How is Simcenter Amesim used?

Simcenter Amesim uses symbols to represent individual components within the system which are either:

• based on the standard symbols used in the engineering field such as ISO symbols for hydraulic components or block diagram symbols for control systems, or, when no such standard symbols exist,

• symbols which give an easily recognizable pictorial representation of the system.

The following figure shows an engineering system using standard hydraulic, mechanical and control symbols.

Figure 3: Symbols used in Simcenter Amesim

The following figure shows an automobile braking system in which some pictorial symbols are used.

Figure 4: Symbols of an automobile braking system

Using Simcenter Amesim you build sketches of engineering systems by adding symbols or icons to a drawing area. When the sketch is complete, a simulation of the system proceeds in the following stages:

• Mathematical descriptions of components are associated with the icons.

• The features of the components are set.

• A simulation run is initiated.

• Graphs are plotted to interpret the system behavior.

The following figure shows a detailed model of a three cylinder piston pump built from Hydraulic Component Design library (HCD) symbols. The arrows have been added to the illustration to indicate the hydraulic flow rates.

Figure 5: A three cylinder piston pump built from HCD symbols

As much automation as possible has been carried out on these steps and at every stage you will see the sketch of the system.

Working with Simcenter Amesim, you can take advantage of Equations and the Standard library.

Equations

In Simcenter Amesim the set of equations defining the behavior of the engineering system and its implementation as code is referred to as the model of the system. The model is built up from equations (and the corresponding code) for each component within the system. These are referred to as submodels. Simcenter Amesim contains large libraries of icons and submodels of components.

The Standard Library

The standard library is comprised of three categories:

• Simulation

• Signal, Control

• Mechanical

These provide control and mechanical icons and submodels allowing you to perform dynamic simulation of a wide variety of engineering systems. In addition, there are optional libraries such as the Hydraulic Component Design, the Hydraulic Resistance, Pneumatic, Thermal, Thermal-hydraulic, Cooling System, Powertrain, Filling...

A complete list of optional libraries is given in The Libraries.