ADAMS/Flex

Improvements for ADAMS/Flex have been implemented in ADAMS/Solver (C++) and ADAMS/Solver (FORTRAN).

Improvements in ADAMS/Flex toolkit interface

The MNF Browser feature of the ADAMS/Flex Toolkit has been updated to enable browsing of Modal Loads and Stress and Strain modes. Additionally, all text boxes that expect file names now allow you to type the name in; you are no longer restricted to browsing the file system.

Stress modes support in I-DEAS

You can now include stress modes during generation of flexible bodies (MNFs) from I-DEAS beginning with version 10. With stress information now provided in the .mnf file, I-DEAS users can take advantage of modal stress recovery and fatigue life prediction when using ADAMS/Durability.

See What’s New in ADAMS/Durability to see other recent changes.

Support for single-precision MNF

Quicker animation caching and reduced storage requirements are achieved through the use of single precision numbers in the MNF. By default, the numerical values written to the MNF are stored in double precision; in the 2003 release, the ADAMS/Flex Toolkit provides an option of storing the values in single precision. This reduces the MNF size by nearly 50%, which speeds up the animation caching process, leading to faster post-processing of flexible body results.

Faster simulations for models with flexible bodies
(ADAMS/Solver (FORTRAN) only)

The computational efficiency in the FLEX_BODY element has significantly improved in the 2003 release. The improvement is seen in all models having flexible bodies, with the most dramatic improvement seen with flexible bodies having high numbers of selected modes (that is, SELMOD in .mtx file).

In an extreme case of a model dominated by a large FLEX_BODY having 288 modes, the simulation times improved by 6.1 times over the 12.0 ADAMS/Solver (FORTRAN). The improvements seen by a typical model are more modest, about 5 - 10%, and vary depending on how much the FLEX_BODY dominates the solution and how many enabled modes are in the FLEX_BODY. This change has no effect on the numerical results of the simulation.

Markers on flexible bodies do not need to be coincident with the flexible body's nodes and can be attached to multiple nodes.

Unlike the ADAMS/Solver (FORTRAN), the NODE_ID argument of the MARKER statement can now list the ids of multiple nodes and none of the nodes are required to be location coincident with the location specified by the MARKER's QP argument.

Previously, when you wanted to make connections to flexible bodies at locations not coincident with one of the nodes, you had two choices: add a new node to your finite-element model or introduce a dummy part at a neighboring node and offset the connection from the dummy part. It is now possible to attach the marker to this neighboring node by introducing an offset into the marker.

Additionally, there is no longer a need to add special elements (for example, an RBE3) to the finite element model when forces need to be distributed over multiple nodes. The marker can now be created with an offset from any node (for example, at the center of a hole) and connected directly to multiple nodes (for example, the nodes at the perimeter of the hole). MSC.ADAMS automatically distributes forces and represents the motion of the marker based on its proximity to or distance from the nodes.

Note: The ADAMS/View interface does not have GUI support for this feature during creation. You may, however, enter the offset node_id or a list of node_ids from the Marker Modify dialog box.

MFORCE and preload support
(ADAMS/Solver (C++) only)

Support for preloads and modal load (MFORCE) now exists in the ADAMS/Solver (C++). ADAMS/Flex users with modal forces or preloads in their models are no longer restricted to using the ADAMS/Solver (FORTRAN). 

Extended modeling element compatibility
(ADAMS/Solver (C++) only)

The flexible body is now compatible with more MSC.ADAMS modeling elements than ever before. All the MSC.ADAMS joints, joint primitives, and motion generators can now be attached directly to a flexible body. All MSC.ADAMS forces can also be applied directly to a flexible body when the flexible body is the action body. You are no longer burdened by introducing dummy parts when you want to attach beams, bushings, and fields to a flexible body, or when you want to apply a motion to joint on a flexible body.

All the MSC.ADAMS joints, joint primitives, and motion generators can now be attached directly to a flexible body, including the new GCON general constraint.

All MSC.ADAMS forces (excluding contacts) can also be applied directly to a flexible body when the flexible body is the action body. The translational and rotational SFORCE are both free of this restriction; the flexible body can be either action or reaction since there are no floating markers involved.

Modal coordinate function expressions
(ADAMS/Solver (C++) only)

New function expressions for flexible body modal coordinates and their first two time derivatives are introduced with the 2003 release. These enable you to define complex loading conditions based upon flexible body deformation without resorting to writing a user subroutine.