Flow Source

Overview and Key Concepts

The flow source is used to create flow or bulk material for a model. The source generates material at a continuous flow rate that can be set in the properties window, or changed dynamically during the model run. By default, the maximum output rate is unconstrained.

Events

The source uses the standard events that are common to almost all FloWorks objects. See FloWorks Triggers for an explanation of these events.

Note that the source only provides flow output so all events and properties that are related to the input flow, such as the On Input trigger, are not available for this object.

States

For statistical purposes, the source's FloWorks state profile will be in one of the following states at various points during a simulation run. The current state can be viewed by clicking on the object and then viewing the Statistics pane in Quick Properties.

Idle

The source is not releasing any material. This may be because its own output is closed, downstream objects are blocking, or the maximum outflow rate is set to zero.

Generating

The source is generating material and releasing it downstream.

Statistics

The flow source tracks the following statistics. These can be viewed by clicking on the object and then viewing the Statistics pane in Quick Properties.

Output

The total amount of flow, measured in fluid units, that has left the source.

Flow rate

The current output rate of the source, measured in fluid units per time unit.

Utilization

The ratio of the output volume (total amount of outflow) to the maximal possible value for that statistic.

For example, if you run the model for two hours and the maximum flow rate was 10 for one hour and 20 for the second hour, while the actual flow rate was 10 per hour during the whole run, the utilization will be (20 (total flow)) / (10 + 20 (maximal flow)) × 100% ≈ 67%.

Properties Panels

The flow source object uses the following properties panels:

• Statistics
• Visuals
• Labels
• Flow Object
• Ports
• Triggers

Properties

The Flow Source object shares several properties with all flow objects:

• Flow Object Properties

Custom coding

You may control the behavior of the flow source dynamically by writing FlexScript, for example in a Script window or by changing the code behind one of the options in an object trigger.

The flow source is an instance of the FlowObject class, see the class reference for information about its properties.