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Multibody Modeling
MotionView is a general pre-processor for Multibody Dynamics.
Flexible Bodies
MotionView has many pre-processing and post-processing capabilities with regards to flexible bodies, or flexbodies, for multibody dynamics models.
Using Multibody Dynamics Flexbodies
MotionView has many pre-processing and post-processing capabilities with regards to flexible bodies, or flexbodies, for multibody dynamics models.
Generating Flexbody H3D Files
MotionView works with a neutral file called H3D to represent the flexible body. This compact file format stores the necessary information for visualizing the flexbody in the pre-processing window and the modes and interface nodes in the post-processing window. It also stores the modal and nodal information.
FlexBodyPrep Overview
The FlexBody Prep wizard (or simply FlexPrep) allows you to create a flexible body H3D file using Optistruct, as well as translate an ADAMS MNF file or a mirrored H3D file. The FlexPrep also takes other types of input files, such as Nastran BDF.

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Multibody Modeling
MotionView is a general pre-processor for Multibody Dynamics.
- MotionView Overview
  MotionView is a general pre-processor for Multibody Dynamics.
- Model Browser
  The Model Browser allows you to view the MotionView model structure while providing display and editing control of entities.
- MotionView Ribbons
  The MotionView ribbons allows you to quickly access tools and standard functions, and is located along the top of MotionView.
- MotionView CAD Interfacing
  MotionView supports the importing of several types of CAD and FE formats.
- Flexible Bodies
  MotionView has many pre-processing and post-processing capabilities with regards to flexible bodies, or flexbodies, for multibody dynamics models.
  - Using Multibody Dynamics Flexbodies
    MotionView has many pre-processing and post-processing capabilities with regards to flexible bodies, or flexbodies, for multibody dynamics models.
    - Generating Flexbody H3D Files
      MotionView works with a neutral file called H3D to represent the flexible body. This compact file format stores the necessary information for visualizing the flexbody in the pre-processing window and the modes and interface nodes in the post-processing window. It also stores the modal and nodal information.
      - FlexBodyPrep Overview
        The FlexBody Prep wizard (or simply FlexPrep) allows you to create a flexible body H3D file using Optistruct, as well as translate an ADAMS MNF file or a mirrored H3D file. The FlexPrep also takes other types of input files, such as Nastran BDF.
      - Flexprep Usage
      - OptiStruct Flexbody Generation
        MotionView generates an H3D flexbody neutral file directly from a Nastran or OptiStruct FEA input deck. The only FEA model preparation required is to identify the node IDs that will be used for interfacing and sensors.
    - Visualizing H3D Flexbodies
      Once an H3D file is created, it can be visualized in HyperView.
    - Using H3D Flexbodies in MotionView
    - Flexbody Post-processing
      MotionView models solved in MotionSolve or Adams can be animated in HyperView. In addition, the plots for these models can also be viewed in HyperGraph.
    - Translation of Flexbody Files
    - Flexbody Theory and Flexbody Flow
- Functional Mockup Unit (FMU)
  Add an FMU to the model or export a model as an FMU.
- Vehicle Modeling
  Explore the various vehicle modeling tools.
- Tcl/Tk Reference Guide
  Reference material for the scripting interface which is a set of Tcl/Tk commands.
- MDL Reference Guide
  Reference materials for the MotionView MDL Language, Tire Modeling, and the MDL Library.
- MotionSolve Reference Guide
  Reference material detailing command statements, model statements, functions and the Subroutine Interface available in MotionSolve.
- Templex and Math Reference Guide
  Reference material for Templex (a general purpose text and numeric processor) and additional mathematical functions and operators.
- MotionView Python Reference Guide
  Reference materials for the MotionView Python Language.
Media Files
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Tabulate Results
Use TableView to create an Excel-like spreadsheet.
Text Files
TextView math scripts reference vector data from HyperGraph windows to automate data processing and data summary.
Publishing and Reporting
Create, define, and export reports.

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FlexBodyPrep Overview

The FlexBody Prep wizard (or simply FlexPrep) allows you to create a flexible body H3D file using Optistruct, as well as translate an ADAMS MNF file or a mirrored H3D file. The FlexPrep also takes other types of input files, such as Nastran BDF.

From the Analyze ribbon, Tools tool set, click the FlexPrep icon to access the FlexBodyPrep wizard.

Figure 1.

Note: Use _flex.h3d in the filename to prevent confusion with other uses of the H3D format. Space in the .fem and .h3d file paths is currently not supported on Linux and Mac OSX.

From the FlexBodyPrep wizard, you can perform the following functions:

OptiStruct Flexbody Generation

Create OptiStruct prp (preparation) file and generate the h3d flexbody
Create OptiStruct prp (preparation) file (this is useful when certain OptiStruct cards are not directly supported by FlexPrep)
Create h3d flexbody using pre-existing prp (preparation) file

Refer to OptiStruct Flexbody Generation to learn more about generating a flexible body through OptiStruct.

Translation of Flexbody Files

Translate ADAMS mnf file into MV h3d flexbody
Mirror existing h3d flexbody
Translate the MV h3d flexbody into ADAMS mnf file
Translate MV h3d flexbody into ADAMS mtx file
Translate the NASTRAN pch file into MV h3d file
Translate the MV h3d flexbody into DAD fdf file

The dialog options change depending on the translation type you select.

Common dialog buttons include:

Table 1.
Mass/Length/Force/Time Units	Specify the units either in the input FEM (while creating the flexbody) or in the output MTX file (while translating from flex H3D to Adams MTX).
Clear	Clear your selections and reset the wizard.
OK	After making your selections, click OK to have the wizard create your file. OK assembles your wizard selections into set of command line arguments for flexprep and invokes flexprep. To run flexprep from command line: Copy and paste the arguments created by the Flexbody prep wizard into a script (UNIX) or .bat file (PC).
Cancel	Exit the FlexBodyPrep wizard.