MSC Software Geared Up with New Toolkit

Here’s one news item that nearly got lost in the holiday rush. Last Christmas, just as we were elbowing our ways through department stores, MSC Software slipped a plug-in into the market. Adams Gear Advanced Technology, a tool kit that works with MSC’s mechanical simulation software MD Adams, lets you conduct customized gear simulations for:

• transmission systems; and
• gears and bearings.

Transmission simulation may be used for machinery, automotive, aerospace, medical product, wind turbine, and consumer product design. In the announcement, MSC Software wrote, “Traditional transmission design procedures often rely only on static design studies. It is widely known that these design procedures alone are not meeting the demands of modern virtual prototyping. Decoupling system dynamics from transmission dynamics carries potential design risks, which will most likely lead to higher development costs and longer development times. Therefore, accurate prediction of system dynamics is a common prerequisite for robust system engineering and reliable component dimensioning.”

According to MSC, the tool kit provides analysis functions for

• straight, helical, internal and external gears;
• distributed contact in tooth shape (straight or helical), micro corrections, wheel distance, and misalignment within flexible and interactive components.

The software lets you export data as animation files to help you evaluate your transmission and gear setups.