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Fig. 3.44
ADAMS/Chassis user interface (provided courtesy of MSC.Software)
(ii) The Standard User mode is intended for design, test and development
engineers in addition to analysts. These users would not necessarily be
MSC.ADAMS experts but would be able to use the existing templates
to enter data and create models using familiar terminology.
In parallel to ADAMS/Car the ADAMS/Chassis system is also used for
vehicle work and offers similar capability. The ADAMS/Chassis program
was originally developed in-house by Ford in the late 1980s. The program was
originally called ADAMS/Pre and as the name suggests the early implementation
was a pre-processor that automatically formatted ADAMS data sets.
In its current form it has additional capability to run customized simulations
and has its own post-processor. Ford allowed the program to be taken on
and developed by another company before the product was acquired by the
developers of MSC.ADAMS. Due to its origin ADAMS/Chassis appears on
the surface unlike any of the other customized MSC.ADAMS programs.
The program uses a graphical interface based more on data forms to enter
the data. An example is shown in Figure 3.44.
The program also requires a high level of programming skill on the part of any
expert user who is going to customize or develop the way models are generated,
simulations are run or results are plotted and reported. In addition to
vehicle dynamics knowledge the ADAMS/Chassis expert would need a working
knowledge of ADAMS/Solver language, C and FORTRAN in order
to perform any meaningful customization. It is perhaps fortuitous that the program
offers a good range of suspension systems in the current implementation.
Once the full vehicle is assembled there exists a range of pre-programmed
manoeuvres that may be selected and simulated. Examples are listed here in
Table 3.7 using the terminology particular to ADAMS/Chassis to name the
manoeuvres.