HYDRAULIC SYSTEM SIMULATION SOFTWARE

[idlewilde]

ANY RECOMMENDATIONS ON SOFTWARE PACKAGES FOR THE ANALYSIS OF FLOW, PRESSURE DROP, ETC.

I AM DEALING WITH A COMPLEX SYSTEM OF VARYING PIPE DIAMETERS AND PRESSURE DROPS, MULTIPLE CIRCUITS (SWITCHED OPERATIONAL MODES)AND A DYNAMIC FLUID THAT CHANGES VISCOSITY WITH TEMPERATURE.

OR, WOULD AN ORGANIC BASED COMPUTER BE MORE HELPFUL (CONSULTANT)?

IDLEWILDE

 

[TD2K]

The only program I've used is SimSci's Inplant and Pipephase for this. There's also a program for handling water networks that converges much easier but I don't think it allows you to adjust viscosities (will try to find the name of it though for you).

Is the change with viscosity something to have to consider within each run due to heat gain or losses or is it just a fixed input parameter that you need to be able to adjust? Both Pipephase and Inplant will handle networks and looped systems with heat transfer.

I will say though I have not had good luck by myself getting their models to converge for a complicated network because of the way SimSci changes pressures within the network during the solution stage. On the other hand, their technical support is pretty good at helping you out and I don't think I've stumped them yet

 

[pleckner]

Look into Applied Flow Technology (AFT) software. Their website is

http://www.aft.com.

I hate this software for simple hydraulics (pump with one or two branches) but it is great for complicated systems.