In many cases, the process may have been ongoing for some time prior to the start of the simulation. As a result, your Material Delay A delay element that delays flows of materials (e.g., masses, volumes, items). (e.g., an assembly line, an aquifer, a pipe) probably already contains some material (and will be outflowing material) at the start of the simulation.
Therefore, a Material Delay can be assigned an Initial Outflow (the default is zero).
When you define and Initial Outflow, you are effectively specifying an initial amount of material that is in transit (at the start of the simulation). The Initial Outflow is related to the initial amount of material in transit by the following equation:
Related topics…
- Browser View of a Material Delay Element
- Material Delay Elements
- Material Delays with Time-Variable Delay Times
- Mathematics of Material Delays
- Modeling Material Delays with Dispersion
- Modeling Material Delays without Dispersion
- Representing a Material Delay with an Inflow Limit
- Specifying Initial Outflows for Material Delays
- Specifying the Inputs to a Material Delay
- Using Material Delays to Close Feedback Loops and Model Recirculating Systems