Simcenter Amesim ports

Ports Simcenter Amesim

There are currently eleven standard Simcenter Amesim port types and each has a special appearance. Simcenter Amesim uses this special classification of ports in order to prevent you from joining ports of different types. Thus you cannot connect a spring to the hydraulic pump outlet. All ports except signal ports are normally transmitting power. We now review the eleven port types and display the port appearance for each.

	Linear ports Linear ports correspond to shafts, which exhibit one-dimensional linear motion and are typified by the ends of a spring. Typical external variables with their units on linear ports are shown below.
	Rotary ports Rotary ports represent rotating shafts such as pump and motor shafts. Typical rotary ports with their external variables are as follows:
	Rope portsRope ports are similar to linear ports and the external variables have similar units. However, the quantity in m is an uncoiling displacement which is quite different from the displacement on a linear port.
	Signal ports Signal ports do not transmit power. They simply convey a quantity, the signal, to the next component. Often the signal is modified in some way by the component. They are very common in control systems. A signal is received by a component at a signal input port and transmitted to another component at a signal output port. The input and output signal ports are shown differently to emphasize the direction of the signal.
	Remote ports are used by the Transmitter and Receiver submodels. They cannot be physically connected but they can transmit signals or power thanks to their port tags. Please refer to the Port tag list section.

For the remaining ports we describe the appearance of the ports. Refer to library manuals to see typical external variables.

	Flow ports Flow ports may be hydraulic, thermal hydraulic, pneumatic or thermal-pneumatic. They represent flow inlets or outlets such as in the inlet and outlet ports of a hydraulic pump. The plain appearance of the port matches conventions in the fluid power industries.
	Electrical ports Electrical ports transmit electrical power with associated quantities voltages and currents.
	Thermal ports Thermal ports are used when there is heat flow between solids or between a solid and a fluid.
	Magnetic ports Magnetic ports are used to transmit magnetic power.
	Meca2D ports are used to transmit two-dimensional displacements, velocities and accelerations as well as torque and force.
	Geocom ports Geocom ports are used to transmit geometric data of evaporators and condensers.

In early versions of Simcenter Amesim, a port could only be connected to another port of precisely the same type. This rule was rigidly enforced and prevented impossible connections.

The rule was relaxed slightly so that signal ports could be attached to any other port but it is still impossible to connect a hydraulic pump outlet to a mechanical spring.

However, any signal port can be connected to a mechanical spring or to a hydraulic pump outlet. If a signal source is connected to a hydraulic pump outlet it is regarded as a pressure source. If it is connected to a mass, it is regarded as a force source.

This gives enormous flexibility but must be used sparingly and with care. The most common signal port connection is between a signal input port and a signal output port.