EC: Adams FMI software
Software — Control Design: Adams FMI enables advanced co-simulations of automotive systems by embracing Open FMI standard; engineers leverage the combination of 3D nonlinear dynamics models and 1D simulation tools expanding the scope of simulations and model automotive systems. This is a Control Engineering 2015 Engineers’ Choice honorable mention.
Adams is used by engineers to model and simulate the functional performance of systems using computer models, prior to making a physical prototype. Using the software, engineers save millions in prototyping costs and improve the quality of products.
New in the latest release of Adams is the support for the functional mockup interface (FMI). The FMI standard makes it possible to create a virtual product from a set of models of the physical laws and control systems assembled digitally.
Within the automotive industry, noise/vibration/harshness (NVH) and fuel economy often must be traded off against each other during the vehicle design process. For example, lugging is a condition that typically occurs when the vehicle is in high gear with an engine speed of below 2,000 rpm. When the driver steps on the gas pedal under these conditions, the engine struggles to give motion to the vehicle while generating relatively little torque so acceleration is low.
One of the primary methods by which engineers attempt to control lugging is through the torque converter which transmits and amplifies the torque from the engine to the transmission using fluid coupling. In a recent use case example, Ford engineers used an Adams 3D drivetrain and full vehicle model as the co-simulation master with an AMESim 1D converter slip controller model as the co-simulation slave with the goal of optimizing converter slip to meet the vehicle lugging NVH target while maximizing fuel economy.
Ford was looking for a method to simulate the effects of different torque converter designs so that engineers could make intelligent tradeoffs upfront in the design and development stages. They successfully demonstrated the FMI integration approach for a vehicle lugging NVH assessment. An optimum torque converter slip speed was determined, meeting lugging target requirements while balancing fuel economy.
MSC Software, www.mscsoftware.com
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