Mass Flow Conveyor Flow Rate Behavior

[alan_zhang]

[ FlexSim 21.0.0 ]

I am learning and testing the new Mass Flow Conveyor object in FlexSim 2021. This is a very interesting and useful object.

Attached is a model built to test the flow rate behavior of Mass Flow Conveyor (MFC) objects.

There are four layouts in this model.

1. Layout 1: One MFC, with generation rate 50, and speed 1 m/s.
2. Layout 2: Two MFCs. First MFC, rate 50 and speed 1 m/s; Second MFC, rate 0 and speed 0.5 m/s.
3. Layout 3: Three MFCs. First MFC, rate 50 and speed 1 m/s; Second MFC, rate 0 and speed 0.5 m/s; Third MFC, rate 0 and speed 0.25 m/s.
4. Layout 4: Three MFCs. First MFC, rate 50 and speed 1 m/s; Second MFC, rate 0 and speed 0.5 m/s; Third MFC, rate 0 and speed 0.5 m/s.

All MFCs have a width of 1m. Each FlowUnit1 has a length of 0.1 m and a width of 0.2 m. With 1 m/s speed, the flow rate of the MFC will be (1 m/s * 1 m width) / (0.1 m x 0.2 m) = 50 units per second. Therefore, the expected rate for the four layouts are:

1. 50 units/s
2. 25 units/s
3. 12.5 units/s
4. 25 units/s

However, the results from the simulation (CalculatedTable1 MFC_Rate) are:

1. 50.00
2. 28.87
3. 14.44
4. 28.87

Why?

Below is a screenshot of the model.

Thanks.

MFC_Test1.fsm

[jason_lightfootVL7B4 · Accepted solution]

You need to uncheck "Round Shape" in the Mass Flow Item definition.