An Efficient Simulation Method for Distributed Lumped Fluid Networks

A method is presented for the simulation of fluid networks consisting of uniform distributed elements and lumped dynamic, nonlinear elements. The uniform transmission elements may be lossy and dispersive. General relationships are derived for their terminations in junctions with other elements and/or with dynamic, nonlinear lumped elements. The basic computer simulation method is efficient in terms of computation time and core storage requirements in comparison to direct finite difference methods and may be implemented on a minicomputer. Simulation results are compared with experimental data for a pneumatic transmission line terminated with a nonlinear resistance and for a pneumatic transmission network consisting of three lines of incommensurate lengths.