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Serpentine accessory belts are commonly used in industries such as automotive and general machinery. The purpose of this analytical tool is to provide design engineers the capability to model belt drive systems using ADAMS (Automated Dynamic Analysis of Mechanical Systems). The generated ADAMS models can be used to analyze several different characteristics concerning V-Ribbed belt drive systems. The general solution of the governing nonlinear equations provides the coupled longitudinal and transverse response of the translating belt drive system. Typical simulation outputs include pulley hubloads, belt impact dynamic forces, and belt slip rates at the pulleys.

Real-time simulation of tracked vehicle dynamics demands very efficient modeling of the vehicle track. Multi-body dynamics models which model the response of each track pitch are complete, but require on the order of 100 degrees of freedom to capture lateral track dynamics and an additional 200 degrees of freedom to capture longitudinal (stretching) track dynamics. The sheer size of such models renders them difficult to use for rapid estimates of track response. This paper summarizes an efficient alternative for modeling vehicle tracks, as illustrated herein by a model for longitudinal track dynamics. The present model is a hybrid discrete/continuous model in which the track is modeled as a continuous uniform elastic rod which is kinematically coupled to discrete models for the sprocket, wheels, and rollers. Solution efficiency derives from transforming the dynamic track model to one employing modal coordinates.