The simplest use of a Material Delay element is to represent the delay of a non-dispersed material flow. To simulate such a system, the Dispersion must be set to “None”.
In this case, the Outflow at any time t is simply the Inflow lagged by the Delay Time:
Outflow(t) = Inflow(t -Delay Time)
An example of such a delay is an assembly line that moves at a constant speed (regardless of the rate at which material enters the line).
In the example shown below, the rate changes as a step (at 10 days), and it takes exactly 5 days to traverse the line:
In the somewhat more interesting example shown below, the rate of addition to the line varies continuously (as a sine curve with a period of 15 days). Again, it takes 5 days to traverse the line:
