CEM has enhanced their modeling capabilities with the addition of the ADAMs Tracked Vehicle Toolkit (ATV) to their software inventory. The Tracked Vehicle Toolkit greatly speeds up the process of creating new models and dramatically enhances the simulation capabilities of the ADAMS Car modeling environment. The MSC ATV package delivers a template based model building approach that reduces the time required to build a new model from weeks to days. Results can now be generated as quickly as the first week of a project, rather than waiting up to a month. This allows more model permutations or design iterations to be explored; engineering time can be focused to finding better answers rather than constructing the problem.
Caption: Extreme turning maneuver evaluated using MSC ADAMS The advanced modeling capabilities of the ATV package enable new kinds of studies that were not previously performed at CEM.
Previous tracked vehicle simulations used a superelement based modeling approach that was useful for straight-line off-road simulations where the vehicle could be assumed to be in good contact with the ground at all times. The superelement model has a single degree of freedom that represents the interaction of the roadwheels with the ground, each other, the drive and idler sprockets, and track support rollers through track tension. It is a simplification that reduces the computational requirements of the simulation at the expense of some modeling fidelity. Turning simulations where lateral track forces become significant, more dynamic courses where the vehicle may lose contact with the ground, or the interaction of soft soil mechanics with track dynamics require more model fidelity than a superelement model can provide to reliably generate trustworthy results. The ATV package has a superelement model for general use, but also provides automated routines to build a full track model when model requirements demand the enhanced fidelity of a full track model. Track wrapping routines, element definition dialogs, and soil definition dialogs simplify the otherwise demanding process of creating the hundreds of bodies and defining their interactions. With these enhanced capabilities, CEM is better able to focus on its primary mission of research and development. One area of continuing research involves the integration of Active and Semi active suspension systems with current and future military vehicles to enhance their performance and survivability both on road and off. CEM is currently exploring the use of active suspension in rollover prevention in high center of gravity wheeled vehicles during road breakaway events, and hopes to generate interest from government and industry partners to expand this work to ultra-high mobility off road tracked vehicles such as the proposed DARPA Ground X-Vehicle Technologies (GVX-T). Its high center of gravity and nimble suspension will make it a fitting candidate for active suspension. Without the advanced capabilities of the ATV package, substantial project time would be required to build this vehicle model, as well as integrate the track dynamics and soft soil mechanics. Other areas of current work involve the independent analysis of advanced passive suspension systems for new and retrofit military tracked vehicles. The ability to quickly and easily build a full track model enables the analysis of fixed discrete obstacles that previous modeling approaches would not have been able to appropriately simulate.
Additional Information: Adam Bryant