Concurrent Simulation and Testing Concept in Engine Development

The use of engine simulation is rapidly increasing throughout the engine industry. In the present paper, the major contributing factors which drive this trend are discussed. These include the increasing sophistication of the simulations, both in the area of high accuracy and in user-friendliness. Also, the decreasing cost of engineering computer workstations places them on the desktop of engineers and makes them readily available. Furthermore, the steadily rising computer processing power now provides the response needed in the engine development environment.

The advances seen in simulations now open a new area for their application--as a tool fully complementary to test and measurement in a “concurrent test and simulation” process. The wide-ranging benefits and opportunities offered by the process are described in detail.