Case Study: General Dynamics Land Systems compresses product development cycles with MSC Software Adams

Co-simulation enabled GDLS engineers to accurately model the performance of the complete system prior to the prototype phase

General Dynamics Land Systems (GDLS), a defense vehicle manufacturer, needed a better way to model the complex gun turret drive on combat vehicles and predict jamming conditions before prototypes were built. Working with MSC Software and its Adams multibody dynamics software, GDLS sought to evaluate rigid bodies, flexible bodies, contacts, and control behavior as one complete system instead of relying on separate single-physics simulations.

MSC Software implemented a multidisciplinary co-simulation process using Adams with MATLAB/Simulink to model the turret drive, including nonlinear contacts, tolerances, motor dynamics, and control logic. The approach helped GDLS identify a jamming issue early, compare simulation results with measured data, and reduce troubleshooting time and cost; the company reported that the model compressed the product development cycle and delivered savings in R&D.

General Dynamics Land Systems

Zhian Kuang

General Dynamics Land Systems