Towards a tool independent standard simulation library — A pragmatic approach to model exchange and simplification

Complex mechatronic systems, e. g. Common Rail or ABS systems, consist of a large number of components from different physical domains. The interaction of these components is essential for the function and behavior of the overall system. During the early stages of the development process simulation models are strongly required for the verification of alternative designs and parametrizations. Furthermore, these models are necessary for the understanding of the overall system. Due to the complexity of the technical system, each component can be described by different models on different levels of abstraction. Since components mostly consist of parts from different physical domains (e. g. injection valve consists of power stage, solenoid, nozzle needle), a large variety of domain specific simulation tools are used. Using different simulation tools during the product development is efficient only if model exchange between the tools is supported. However, model exchange between different tools is difficult due to tool specific model description languages, capabilities of the numerical solvers, etc. In this paper, a pragmatic approach to overcome the above mentioned problems is presented. A systematic description of the design process is presented. Starting from this process, the concept of a tool independent standard simulation library is derived. This library currently supports the model exchange between the simulation tools AMESIM, ASCET, SABER and SIMULINK as well as the modeling language vhdl-ams. The usefulness of the concept is illustrated at components of a Common Rail injection system.