Adams (Automated Dynamic Analysis of Mechanical Systems) | MSC Software/Hexagon

Features

Engineers can evaluate and manage the complex interactions between disciplines including motion, structures, actuation, and controls to better optimize product designs for performance, safety, and comfort.
Along with extensive analysis capabilities, Adams is optimized for large-scale problems, taking advantage of high performance computing environments.
Utilizing multibody dynamics solution technology, Adams runs nonlinear dynamics in a fraction of the time required by FEA solutions.
Loads and forces computed by Adams simulations improve the accuracy of FEA by providing better assessment of how they vary throughout a full range of motion and operating environments.

Student version of MSC Adams is free but a license is required for running extensions like Adams car, driven, tire etc.

Analysis of suspension, steering and full-vehicle maneuvers
Easy integration of control systems into vehicle models
Creation or import of component geometry in wireframe or 3D solids
Extensive library of joints and constraints to define part connectivity
Model refinement with part flexibility, automatic control systems, joint friction and slip, hydraulic and pneumatic actuators, and parametric design relationships
Comprehensive linear and nonlinear results for complex, large-motion designs
Comprehensive and easy to use contact capabilities supporting 2D and 3D contact between any combination of modal flexible bodies and rigid body geometry

Use with Adams Car, Adams Chassis, Adams Solver, or Adams View for adding tires to your mechanical model in order to simulate maneuvers such as braking, steering, acceleration, free-rolling, or skidding
Model the forces and torques that act on a tire as it moves over roadways or irregular terrain
Calculate the forces and moments that tires exert on a vehicle as a result of interaction between the tires and the road surface
Apply handling analyses to study vehicle dynamic responses to steering, braking, and throttle inputs
Apply ride and comfort analyses to assess the vehicle’s vibrations due to uneven roads with short wavelength obstacles, such as level crossings, grooves, or brick roads
Apply 3D contact analyses to generate road load histories and stress and fatigue studies that require component force and acceleration calculation

Model and simulate the ride quality of ground vehicles
Create Adams Car assemblies of suspensions and full vehicles
Analyze model to understand their performance and behavior
Use modeling elements important for ride quality as in Adams Car models
Analyze the modeling elements independently from other systems using a modeling element test rig
Use four-post test rig to support a variety of time-domain analyses

Bring a vehicle to its dynamic limits or near targets you define
Improve handling, durability, or ride performance of the vehicle model based on predicted performance Adams SmartDriver computes
Investigate system-level dynamics of the vehicle model, while requiring minimal setup
Calculate a limit (maximum performance) speed profile over the reference path
Check the speed profile using a fast, simplified vehicle model
Perform an analysis of vehicle states over the trajectory, searching for path locations that cannot be traveled with the current target speed during the full dynamic simulation
Calculate four additional limits using the parameters specified and theoretical limits of the vehicle
Creates a speed profile that brings the vehicle to both vehicle limits and user-defined ones

Simulate full vehicle events (such as steady state drift, throttle off in turn, and constant radius)
Simulate half vehicle events including dynamic load case and static vehicle characteristics
Use with Adams Insight to perform systematic experiments on vehicle model
Study the effect of multiple design variations
Optimize the design
Address the robustness issue