Discrete Change Delays with Time-Variable Delay Times

In some cases, the delay time for your Discrete Change Delay may be specified to change as a function of time. You would do this by directly specifying the Delay Time or Mean Time as varying as a function of time.

Whenever the Delay Time or Mean Time are specified to vary with time in a simulation, you have two options as to how GoldSim can represent this.

If the Use conveyer-belt approach box is checked, GoldSim will treat the delay as if it is a conveyer belt. In particular, if the Delay Time or Mean Time is specified to become shorter (or longer) during the simulation (e.g., by defining it as a function of time), it can be imagined that the speed at which the belt moves has simply been increased (or decreased), and all items that are in the Delay at the time of the change start to move faster (or slower) by a common factor (the ratio of the old Delay or Mean Time to the new one).

For example, if the Discrete Change Delay was triggered at 10 days while the Delay Time was equal to 1000 days, and again at 15 days at which time the Delay Time was equal to 1 day, both signals would effectively be emitted at 16 days. That is, at the time that the Delay Time decreased, the first item would not have traversed a significant distance along the conveyer, and therefore it would be emitted from the conveyer just slightly in front of the second item.

If the Use conveyer-belt approach box is cleared, each item is assigned an effective delay time when it enters the Delay. Once an item enters the Delay, its delay time is not impacted at all if the Delay Time or Mean Time is subsequently specified to become shorter (or longer) during the simulation. Referring to the example above, if the Use conveyer-belt approach box was cleared, then the first item would be emitted at 1010 days, while the second item would be emitted at 16 days.

Note: The Use conveyor-belt approach option is not available if you have referenced the discrete change signal Value directly when specifying the delay time.