Bidirectional Integration Of Geometric And Dynamic Simulation Tools

Mechanisms to share information from Mechanical Computer Assisted Design (MCAD) to simulation model have been demonstrated using various approaches. However, in all cases the information sharing is unidirectional - from the MCAD to Multi-Body Systems (MBS) simulation - which lacks the bidirectional mapping required in a concurrent engineering context where both models need to develop in parallel while remaining consistent.;We present a modelling library and a model mapping that permits and encourages parallel development of the mechanical assembly in both the MBS simulation and MCAD environments while supporting both bidirectional initial full transfer and incremental updates. Furthermore, with the adopted approach and with a careful selection of the simulation language, MCAD parts can be extended with non-mechanical behaviour in the simulation tool.