Partitioned simulation of hydraulic systems using transmission-line modelling

This paper describes research into a distributed processor scheme for time-domain simulation of hydraulic circuits, ultimately for use in real-time applications, involving control and on-line condition monitoring. The approach adopted uses transmission line models of the pipelines as a means of decoupling the system components and implements the concepts developed in the authors' preliminary work. To assist this study a simulation program generator has been developed which links models of relevant components contained in a library. The program is executed on a multi-transputer platform. Using this facility, a study has been undertaken to assess the most appropriate number of processors and best circuit partitioning strategy for the case of a particular hydraulic circuit. From this investigation, partitioning guidelines are proposed