Description of PDE Models in Modelica

Abstract

Modelica is a new object-oriented language for modeling of large, complex, and heterogeneous physical systems. It is designed to allow for convenient and efficient modeling and simulation of the differential-algebraic equations (DAEs) systems. However, in many engineering fields, partial differential equations (PDEs) are applied. So it is necessary to be able to handle PDE models in Modelica. In this paper, we present how the Modelica language can be extended to support object-oriented modeling with partial differential equations. The description of PDE models in Modelica is introduced, which uses a natural way to describe the PDE models so that the extending language is easier to be understood and more convenient to be used. The prototype implementation included external translator and processor is described. An example modeled with PDE in Modelica and solved using the prototype is presented.