About Series Parameters
The Series tab is used to define a series of values for a parameter. The value of the parameter varies based on the varying values that you define.
For example, you can define a parameter to calculate the force of a motor. One of the main uses of the Time series is for driving Motors.
To Set the Time Series Values
1. Click > .
2. On the Parameters dialog box, define the parameter for which you want to set the values
3. Right-click the parameter, on the shortcut menu, click Series. The Parameter Properties dialog box opens.
4. Click the Series tab. The Series tab contains a two column table
5. Select a quantity and corresponding units for Argument Units. Specify values in the first column of the table. For example, you can select Time as the argument value and sec as the corresponding units.
6. Select a quantity and corresponding units for Parameter Units. Specify values in the second column. For example, you can select Force as the unit quantity and Ibf as the corresponding unit.
The following options are available on the Series tab:
◦ 
— Adds a new row.
— Adds a new row.◦ 
— Removes a row.
— Removes a row.◦ 
— Opens the Graphtool dialog box. The dialog box displays a graph of the values that you define in the Series tab.
— Opens the Graphtool dialog box. The dialog box displays a graph of the values that you define in the Series tab.◦ 
— On the Graphtool dialog box, click this option to view the Graph Window Options dialog box. You can use the options on the Graph Window Options dialog box, to change the appearance of the Graphtool.
— On the Graphtool dialog box, click this option to view the Graph Window Options dialog box. You can use the options on the Graph Window Options dialog box, to change the appearance of the Graphtool.7. Click OK.
Calculating the Average using Series of Values
You can use the time series parameter to calculate average values
Consider the following example where we create a parameter MYPARAM with the following values:
10 | 5 |
20 | 10 |
30 | 20 |
Create the following relation: new1=average(MYPARAM).
The output (average) of the given values is created under the Local Parameters section.
A new row NEW1 is created, which shows the average as 11.666667.
Calculating Linear Interpolation Using value_by_argument function
The value_by_argument function is used to access a specific row of the series parameter.
Consider a parameter MYPARAM with the following values:
1 | 5 |
2 | 10 |
3 | 20 |
You can write a relation to access each row as follows. You must specify the input arguments <parameter name> and <time value>:
A=value_by_argument(MYPARAM,1) = 5 (The function will return a value of 5 which corresponds to input argument 1, as value that corresponds to argument 1 is 5).
A=value_by_argument(MYPARAM,2) = 10 (Similarly, this function will return a value of 10 for the relation.)
A=value_by_argument(MYPARAM,3) = 20
You can also calculate linear interpolation using the value_by_argument function.
In this case, you need to specify three input arguments for the function:
• Parameter Name — The name of the time series parameter.
• Time Value —The time value at which you want to calculate the parameter value.
• Order of Interpolation — Specify the kind of interpolation
◦ 0 —exact value (default)
◦ 1 — Linear Interpolation
For example, we have time values of 1, 2 and 3. If we want the linear interpolated parameter value for a time value of 2.5, we can use the following relation: A=value_by_argument(MYPARAM,2.5,1) = 15. The relation will return a value of 15.
If we use the same relation with the exact/default value (argument is 0)
A=value_by_argument(MYPARAM,3,0) =20 (The function will search for the exact value for time, value 3 in the table, and return a value of 20)