Multi-body simulation (MBS)

For more than 20 years

Chassis simulation is an important part of the virtual vehicle development process. Over the years, TRE has brought both model quality and evaluation performance to an optimal level. In their work, our engineers can rely not only on many years of experience, but also on TRE’s own toolbox as state-of-the-art development tools for simulations. This enables our experts to focus specifically on the requirements of our customers.

Vehicle handling, ride comfort, functional safety, integration of multiple controllers in dynamic and/or real-time simulation are part of our standard development process. Nowadays, this even plays a decisive role.

The bar is set high for TRE. We have our roots in racing and consistently use this knowledge advantage for series products as well.

Axle simulation

In chassis development, we always look for the optimum compromise:

  • Driving behavior
  • Ride comfort
  • Security

With the help of our simulation, we are able to investigate the elastokinematic performance of a new axle early in the development process.

For example, our simulations provide us with information about:

  • Compliance
  • Natural frequencies
  • Track change with transverse forces
  • Change of the wheelbase with longitudinal forces of the axle

As a result, we also take into account complex elements such as:

  • Leaf springs
  • Composite handlebar
  • Sword Handlebar
  • Twist Beams

Our simulation experts ensure that your new axle will perform as desired even under difficult wheel conditions. We can simulate everything from simple, kinematically defined axes to overdetermined axis systems whose properties depend on the stiffnesses of the components. For this purpose, we create realistic axis models for a wide range of installation space requirements.

Total vehicle simulations

Already during the design phase, our complete vehicle simulations provide information about:

  • Driving behavior
  • Ride comfort
  • Security

Our customers’ products can thus be optimized even before the prototype, which significantly reduces the number of test runs. In our simulations, we take into account all components of the vehicle, for example the front and rear axles, the brakes, the steering and the tires, as well as electronic control systems. The description of the rest of the vehicle is done by parameters such as:

  • Masses & Inertias
  • Elasticities of the different subsystems

For our complete vehicle simulation, we use the “plug and play” approach, which means that our models are composed of individual elements, such as:

  • Steering
  • Axes
  • Powertrain

This approach allows different vehicle variants to be quickly generated and simulated. This enables us, for example, to significantly accelerate the development of derivatives.

By simulating complete vehicles, we can already early in the project:

  • Examine axis variants
  • Select series parts
  • Create different basic tuning

Another important point of our work is the comfort studies. Transfer functions from excitations to 30 Hertz are calculated for this purpose. In addition, we can examine the handling and driving dynamics of chassis on our own 7-stamp test rig. Our simulation experts have an excellent understanding of the designers’ requirements, which guarantees an effective approach to the basic design and packaging of axis systems.

Coupling with finite element analysis (FEA)

The chassis we develop and design guarantee a high level of component safety even under the toughest conditions. We benefit from our many years of experience in defining, applying and evaluating relevant load cases.

Already during the design phase, we generate the cutting loads for the skill and stiffness calculations with our MBS models.

We perform strength verifications for the axle components using our FE analyses. Standard load cases are simulated, for example braking, cornering and vertical impacts, as well as misuse load cases, for example pothole braking and curb impressions. Our full vehicle models also offer the possibility of deriving loads from dynamic driving maneuvers.

Our designers calculate the various components in NASTRAN/PATAN using the different load cases from our simulation tool ADAMS-Car. The automatic creation of NASTRAN-compatible load case files speeds up the calculation process and avoids errors during data transfer.