3. Different types of digital simulation

Simulation uses a model (virtual prototype) to predict the performance of a mechanical system.

• The reality of the behavior to be simulated is obtained by means of a mathematical model that translates this behavior into a system of equations to be solved. This is done either analytically (using mathematical functions to produce one or more explicit formulas that can be used directly to give the solution), or numerically when no analytical development is possible, or when the number of equations is too large.

  In the latter case, the system of equations is solved in an approximate way using numerical techniques, in particular "discretization" techniques, which make it possible to understand the behavior of a continuous medium by discretizing it (by limiting the resolution to a certain number of points in the medium,...