View new features for MotionView 2019.
Learn the basics and discover the workspace.
Discover MotionView functionality with interactive tutorials.
MotionView is a general pre-processor for Multi-body Dynamics.
Explore the MotionView menus which provide access to the various wizards, dialogs, tools, and panels.
The Project Browser allows you to view the MotionView model structure while providing display and editing control of entities.
Explore the various panels and tools in MotionView.
MotionView supports the importing of several types of CAD and FE formats.
MotionView has many pre-processing and post-processing capabilities with regards to flexible bodies, or flexbodies, for multi-body dynamics models.
Solvers and translators supported in MotionView.
Explore the various vehicle modeling tools.
The vehicle library models most four-wheeled vehicles in production today. Models can be modified interactively in MotionView to support topologies that are not supported in the vehicle library. The vehicle library is open-source, ASCII-based, and can be modified by you. The methods in the vehicle library can also be used and adapted to model non-automotive land vehicles, such as tractors and trucks.
A widely used process in the automotive industry is to split the suspension design and development into three distinct stages. The stages are typically performed by different teams working in different locations and at different times during the vehicle program. Ideally, the teams will share model data, modeling methods, and results widely. Since the teams are working on the same vehicle, the engineering lessons learned by one group will need to be shared with the other two teams.
All of the MotionView models can be used in either a Design of Experiments (DOE) or Optimization study using the HyperStudy client in HyperWorks.
The rear suspension model is built using the same process as the front suspension. Eleven different rear suspensions are available using the Assembly Wizard.
The rear linked solid axle is a dependent suspension (the wheels are connected via a solid beam) which is commonly found in off-road vehicles, SUVs, and rear wheel drive vehicles. This suspension is known for its simplicity and low cost. A differential is included when it is a driven axle. Including the track bar (which is used to restrain the lateral movement of the axle) will make this an asymmetric suspension.
In a rear MacPherson struct suspension, the knuckle and wheel are located by a control arm, strut, and toe link. The coil spring is part of the strut and acts between the strut tube and the vehicle body. The spring’s axis typically is not parallel to the strut, but is offset to minimize the bending moment in the strut.
The multi-link suspension derives its name from the fact that it is made up of three or more links. The rear Multi-link suspension contains five links, and is generally used on higher end luxury cars. The multi-link suspension is derived from the SLA suspension, in that each wishbone (or A-Arm) is replaced with two links. This suspension offers flexibility to the designer, since each link’s location can be determined independently. In this suspension we use the term “link” and “control arm” interchangeably. Traditionally a link is a rigid body with two connections, and a control arm has three connections.
The rear multi-link (with LCA) suspension contains three links and a lower control arm, and it is generally used on cars, off-road vehicles, and light trucks. The rear multi-link (with LCA) suspension differs from the conventional rear multi-link suspension in that the two lower links are replaced with a single lower control arm. This suspension offers good load bearing capability due to the single lower control arm, and the two upper links offer flexibility in packaging and suspension kinematics.
The rear quad-link suspension derives its name from the fact that it is made up of four links. The rear quad-link suspension contains three individual links in tension compression and a strut. This suspension offers flexibility to the designer when determining individual handling parameters, and it is generally used on cars and light trucks.
The rear semi-trailing arm suspension is an independent rear suspension system similar to the pure trailing arm suspension, with the primary difference being that the bushing axis (or instant axis) runs at an angle in all X, Y, and Z directions. The rear semi-trailing arm suspension combines the advantages of the trailing arm and double-pivot swing axle suspension principles, without the associated disadvantages. The semi-trailing arms resemble triangulated wishbones, with the pivots arranged at an angle to the vehicle's transverse axis and either horizontal or slightly towards the vehicle's centerline.
A Short-Long Arm (SLA) suspension is included in the vehicle library as both a front and rear suspension. This configuration is also known as a Double Wishbone suspension. The coil spring and the shock absorber typically connect to the lower control arm. The SLA name is derived from the length of the control arms. The lower arm is typically long to provide a good spring lever ratio. The upper arm is typically short to provide the proper camber curve. This suspension is widely used on cars, light trucks, and on independent suspension heavy trucks.
A Short-Long Arm or SLA suspension is included in the vehicle library as both a front and rear suspension. This configuration is also known as a Double Wishbone suspension. This variant of the suspension uses a two-piece lower control arm. The SLA name is derived from the length of the control arms. The lower arm is typically long to provide a good spring lever ratio. The upper arm is typically short to provide the proper camber curve. This suspension is widely used on cars, light trucks, and on independent suspension heavy trucks.
The rear trailing arm suspension is an independent rear suspension system in which the wheel is attached to the trailing end of an arm that pivots on a bushing (this allows the wheel to move up and down). The suspension design requires a trailing arm that is flexible in order to work. A flexbody is normally used to simulate the trailing arm body.
A rear twist beam suspension is also known as “torsion beam axle” suspension. They are named twist axles, because the axle must twist when the vehicle rolls. The beam holds the two trailing arms together, and provides the roll stiffness of the suspension by twisting as the two trailing arms move relative to each other. This suspension is widely used on small inexpensive passenger cars.
A quasi-static simulation during which the left and right suspension is exercised from jounce to rebound and various suspension parameters are calculated.
A quasi-static simulation during which a rolling movement is applied to the suspension and various parameters are calculated.
The coil spring adjuster can be used to adjust a coil spring rate and preload at a suspension position for a particular wheel load and suspension rate.
A quasi-static simulation to study the effect of various load cases applied at the wheel center and tire patch.
A quasi-static simulation during which the suspension is exercised from jounce to rebound and the corresponding spring and axle loads are reported.
Events create motions and forces in the model which make the system move. Most events add additional parts to the model to perform the simulation.
The Static Ride analysis is a simulation of both wheels moving up and down, in phase, with the steering wheel held fixed. The chassis is fixed-to-ground. The displacement of the wheel center is prescribed by the user. The suspension moves via a simple control system and a “suspension test rig”. The wheel is constrained at the tire patch location to the suspension test rig using an in-plane joint. Standard suspension requests (caster, camber, toe, etc.) are included as part of the ride analysis and are described here. The front and rear suspension ride analyses are similar.
The Task Wizard dialog allows you to select the analysis tasks to be run.
In MotionView, models are assembled from libraries of pre-defined systems using the Assembly Wizard, located on the Model menu. The Assembly Wizard dialog guides you through the assembly process, ensuring that your selections are compatible.
The attachments specified during the assembly process (using the Assembly Wizard dialog) can be modified using the Attachment Wizard, located on the Model menu. The Attachment Wizard dialog guides you through the process of modifying the model attachments.
The Set Wizard Path dialog allows you to select directories in which several files are stored.
Discover optimization with MotionView, MotionSolve, and HyperStudy.
MotionView supports a limited version of interface with HyperWorks Collaboration Tools.
Reference material for the HyperWorks Desktop scripting interface which is a set of Tcl/Tk commands.
Reference materials for the MotionView MDL Language, Tire Modeling, and the MDL Library.
Reference material detailing command statements, model statements, functions and the Subroutine Interface available in MotionSolve.
Reference material for Templex (a general purpose text and numeric processor) and additional mathematical functions and operators.
Explore the various vehicle modeling tools.
The vehicle library models most four-wheeled vehicles in production today. Models can be modified interactively in MotionView to support topologies that are not supported in the vehicle library. The vehicle library is open-source, ASCII-based, and can be modified by you. The methods in the vehicle library can also be used and adapted to model non-automotive land vehicles, such as tractors and trucks.
The rear suspension model is built using the same process as the front suspension. Eleven different rear suspensions are available using the Assembly Wizard.
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