Customizing the supercomponent

customizing supercomponents

Procedure

1. Load the supercomponent in Component Customization.

You can do this as follows:

Select Modeling > Available supercomponents.

The following dialog box opens:

Select the generic supercomponent.

The node where it is stored must be in the Component Customization path list.

Click on Customize.

Note If you have added exposed variables or parameters to the supercomponent, you will have to remove them and save the supercomponent again to be able to open it in Component Customization.

2. Try the following experiments.

Open the supercomponent tree structure as in the following figure.

Figure 33: Supercomponent tree structure

Click on the Explore button to produce the Explore Supercomponent dialog box which is shown below.

Figure 34: Constituents of the supercomponent

Note As you select constituents of the supercomponent in the left-hand column the two lists in the top-right corner do not change, but the lowest list changes.

Do a Parameter mode and Simulation mode preview and note how messy it is! In particular, notice how prefixes, composed from the submodel name and instance number, are added to some parameter/variable titles in order to make them unique.

Figure 35: Parameter and variable titles

Normally it is confusing to see these prefixes in a Change Parameters or Variable list dialog box. They can be removed in 2 ways:

By hiding the parameter or variable so that it does not appear anymore.

By changing the title. If you do this, it becomes your responsibility to ensure parameters and variables have unique titles.

3. The central list is what will become the external variables of the customized supercomponent.

Alter the titles as shown below. Figure 36: Alter the titles of external variables

4. Select the root of the supercomponent tree and right-click selecting Hide all.

Figure 37: Hide all in the supercomponent tree

You can achieve the same thing using the right-click pulldown menu in the Explore supercomponent dialog box. Figure 38: Hide all using the Explore supercomponent dialog box

If you look at the Parameter and Simulation mode previews, you will see a dramatic change! We must reintroduce a few variables and parameters that have been hidden. Figure 39: Some parameters are hidden

Figure 40: some variables are hidden

Warning Three very important points are summarized below:

It is very common practice to begin by hiding ALL parameters and variables then progressively reintroducing those that are needed.

After making any significant change, it is essential to do a Parameter and Simulation mode preview. This helps you to identify mistakes at an early stage.

You can change titles of parameters and variables to make them more meaningful and to remove unwanted prefixes. If you do this, it becomes your responsibility to ensure the titles are unique.

5. Select the integrator submodel INT0 and select the Internal variables tab and deselect the Hidden check box.

Figure 41: Alter the Internal variables

6. In a similar way make the following changes.

In each case ensure the Hidden check box is not ticked

Submodel

Tab selected

Original title

Action or New title if different

MOD00

Internal variables

output

angular displacement of cam modulo 360 in degrees

FXA01 (7 and 8 in the sketch)

Integer parameters

discontinuity handling

Uncheck the Hidden checkbox

FXA01 (7 and 8 in the sketch)

Text parameters

name of ASCII file

file of cam position function of angular displacement

FXA01 (7 and 8 in the sketch)

Parameter and variable groups

FXA001_1:table

Uncheck the Hidden checkbox

Do a preview of parameters and variables (see figures below) to check they are satisfactory. Figure 42: Preview of parameters

Figure 43: Preview of variables

7. Save the customized supercomponent under the name CUSTOMCAM50.

8. Use the customized supercomponent in Simcenter Amesim adding to the three existing subsystems.

Check it produces the same results as the other versions. Examine the State contributions tab in the Performance Analyzer to see how certain titles are hidden. Figure 44: Supercomponent used in an Simcenter Amesim system

Results

This customized supercomponent is an alternative to the submodel CAM00. Which alternative is better? In this case the submodel is less complex and has less redundancy. The customized supercomponent contains the submodel FXA01 twice, and both must use the same parameters in order to get consistent results. We could have used Global Parameters here (this facility is described in the next section). In other cases a customized supercomponent can be a better alternative to a huge submodel. This is probably true in the next example.