008 r1 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 Analysis Beginning in Adams 2008 r1, 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 Roads A 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:

4 Adams 2008 r1 Release Guide


Whats New

Linear Curvature Transition User Function User 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. For an example, see Knowledge Base Article 1-60528922. http://support.mscsoftware.com/kb/results_kb.cfm?S_ID=1-60528922 Consolidation of Suspension Testrigs Additional 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 Adams 2008 r1 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 precalculate 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

Chapter 1: Whats New 5


Whats New

Supported Inputs Adams roads (.rdf, .xml) Driver road (.drd) Output Driver road (.drd) See Adams/SmartDriver section for further details. For an example, see Knowledge Base Article 1-60781941. http://support.mscsoftware.com/kb/results_kb.cfm?S_ID=1-60781941 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. For an example, see Knowledge Base Article 1-61035523. http://support.mscsoftware.com/kb/results_kb.cfm?S_ID=1-61035523

Adams/Car Ride
Quantitative Ride Index Measures With 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_WARMS RIDE_INDEX RIDE_WEIGHTING POWA 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.

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Whats New

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. For an example, see Knowledge Base Article 1-59580851. http://support.mscsoftware.com/kb/results_kb.cfm?S_ID=1-59580851 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 Roads A 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

Chapter 1: Whats New 7


Whats New

Using the Road Generator you create analytical road data from multiple segments, each segment representing predefined types, including: Linear Curvature Transition User Function User 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. For an example, see Knowledge Base Article 1-60528922. http://support.mscsoftware.com/kb/results_kb.cfm?S_ID=1-60528922

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) DELAY Function

Support for MATLAB R2007b MATLAB The 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

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).

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Whats New

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.

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). DELAY Function With 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. http://support.mscsoftware.com/kb/results_kb.cfm?S_ID=1-57632260

Chapter 1: Whats New 9


Whats New

Adams/Driveline
Maintenance This 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 Export ANSYS 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.v08r1 & flex_body = .model_1.FLEX_BODY_1 & file_name = "v08r1_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.v08r1 & flex_body = .model_1.FLEX_BODY_1 & file_name = "v08r1_test_ansys_vel.out" format = ansys & native = no & basis = orthonormal & addvelo = yes Note:

&

&

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

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Whats New

FEMDATA Support for Flex-Body Contact The 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. Sample Adams/View Command Language: !----------------------------------------------------------------! 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 !----------------------------------------------------------------! 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

Chapter 1: Whats New 11


Whats New

! TIME,2.10000e-001 FDEL, ALL ACEL,1.04214e+004,-3.46427e+004,1.94250e+003 OMEGA,3.48444e-002,-4.81997e-003,-9.34180e-001 DOMEGA,-2.59679e+001,5.32941e+000,2.09596e+002 F, 1, FX,-4.21184e+002 F, 1, FY,1.99692e+003 F, 1, FZ,-5.43325e+001 F, 1, MX,5.06744e+004 F, 1, MY,4.86461e+004 F, 1, MZ,5.69669e-001 F, 147, FX,-8.40605e+000 F, 147, FY,2.55870e+003 F, 147, FZ,4.83245e-001 F,CI1, FX,4.23024e+002 F,CI1, FY,-2.59903e+003 F,CI1, FZ,-1.95514e+000 LSWRITE

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-001 FDEL, ALL ACEL,1.04214e+004,-3.46427e+004,1.94250e+003

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Whats New

OMEGA,3.48444e-002,-4.81997e-003,-9.34180e-001 DOMEGA,-2.59679e+001,5.32941e+000,2.09596e+002 F, 1, FX,-4.21184e+002 F, 1, FY,1.99692e+003 F, 1, FZ,-5.43325e+001 F, 1, MX,5.06744e+004 F, 1, MY,4.86461e+004 F, 1, MZ,5.69669e-001 F, 147, FX,-8.40605e+000 F, 147, FY,2.55870e+003 F, 147, FZ,4.83245e-001 F,225, FX,1.69360e+002 F,225, FY,-1.03958e+003 F,225, FZ,-7.82769e-001 F,74, FX,5.48906e+001 F,74, FY,-3.37089e+002 F,74, FZ,-2.53698e-001 F,72, FX,1.99040e+002 F,72, FY,-1.22232e+003 F,72, FZ,-9.19939e-001 LSWRITE

Adams/Engine
Whats new section for Adams/Engine is the same as 2007 r1, reprinted here for your convenience.
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 HafnerMaass 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.

Chapter 1: Whats New 13


Whats New

Gas Pressure Wizard for 4-stroke Engines Gas pressure curves can be computed at user specified engine speeds based on the so called SEILIGERcycle 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.

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Whats New

Adams/Flex
Flexible Body Contact using Modal Formulation (C++ Solver Only) 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. 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 Palette -> 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) Content Contact Incidents Node Incidents Sample Adams/View Command Language: contact create & contact_name = .model_1.CONTACT_3 & adams_id = 3 & i_flex = .model_1.FLEX_BODY_2 &

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Whats New

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

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Whats New

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.
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 ----

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Whats New

Notes:

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). This environment variable may be removed in future releases upon further improvement of flexible body contact technology.
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 For an example, see Knowledge Base Article 1-55422670. http://support.mscsoftware.com/kb/results_kb.cfm?S_ID=1-55422670 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.

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Whats New

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 level Message 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. Sample Adams/View Command Language: executive set preferences model=.model_1 flex_limit_check=skin executive 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 ----

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Whats New

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

For an example, see Knowledge Base Article 1-63338313. http://support.mscsoftware.com/kb/results_kb.cfm?S_ID=1-63338313 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 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, is defined with respect to the FE origin. MNFXFORM is a tool for translating, rotating, or mirroring the MNF 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

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Whats New

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. 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 MNFXFORM, 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: adams08r1 [-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 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. 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 ...

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Whats New

Specify new interface node IDs. nid is the number of new IDs will be specified, n1 n2 ... are the new IDs Notes: 1. How to specify direction and distance a. -v -d c. -p -r -d d. -p -r a. -v -p -a c. -p -r -a a. -v -p b. -p -r -s c. -p -r Windows Examples: 1. adams08r1 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. For an example, see Knowledge Base Article 1-63329103. http://support.mscsoftware.com/kb/results_kb.cfm?S_ID=1-63329103 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: adams08r1 [-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. (Direction is V) (Direction is PR) (Direction is PR, distance is length of segment PR) (Axis is in direction V and passes point P) (Axis is in the direction of PR and passes point P) (Plane passes point P and its normal direction is V) (Plane PRS) (Plane passes point P and its normal direction is PR) b. -p -r -s -d (Direction is the normal of plane PRS)

2. How to specify axis and angle b. -p -r -s -a (Axis is the normal direction of plane PRS and passes point P) 3. How to specify plane

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Whats New

-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 displacements v : Nodal velocities a : 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: adams08r1 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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Whats New

% 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) File In 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 singleprecision 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 doubleprecision format. For more information, see Knowledge Base Article 1-63339050. http://support.mscsoftware.com/kb/results_kb.cfm?S_ID=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/SmartDriver
SmartDriver Path Planning (1-55043956) Discrete GSE for SmartDriver

24 Adams 2008 r1 Release Guide


Whats New

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 Adams 2008 r1 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 For an example, see Knowledge Base Article 1-60781941. http://support.mscsoftware.com/kb/results_kb.cfm?S_ID=1-60781941 Discrete GSE for SmartDriver In 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 Adams 2008 r1 release a discrete GSE has been implemented to replace the REQSUB. The discrete GSE-based approach has the advantage of setting its own update interval(s) to obtain desired accuracy and, as a result, SmartDriver is no longer as restricted to small output step sizes. For an example, see Knowledge Base Article 1-61035447. http://support.mscsoftware.com/kb/results_kb.cfm?S_ID=1-61035447

Adams/Solver (C++ and FORTRAN)


HASTIFF Integrator: SI1 and SI2 Formulations (C++ Solver Only) DELAY Function (C++ Solver Only) 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.

Chapter 1: Whats New 25


Whats New

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 For an example, see Knowledge Base Article 1-57410930. http://support.mscsoftware.com/kb/results_kb.cfm?S_ID=1-57410930 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

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Whats New

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. http://support.mscsoftware.com/kb/results_kb.cfm?S_ID=1-57632260 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.

Chapter 1: Whats New 27


Whats New

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 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

28 Adams 2008 r1 Release Guide


Whats New

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 ADAMS_TireHandling licensed feature. For an example, see Knowledge Base Article 1-61035338. http://support.mscsoftware.com/kb/results_kb.cfm?S_ID=1-61035338 SMP Support for Adams/Tire (C++ Solver Only) With Adams 2008 r1 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 For an example, see Knowledge Base Article 1-61031261. http://support.mscsoftware.com/kb/results_kb.cfm?S_ID=1-61031261 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 http://support.mscsoftware.com/kb/results_kb.cfm?S_ID=1-58345731 Road Builder A 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. For an example, see Knowledge Base Article 1-60528922. http://support.mscsoftware.com/kb/results_kb.cfm?S_ID=1-60528922

Chapter 1: Whats New 29


Whats New

Adams/Vibration
Maintenance This 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) 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) 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)

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 Solid Flex 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 &

&

30 Adams 2008 r1 Release Guide


Whats New

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

&

Chapter 1: Whats New 31


Whats New

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: ---- 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 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. For an example, see Knowledge Base Article 1-55422670. http://support.mscsoftware.com/kb/results_kb.cfm?S_ID=1-55422670

32 Adams 2008 r1 Release Guide


Whats New

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. Sample Adams/View Command Language: executive set preferences model=.model_1 flex_limit_check=skin executive 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 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=on output set results model = .model_1 contact_incidents=off node_incidents=off Where:
contact_incidents=off

Chapter 1: Whats New 33


Whats New

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

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. 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 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. For an example, see Knowledge Base Article 1-57410930. http://support.mscsoftware.com/kb/results_kb.cfm?S_ID=1-57410930 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).

Sample Adams/View Command Language: 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

34 Adams 2008 r1 Release Guide


Whats New

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. Sample Adams/View Command Language: 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 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. http://support.mscsoftware.com/kb/results_kb.cfm?S_ID=1-63467579

Chapter 1: Whats New 35


Whats New

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' Button An 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 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:

36 Adams 2008 r1 Release Guide


Whats New

!------------------------------------------! 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.

Chapter 2: Running Adams Products Adams 2008 r1 Release Guide

Running Adams Products


Starting Adams Products Setting Preferences 40 41 38

Setting Your Working Directory

38 Adams 2008 r1 Release Guide


Starting Adams Products

Starting Adams Products


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

Starting Adams Products on UNIX


The Adams Toolbar is a starting point to using Adams products on UNIX. The toolbar is shown below. 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. 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 adams08x where x is the version number, for example adams08r1. 2. Click on the tool representing the product you want to start. 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.

Chapter 2: Running Adams Products 39


Starting Adams Products

Starting Adams Products on Windows


You 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 Adams 2008 r1, 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.

40 Adams 2008 r1 Release Guide


Setting Preferences

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

Setting Preferences on UNIX


You 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 Windows


You 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 Adams 2008 r1, and then select Adams - Settings.

Chapter 2: Running Adams Products 41


Setting Your Working Directory

Setting Your Working Directory


During 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/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.

42 Adams 2008 r1 Release Guide


Setting Your Working Directory

Chapter 3: Getting Help Adams 2008 r1 Release Guide

Getting Help
Tool Tips Online Help 44 45 50

Tutorials and Examples

44 Adams 2008 r1 Release Guide


Tool Tips

Tool Tips
Tool 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.

Tool Tip

To display tool tips: Move the cursor over the item in the interface on which youd like information. A brief description of the item appears.

Chapter 3: Getting Help 45


Online Help

Online Help
To 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 Automatic sync to show the current topic in TOC Navigate to next topic or previous topic

All Products Help Button

Bookmark topics of interest

Search for documentation across entire Help system

Products grouped by package

46 Adams 2008 r1 Release Guide


Online Help

Versions of Web Browsers


For 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

Chapter 3: Getting Help 47


Online Help

Accessing the Online Help


You 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 products 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 view PDF View topics for any product help

Print

48 Adams 2008 r1 Release Guide


Online Help

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 products 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 products online help. To get help on another Adams product: Perform one of the following:
If youre in an Adams product, from its Help menu, select Adams Help. If youre 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 Adams 2008 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 Help You navigate through the Adams help system as you do through any help system, selecting topics in the pane on the left. In addition, weve 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.

Chapter 3: Getting Help 49


Online Help

Searching
You can search all the help files in HTML format for a particular product or all Adams products. If you are in a product specific help 1. Open the online help for your product. 2. Press Search button press the Go button at the top of the help window, enter the search text, and then .

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 system 1. 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 You can select the PDF button

. to print the topic that you are viewing

. 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.

Index
The 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.

50 Adams 2008 r1 Release Guide


Tutorials and Examples

Tutorials and Examples


Adams products have a set of tutorials or getting started guides that step you through examples of using the products 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.

Getting Started Guides

Adams/View Examples

Chapter 4: Supported Versions of Integration Products Adams 2008 r1 Release Guide

Supported Versions of Integration Products


Support for Easy5 and MATLAB 52 53

Supported Versions of Integration Products

52 Adams 2008 r1 Release Guide


Support for Easy5 and MATLAB

Support for Easy5 and MATLAB


Easy5
This 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

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.

MATLAB
The 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=168961283). For more information on MATLAB platforms and compatibility, see:
http://www.mathworks.com/support

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.

Chapter 4: Supported Versions of Integration Products 53


Supported Versions of Integration Products

Supported Versions of Integration Products


Company The Mathwoks, Inc. Product Name Release 2007b MATLAB Simulink Real-Time Workshop Product Version Adams Product Platform Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 x64 Sun Solaris 10 (64-bit co-sim only) Windows 2000 Windows Vista Enterprise Windows XP Professional Windows Server 2003 x64 Windows XP Professional x64 Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 x64 Sun Solaris 10 (32-bit only) Windows 2000 Windows Vista Enterprise Windows XP Professional Windows Server 2003 x64 Windows XP Professional x64 HP HP-UX 11i Adams/Controls

Version 7.5 Version 7.0 Version 7.0

Adams/Controls

The Mathwoks, Inc.

Release 2006b MATLAB Simulink Real-Time Workshop

Version 7.3 Version 6.5 Version 6.5

Adams/Controls

The Mathwoks, Inc.

Release 14SP3 MATLAB Simulink Real-Time Workshop Easy5

Version 7.1 Version 6.3 Version 6.3

MSC.Software Corporation

2008 r1 (8.1.0)

Adams/Controls

HP HP-UX 11i IBM AIX 5.3 Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 Sun Solaris 10 Windows XP Professional Windows XP Professional x64 HP HP-UX 11i IBM AIX 5.3 Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 Sun Solaris 10 Windows XP Professional UNIX and Windows

MSC.Software Corporation

Easy5

2005 r1 SP4 (8.0.7)

Adams/Controls

MSC.Software Corporation

MD Nastran

R1 and above

Adams/Car Ride Adams/Vibration

54 Adams 2008 r1 Release Guide

Supported Versions of Integration Products

Company MSC.Software Corporation MSC.Software Corporation MSC.Software Corporation nCode ANSYS, Inc.

Product Name MSC.Nastran

Product Version V69.X and above

Adams Product

Platform

Adams/Durability UNIX and Windows Adams/Flex

Marc

2005 and above 2003 and above

Adams/Durability UNIX and Windows Adams/Flex Adams/Durability UNIX and Windows Adams/Durability UNIX and Windows Adams/Durability UNIX and Windows Adams/Flex Adams/Durability UNIX and Windows Adams/Flex Adams/Durability UNIX and Windows Adams/Flex

Fatigue FE-Fatigue ANSYS

2001 and above Version 5.2 and above V6.0 and above V5.4 and above

Hibbitt, Karlsson & Sorensen, Inc. (HKS) UGS PLM Solutions

ABAQUS/ADAMS

Version 6.3 and above Version 6.1-1 and above

I-DEAS Mechanism I-DEAS NX 10 and Design above I-DEAS 8, 9, NX 10 and above

MSC.Fatigue Quick Start Guide

Index
Adams 2008 r1 Release Guide

Accessing online help, 47 Adams Starting, 38 Adams Toolbar starting online help from, 48 Adams/Car Whats New, 3 Adams/Car Ride Whats New, 5 Adams/Chassis Whats New, 6 Adams/Controls Whats New, 7 Adams/Driveline Whats New, 9 Adams/Durability Whats New, 9 Adams/Flex Whats New, 14 Adams/SmartDriver Whats New, 23 Adams/Solver Whats New, 24 Adams/Tire Whats New, 27 Adams/Vibration Whats New, 29 Adams/View Whats New, 29 Automatic TOC sync, about, 48

Easy5, 52 enhancements, 2 Examples, 50

F1, using to access help, 48 Firefox version for help, 46

improvements, 2 new capabilities, 2 other additions, 2 Integrated master site, about, 47 Integration Products, 53 Internet Explorer version for help, 46

Master help site, 47 Matlab, 52 Mozilla, using with help, 46

Navigating through online help, 48 Netscape Navigator version for help, 46

B D

Browsers, versions for help, 46

Online Help, 45 accessing, 47 Online help navigating through, 48 printing, 49 searching single product, 49

Dialog box, accessing help for, 48

Preferences, 40 Printing online help, 49

56 Adams 2008 r1 Release Guide

Scrolling through help, 48 Searching online help, 49 Setting Working Directory, 41 Starting On Unix, 38 On Windows, 39 online help, 47 Starting Adams, 38 Support for Easy5, 52 Matlab, 52

UNIX Preferences, 40 starting online help from, 48 Unix Starting Adams 2008, 38

Viewing all product help, 47

Web browsers, versions for help, 46 Whats New, 3 Adams/Car, 3 Adams/Car Ride, 5 Adams/Chassis, 6 Adams/Controls, 7 Adams/Driveline, 9 Adams/Durability, 9 Adams/Flex, 14 Adams/SmartDriver, 23 Adams/Solver, 24 Adams/Tire, 27 Adams/Vibration, 29 Adams/View, 29 Windows Preferences, 40 starting Adams 2008, 39 Starting online help from, 48

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