Engineers using motion simulation software.

Simcenter

Motion and multibody dynamics simulation

Simulate multibody dynamics to engineer performance for moving mechanisms.

Use multibody dynamics to study mechanism behavior

Understanding engineering performance is challenging for intricate mechanical systems, like wing flaps or landing gears, sliding sunroofs or suspensions, or photocopiers and other mechanisms. Motion simulation uses multibody dynamics to calculate the reaction forces, torques, velocities, acceleration and more for mechanical systems. You can directly convert CAD geometry and assembly constraints into an accurate motion model, or create your own multibody model from scratch. The embedded motion solver and robust post-processing capabilities enable you to study a broad range of mechanism behaviors.

Simcenter motion simulation software helps engineers understand and predict the functional behavior of mechanisms. It delivers a complete set of capabilities to support all aspects of advanced dynamic, static and kinematics motion simulation.

Simcenter 3D for motion simulation solution guide

The early use of motion simulation is key to increase design confidence and reduce risks.

Motion simulation capabilities

Rigid body dynamics

Fundamental multibody dynamics begin with rigid body motion, the fastest way to develop a critical understanding of your product’s motion characteristics. Simcenter gives you the right tools to perform detailed rigid body dynamics analysis. It’s easy to create your motion model directly from your CAD assembly through an automated conversion process based on assembly constraints, or you can create your model from scratch. You can also quickly model and simulate contact between rigid bodies.

Computer image of a crane

Flexible body dynamics

Typical motion simulation represents mechanisms using rigid bodies. While this approach is acceptable for general designs, in many cases, rigid bodies do not accurately represent all the parts and assemblies involved. However, by including the motion of flexible bodies, you can analyze elastic deformation and rigid body motion together. This facilitates a more accurate understanding of part and mechanism performance.

Computer image of a bulldozer adding a load to a wheeled cart

Control system integration

Today’s products often have various controllers, including electronics, hydraulics and software components. The behavior of the control system impacts the hardware mechanical system and vice versa. Therefore, it’s critical for mechanical and control engineers to understand these effects as they develop their systems.

You can increase engineering productivity by simulating and optimizing both the mechanical and control systems concurrently. Simcenter gives you the ability to co-simulate mechanical designs coupled with control systems to verify whether the control system design is robust enough to control the dynamic mechanism and help eliminate costly changes later in development.

A visual of a dummy hand going through an electronics window in the software.

Drivetrain, transmission and gears

Drivetrains, such as gear systems, chain, track and belt systems require specialized capabilities in order to simulate them. For the dynamic simulation of drivetrain elements, Simcenter helps you create and simulate detailed drivetrain models. Simcenter brings in-depth, gearbox-specific ease of use into the multibody simulation process, so you can rapidly move from initial design specifications to accurate simulations. The discrete drivetrain capability also provides a convenient interface to simplify the modeling of complex chain, track and belt systems.

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A visual of gears from Simcenter software.

Interference checking

When designing new assemblies, you need to consider the package space the assembly operates in and whether components will interfere with surrounding geometry. Simcenter helps you solve this problem by providing a true multibody dynamic solver that can compute the displacement and position of assembly components connected to springs, bushings and flexible bodies. Using your geometry directly lets you determine whether you need to make design changes to avoid interference issues.

Computer image of a car's wheel and suspension spring

Hardware-in-the-loop (HIL)

Unlock new external model integration possibilities by adding a model to a real-time (RT) platform, such as a vehicle simulator. This helps you more accurately reflect the actual physics of a vehicle for how it reacts to driver inputs. Integrate with other multiphysics models and combine with RT simulators and hardware-in-loop (HiL). Re-use existing models or extend the accuracy of RT models by adding more degrees-of-freedom (DOF) than possible with previously reduced models.

Computer image of a car frame and a chart with multibody analysis data.

Time waveform replication

Time waveform replication (TWR) uses multibody dynamics capabilities to allow you to build a virtual test rig, calculate the frequency response of a given system, specify target signals, filter and condition the signals and, ultimately, produce conditioned drive signals using an iterative solution process.

Computer image of a car on a virtual test rig

Tire model integration

Tires play an integral part in the performance of vehicle dynamics simulation. Simcenter allows you to integrate tire models into multibody dynamics models, giving you an accurate prediction of tire-road interactions, ride comfort, and handling performance. Quick and efficient predictions of real-world tire behavior reduce product development time.

A visual of a quad bike in Simcenter software.
On-demand webinar

Real time multibody simulation

Validate heavy equipment transmission design using multibody simulation.

Validating heavy equipment transmission design using multibody simulation in real-time.
Case study

Hyundai Motor Company

Hyundai uses Simcenter 3D to simulate complex engineering issues and reduce gear whine in drivetrains by utilizing the motion and acoustics modules.

Global automotive OEM adopts Siemens Digital Industries Software solutions to minimize transmission gear noise
Case Study

Global automotive OEM adopts Siemens Digital Industries Software solutions to minimize transmission gear noise

Company:Hyundai Motor Company

Industry:Automotive & transportation

Location:Seoul

Siemens Software:Simcenter 3D Solutions

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