Flexible Body Suspension System Modeling and Simulation Using MD Nastran SOL700 in VPG Environment

Automobile durability and fatigue life prediction depend on road load generation approaches including proving ground testing, laboratory measurement and CAE simulations. Traditionally, the road load simulations are done with ADAMS using rigid body and modal flexible body approaches. With the newly available MD Nastran SOL700 capability, a new approach of using FEA-based flexible body modeling for suspension systems will be an attractive supplemental solution. MD Nastran SOL700 is an LS-DYNA based explicit solution which is capable to correctly simulate FEA flexible body structure, motions, and kinematics while accurately accounting for the material and geometric non-linearity of a suspension system. This paper will focus on the methodology development to enable efficient conversion from an ADAMS model in XML format into MD Nastran SOL700 or LS-DYNA format in ETA’s VPG environment. In the VPG environment, a rigid body suspension model can be easily changed to FEA based flexible body model for either MD Nastran SOL700 or LS-DYNA solution. A demonstration case will also be provided to illustrate the process and approach.