1. US Army TARDEC Warren, MI November 14-18, 2016
Chrono Tutorial
US Army TARDEC
Warren, MI
November 14-18, 2016

2. Context, Chrono Tutorial
Organized in conjunction with US Army TARDEC Rapid Innovation Fund project W56HZV-14-C-0254
RIF Project duration: September 15, 2014 – January 15, 2017
Project focus: augment mobility analysis support in Chrono
Deformable terrains
Nonlinear FEA tire models
Vehicle modeling
Elements of validation and fluid-solid interaction
Advanced computing
Project participants:
University of Wisconsin-Madison
University of Parma, Italy
University of Iowa

3. Tutorial, Odds and Ends Length: 4.5 days
Slides available online:
Made available at the beginning of each day
Tutorial run by
Radu Serban, Scientist, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Antonio Recuero, Scientist, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Dan Negrut, Faculty, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Additional input provided by
Alessandro Tasora, Faculty, University of Parma, Italy

4. Course structure – Day 1 Morning: 8:30am – noon
Overview of Project Chrono (
Summary of C++ features needed to work with Chrono
Fundamentals of Git and GitHub (for obtaining the code)
CMake: basic concepts (for compiling the code)
Hands on – Getting started with Chrono (configuration, build, running demos)
Afternoon: 1:00pm – 5:00pm
Theoretical aspects related to the dynamics of systems of rigid bodies
MBS modeling support in Chrono
Visualization solutions in Chrono
Hands on – Dynamics simulation of a slider crank in Chrono

5. Course structure – Day 2 Morning: 8:30am – noon
Handling friction and contact in Chrono: modeling aspects
Collision detection in Chrono
Solution methods (time-steppers and solvers)
Afternoon: 1:00pm – 5:00pm
General concepts of parallel computing relevant in Chrono
Chrono::Parallel and granular dynamics
Hands on – Handling of friction and contact in Chrono: slider crank mechanism, revisited

6. Course structure – Day 3 Morning: 8:30am – noon
Elements of the theory of nonlinear FEA
Chrono::FEA tutorial
Hands on – Modeling with beam elements, contact with meshes, specifying loads
Afternoon: 1:00pm – 5:00pm
Chrono::Vehicle tutorial (code design and architecture, simulation framework, visualization)
Hands on – Chrono::Vehicle demos and test programs

7. Code structure – Day 4 Morning: 8:30am – noon
Chrono::Vehicle tutorial – wheeled vehicles
Tire models
Vehicle subsystems
Hands on – Creating JSON specification files
Afternoon: 1:00pm – 5:00pm
Chrono::Vehicle tutorial – tracked vehicles
Track assemblies
Hands on – Implementing a new subsystem template

8. Code structure – Day 5 Morning: 8:30am – noon
Chrono::Vehicle co-simulation support using MPI
Advanced features in Chrono
Support for computational fluid dynamics
Meshless method support for clay/slit/snow modeling
Other Chrono features
Interfacing to MATLAB/Simulink
Interface to SolidWorks
Chrono, looking ahead
Autonomous vehicle support
HPC w/ MPI for terrain
Ogre transition
Feedback, course evaluation, wrap up

9. Before we dive in… This is going to be a long week
Please ask questions to keep the dialogue going
Stay engaged to maximize your return on investment

10. Thank you for your interest.