Simulating Hydraulic Systems with OpenModelica: the Webinar with SAI Hydraulic Motors
Introduction: SmartFluidPower and SAI
SmartFluidPower, a Modena innovative SME active since 2018, works along three lines: the OpenModelica dynamic library, engineering services and training. SAI Hydraulic Motors has used model-based simulation for 4 years, not just to reproduce existing products but to speed up new development.
Why lumped-parameter simulation, why OpenModelica
Unlike CFD, which is slow and focused on a single part, lumped-parameter simulation looks at how system components interact over time, with models running in minutes. Three reasons for OpenModelica: an open, multi-physics language, its open-source nature, and FMU export.
Building a dynamic component
Step by step, a pumping chamber: piston, volume, crank, fluid properties. Adding two check valves turns the model into a realistic pump, with typical delivery pressure and flow ripple. The same logic, only briefly shown, underlies the SAI motor model.
From component to circuit: the full system
The SAI motor model placed inside a virtual test bench, compared with real test-bench data: good agreement from the start, with minimal calibration. The model is used to screen new distribution or control configurations before moving to a physical prototype.
Closing remarks
What was shown is only a quick demonstration of a process that, explained in full, would take an hour or more. See you at EIMA, Bologna, in November, inside the SAI stand, to discuss specific application cases with SmartFluidPower and SAI.
