Simulation Software
Simulation Software is based on the process of modeling a real phenomenon with a set of mathematical formulas. It is, essentially, a program that allows the user to observe an operation through simulation without actually performing that operation. Simulation software is used widely to design equipment so that the final product will be as close to design specs as possible without expensive in process modification.
Simulation software with real-time response is often used in gaming, but it also has important industrial applications. When the penalty for improper operation is costly, such as airplane pilots, nuclear power plant operators, or chemical plant operators, a mock up of the actual control panel is connected to a real-time simulation of the physical response, giving valuable training experience without fear of a disastrous outcome. Advanced computer programs can simulate weather conditions, electronic circuits, chemical reactions, mechatronics, heat pumps, feedback control systems, atomic reactions, even biological processes. In theory, any phenomena that can be reduced to mathematical data and equations can be simulated on a computer. Simulation can be difficult because most natural phenomena are subject to an almost infinite number of influences. One of the tricks to developing useful simulations is to determine which are the most important factors that affect the goals of the simulation.
In addition to imitating processes to see how they behave under different conditions, simulations are also used to test new theories. After creating a theory of causal relationships, the theorist can codify the relationships in the form of a computer program. If the program then behaves in the same way as the real process, there is a good chance that the proposed relationships are correct.
General simulation
General simulation packages fall into two categories: discrete event and continuous simulation. Discrete event simulations are used to model statistical events such as customers arriving in queues at a bank. By properly correlating arrival probabilities with observed behavior, a model can determine optimal queue count to keep queue wait times at a specified level. Continuous simulators such as VisSim are used to model a wide variety of physical phenomena like ballistic trajectories, human respiration, electric motor response, radio frequency data communication, steam turbine power generation etc. Simulations are used in initial system design to optimize component selection and controller gains, as well as in Model Based Design systems to generate embedded control code. Real-time operation of continuous simulation is used for operator training and off-line controller tuning.QWERTY TYPES;
Electronic Simulation
Electronics simulation software utilizes mathematical models to replicate the behaviour of an actual electronic device or circuit. Essentially, it is a computer program that converts a computer into a fully functioning electronics laboratory. Electronics simulators such as CircuitLogix integrate a schematic editor, SPICE simulator and onscreen wave forms and make what-if scenarios easy and instant. By simulating a circuit’s behaviour before actually building it greatly improves efficiency and provides insights into the behavior and stability of electronics circuit designs. Most simulators use a SPICE engine that simulates analog, digital and mixed A/D circuits for exceptional power and accuracy. They also typically contain extensive model and device libraries. While these simulators typically have printed circuit board (PCB) export capabilities, they are not essential for design and testing of circuits, which is the primary application of electronic circuit simulation.
While there are strictly analog electronics circuit simulators, such as LTspice, the most popular simulators on the market, such as Multisim and CircuitLogix, include both analog and event-driven digital simulation capabilities, and are known as mixed-mode simulators.This means that any simulation may contain components that are analog, event driven , or a combination of both. An entire mixed signal analysis can be driven from one integrated schematic. All the digital models in mixed-mode simulators provide accurate specification of propagation time and rise or fall time delays.
The event driven algorithm provided by mixed-mode simulators is general purpose and supports non-digital types of data. For example, elements can use real or integer values to simulate DSP functions or sampled data filters. Because the event driven algorithm is faster than the standard SPICE matrix solution simulation time is greatly reduced for circuits that use event driven models in place of analog models.
Mixed-mode simulation is handled on three levels;
- with primitive digital elements that use timing models and the built-in 12 or 16 state digital logic simulator
- with subcircuit models that use the actual transistor topology of the integrated circuit
- with In-line Boolean logic expressions.
Exact representations are used mainly in the analysis of transmission line and signal integrity problems where a close inspection of an IC’s I/O characteristics is needed.Boolean logic expressions are delay-less functions that are used to provide efficient logic signal processing in an analog environment. These two modeling techniques use SPICEto solve a problem while the third method, digital primitives, use mixed mode capability. Each of these methods has its merits and target applications. In fact, many simulations call for the combination of all three approaches. No one approach alone is sufficient.
Sheet metal forming simulation
Sheet metal forming simulation software utilizes mathematical models to replicate the behavior of an actual metal sheet manufacturing process.Essentially, it is a computer program that converts a computer into a fully functioning metal manufacturing prediction unit. Sheet metal forming simulation prevents metal factories from defects in their production lines and reduces testing and expensive mistakes improving efficiency in the metal forming process.
Metal Casting Simulation
Metal casting simulation is currently performed by Finite Element Method simulation software designed as a defect-prediction tool for the foundry engineer, in order to correct and/or improve his or her casting process, even before prototype trials are produced. The idea is to use information to analyze and predict results in a simple and effective manner to simulate different processes such as:
- Gravity sand casting.
- Gravity die casting.
- Gravity tilt pouring.
- Low pressure die casting.
- High pressure die casting.
The software would normally have the following specifications:
- Graphical interface and mesh tools
- Mould filling solver
- Solidification and cooling solver: Thermal and thermo-mechanical (Casting shrinkage).
Network Protocol Simulation
The interaction between the different network entities is defined by various communication protocols. Network Protocol Simulation software simulates behavior of networks on a protocol level. Network Protocol Simulation software can be used to develop test scenarios, understand the network behavior against certain protocol messages, compliance of new protocol stack implementation and response to modification of protocols.These simulators are based on telecommunications protocol architecture specifications developed by international standards body such as the ITU-T,IEEE, and so on. The output of protocol simulation software can be detail events log files, protocol decode, and ladder diagrams. Many of such simulation software also support network traffic simulation to emulate a real network environment to test network performance on load and stress parameters.