About Adams 2017

Adams 2017 Products

Adams 2017 Online Help
Helpful Links

Adams 2017 Products

2 Adams
Adams Car

Adams Car
Adams Car, part of the Adams 2017 suite of software, is a specialized environment for modeling
vehicles. It allows you to create virtual prototypes of vehicle subsystems and analyze the virtual
prototypes much like you would analyze the physical prototypes.
Using Adams Car, you can quickly create assemblies of suspensions and full vehicles, and then analyze
them to understand their performance and behavior.
You create assemblies in Adams Car by defining vehicle subsystems, such as front and rear suspensions,
steering gears, anti-roll bars, and bodies. You base these subsystems on their corresponding standard
Adams Car templates. For example, Adams Car includes templates for double-wishbone suspension,
MacPherson strut suspension, rack-and-pinion steering, and so on.
If you have expert-user access, you can also base your subsystems on custom templates that you create
using the Adams Car Template Builder.
When you analyze an assembly, Adams Car applies the analysis inputs that you specify. For example, for
a suspension analysis you can specify inputs to:
Move the wheels through bump-rebound travel and measure the toe, camber, wheel rate, roll
rate, and side-view swing arm length.
Apply lateral load and aligning torque at the tire contact path and measure the toe change and
lateral deflection of the wheel.
Rotate the steering wheel from lock to lock and measure the steer angles of the wheels and the
amount of Ackerman, that is, the difference between the left and right wheel-steer angles.
Based on the analysis results, you can quickly alter the suspension geometry or the spring rates and
analyze the suspension again to evaluate the effects of the alterations. For example, you can quickly
change a rear suspension from a trailing-link to a multi-link topology to see which yields the best
handling characteristics for your vehicle.
Once you complete the analysis of your model, you can share your work with others. You can also print
plots of the suspension characteristics and vehicle dynamic responses. In addition, you can access other
users' models without overwriting their data.
 Adams 2017 Products 3
Adams Car Ride

Adams Car Ride

Using Adams Car Ride, you can quickly create Adams Car assemblies of suspensions and full vehicles,
including Adams Car Ride-provided components important for ride quality, and then analyze them to
understand their performance and behavior.

The Adams Car Ride components are:

Monroe damper
Hydromount
Frequency-dependent bushing

You can analyze each component independently from other systems using a component test rig. You can
also use a parameter identification tool for the hydromount component, to quickly determine model
parameters that will accurately reproduce test data.
Using the Adams Car Ride four-post test rig for four-wheeled Adams Car vehicle models you can
simulate a vehicle traveling over a rough road or simulate a vehicle on a real four-post shaker test
machine. You can play displacement or force RPC III file data into the test rig, make your own bumps
with table-lookup functions and drive over them, or create and drive over a road-profile surface using a
mathematical model for generating road roughness. In the time domain, the four-post test rig also
supports sinusoidal sweeps (displacement, velocity, acceleration, or force) and arbitrary Adams Solver
functions.
4 Adams
Adams Chassis

Adams Chassis
Adams Chassis, part of the Adams 2017 suite of software, provides a complete analysis environment
for automotive Adams analysis. It does this by providing standard model types, two analysis types, and
post-processing. You run Adams Chassis in conjunction with Adams Solver and Adams PostProcessor.
 Adams 2017 Products 5
Adams Controls

Adams Controls
Adams Controls, part of the Adams 2017 suite of software, is a plugin to MSC Softwares Adams Car,
Adams Chassis, Adams View, or Adams Solver that helps you add sophisticated controls to your Adams
model. Adams Controls lets you connect your Adams model to block diagrams that you've developed
with control applications such as Easy5 or MATLAB.
Adams Controls offers you the option of:
Simulating the combined mechanical system and controller entirely within the controls
application.
Simulating entirely within Adams.

Solving the controls equations with the control package and solving the mechanical system equations
with Adams
6 Adams
Adams Durability

Adams Durability
Adams Durability, part of the Adams 2017 suite of software, extends the traditional test-based
durability design process into the virtual world. With Adams Durability, you can simulate a durability
duty cycle and write out component load histories in or formats and drive a durability test rig using output
data in RPC III or DAC formats. You can visualize stress or detect hot spots in flexible bodies, and you
can improve component design by interfacing with fatigue life prediction programs.
Some of the features of Adams Durability are available as a demand-loaded library (DLL), while the rest
are available as a plugin to the various Adams interface or vertical products, such as Adams View, Adams
PostProcessor, and Adams Car.
 Adams 2017 Products 7
Adams Flex

Adams Flex
Adams Flex software is an add-on module to the Adams 2017 suite of software that lets you add flexible
bodies to your models to achieve more realistic simulation results. The Adams Flex Help explains how
to add flexible bodies to the models you build in Adams. It contains both tutorial, overview, and theory
information on integrating and managing flexible bodies.
Although you can use Adams Flex with Adams Solver, we recommend that you use Adams View
because it provides an easy-to-use interface that is built right into the Adams View interface. Because of
Adams View's advantages, the Adams Flex Help focuses on how to use Adams Flex with Adams View.
For information on how to use Adams Flex with Adams Solver, see Flexible Body Modeling with Adams
Solver.

Adams Flex Help also assumes that you know how to run Adams View or Adams Solver. It also assumes
that you have a moderate level of finite element modeling proficiency. To use Adams Flex, you need
access to a finite element analysis (FEA) program that interfaces with Adams so you can prepare a finite
element (FE) model for use with Adams and create a to be built into your Adams model.
8 Adams
Adams Insight

Adams Insight
Adams Insight, part of the Adams 2017 suite of software, is a powerful design-of-experiments software.
Adams Insight is a stand-alone product that also works with many other Adams products. Adams Insight
lets you design sophisticated experiments for measuring the performance of your mechanical system. It
also provides a collection of statistical tools for analyzing the results of your experiments so that you can
better understand how to refine and improve your system.
Within the Adams analysis environment, there are conduits between Adams Insight and the other Adams
products (for example, Adams Car, and Adams Chassis). These conduits streamline the process by taking
advantage of the inherent parametric strengths of the vertical application.
When these parametric applications are not accessible, you can use the Adams Insight ASCII Conduit
(Adams Insight ASC). It provides the power of a streamlined parametric investigation process for
systems that are defined by text files. For example, if you only have an .adm and .acf file of an analytical
Adams Solver system, you could use Adams Insight ASC to easily execute various Adams Insight
investigation strategies. Adams Insight ASC has an editor that enables you to import the ASCII files
(.adm, .acf) and turn them into ASC templates, which together define an ASC system.
Adams Insight ASC is a general-purpose tool that helps you work with various analysis environments,
from your own or inhouse-developed applications to commercial applications which accept an ASCII
input deck.
 Adams 2017 Products 9
Adams MaxFlex

Adams MaxFlex
Adams MaxFlex is the Adams flexible body's nonlinear option which allows for the representation of
geometric nonlinearity (that is, large deformations), material nonlinearity and boundary condition
nonlinearity. It is based on implicit nonlinear finite element analysis. There is no intention of providing
broad finite element pre or post processing capabilities within the Adams environment. Rather, the focus
is on providing a solution for those problems where the nonlinear behavior of some parts and the motions
and loads of the rest of the multibody dynamics (MBD) model influence each other and, therefore,
accurate results are impossible or impractical through separate MBD and FEA analyses.
10 Adams
Adams Machinery

Adams Machinery
Adams Machinery is a new Adams product fully incorporated in to the Adams View environment. It
contains multiple modeling productivity modules which enable users to create some common machinery
components more efficiently than by using the more generic standard Adams View model construction
functionality alone.
 Adams 2017 Products 11
Adams Mechatronics

Adams Mechatronics
Adams Mechatronics is a plug-in to Adams which can be used to easily incorporate control systems into
mechanical models. Adams Mechatronics has been developed based on the Adams Control functionality
and contains modeling elements which transfer information to/from the control system. For example,
using Adams Mechatronics in Adams Car, you can quickly create assemblies of vehicle systems
including control systems, and then analyze them to understand their performance and behavior.
Using Adams Mechatronics you can create control systems with different level of complexity. You can
use function builder to build a simple control function. If you have your control system defined in a
control package such as Easy 5 or Matlab/Simulink, then you can perform a co-simulation between
mechanical model defined in Adams and control system defined in the control package. Alternatively,
you can generate the control system code as a dynamic link library file (a dll file in Windows, also known
as external system library or simply ESL file in Adams Mechtronics) using the control package and then
do all calculation within Adams.
12 Adams
Adams Postprocessor

Adams Postprocessor
Adams PostProcessor software is a powerful postprocessing tool that lets you view the results of
simulations you performed using other products in the Adams 2017 suite of software. The Adams
PostProcessor Help explains the basics of using Adams PostProcessor.
The Adams PostProcessor Help assumes you know the basics of using Adams products. It also assumes
that you have a moderate level of knowledge about signal processing and that you have access to in-depth
references on it. For introductions to Adams products, see their getting started guides or Help.
 Adams 2017 Products 13
Adams Solver

Adams Solver
Adams Solver is a powerful numerical analysis application that automatically solves the equations of
motion for kinematic, static, quasi-static, and dynamic simulations. You can use Adams Solver to build,
test, and refine mechanical system models. You can then take your simulation results from Adams Solver
into a graphical user interface, such as Adams View, that lets you animate and optimize models, automate
the simulation process, and customize the interface to suit your particular needs
14 Adams
Adams Tire

Adams Tire
Adams Tire software is a module you use with Adams Car, Adams Chassis, Adams Solver, or Adams
View to add tires to your mechanical model and to simulate maneuvers such as braking, steering,
acceleration, free-rolling, or skidding. Adams Tire lets you model the forces and torques that act on a tire
as it moves over roadways or irregular terrain.
Adams Tire is a set of shared object libraries that Adams Solver calls through the Adams DIFSUB,
GFOSUB, GSESUB subroutines. These subroutines calculate the forces and moments that tires exert on
a vehicle as a result of the interaction between the tires and road surface.
You can use Adams Tire to model tires for either vehicle-handling, ride and comfort, and vehicle-
durability analyses.
Handling analyses are useful for studying vehicle dynamic responses to steering, braking, and
throttle inputs. For example, you can analyze the lateral accelerations produced for a given
steering input at a given vehicle speed.
Ride and comfort analyses are useful for assessing the vehicle's vibrations due to uneven roads
with short wavelength obstacles (shorter than tire circumference), such as level crossings,
grooves, or brick roads.
3D contact analyses are useful for generating road load histories and stress and fatigue studies that require
component force and acceleration calculation. These studies can help you calculate the effects of road
profiles, such as pothole, curb, or Belgian block.
 Adams 2017 Products 15
Adams Vibration

Adams Vibration
Adams Vibration is an Adams 2017 plugin for performing frequency-domain analyses. Using Adams
Vibration, you can study forced vibrations within your Adams models. For example, you can simulate
driving an automobile over a bumpy road an measure its frequency response. Both inputs and outputs
are described in the frequency domain.

Using Adams Vibration, you can:

Analyze the forced response of a model in the frequency domain over different operating points.
Include the effects of hydraulics, controls, and user-subsystems in the frequency analysis.
Transfer your linearized model from Adams products to Adams Vibration completely and
quickly.
Create input and output channels for vibration analyses.
Specify frequency domain input functions, such as swept sine amplitude/frequency, power
spectral density (PSD), and rotational imbalance.
Create user-defined, frequency-based forces.
Solve for system modes over frequency range of interest.
Evaluate frequency response functions for magnitude and phase characteristics.
Animate forced response and individual mode response.
Tabulate system modal contributions to forced vibration response.
Tabulate contribution of model elements to kinetic, static, and dissipative energy distribution in
system modes.
Perform modal stress recovery of flexible bodies.
Specify direct kinematic inputs.
Export Mass, Stiffness and Damping Matrices of the linearized model to Nastran bdf file for
performing Modal and Frequency Response analysis of the full Adams model in the Nastran
environment.
Plot Stress/Strain FRFs
16 Adams
Adams View

Adams View
Adams View lets you build models of mechanical systems and simulate the full-motion behavior of the
models. You can also use Adams View to quickly analyze multiple design variations until you find the
optimal design.
 Adams 2017 Products 17
Adams View Function Builder

Adams View Function Builder

The Adams View Function Builder is a versatile tool inside of Adams View, part of the Adams 2017
suite of software, that lets you write expressions, functions, and subroutines to define forces, measures,
and motion in Adams products. You can create and modify functions and parameterize values for various
entities.
18 Adams
Adams View Function Builder
Adams 2017 Online Help
Welcome to the Adams 2017 Online Help System.
The Help system provides:
Release Notes for each product
Configuration information
Getting Started guides for each product
Online Help for all products

Note: It is recommened to use Internet Explorer 6.0 for best performance of the help system.

Navigating the Help System

The navigation panel on the left side of the Help window displays the help topics for each Adams product. If you
do not see the navigation panel on the left side, click the Show Navigation icon ( ). Click the closed book icon
( ) to expand, or the open book icon ( ) to collapse the entries beneath. Topics that display a question mark
icon ( ) contain no subordinate topics.

Use the Up ( ) and Down ( ) arrows to page forward and backwards through the help topics. Use the
browser Back ( ) and Forward ( ) buttons to view the history of visited help topics.

Synchronizing the Table of Contents

As you use navigate through the help system, conduct searches, or follow hypertext links, use the sync button
( ) to show your current location in the Help system. After clicking the sync button, the Contents tab is brought
to the front and the displayed help topic appears highlighted in the topics list.

Searching the Help System

To search for topics in the Help system, click on the Search tab in the Navigation panel. After entering one or more
words to search, the search panel returns a list of help topics for each product ordered according to their number
of relevant matches. Click on any search result to bring up that topic. In the Content frame, all matching words
appear highlighted.

Adding a Topic to the Favorites List

If you would like to bookmark a help topic, click the Favorites tab in the navigation panel and click Add. Then
click any topic from the Favorites list to return to that Help topic.

Printing a Help Topic

Every section of the Help system is available in pdf format. To access the corresponding pdf file, simply click the
pdf button ( ) located in the upper right corner of the Help window. Once displayed in the Help window, use
the print button to print the help content. Additionally you can use the print button ( ) provided with the Help
system to print the contents in the current help window.

Using Online Resources

The database icon ( ) located in the upper right corner of the Help window provides direct access to the MSC
website. You can find additional resources on the website including; product announcements, technical support
information, a knowledge base, and user forums.
Helpful Links
SimCompanion - Find solutions to problems in this repository of troubleshooting tips,
examples, and frequently asked questions. To access the SimCompanion, go to:
http://simcompanion.mscsoftware.com
Virtual Product Development (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.
Adams Website - Go to the MSC Software web site at www.mscsoftware.com, and click on
Support. Here, you can find a wide variety of support resources including Product Updates,
Discussions, Technical Articles, and Documentation updates.
20 Helpful links