Algorithms for the Structural Analysis of Multimode Modelica Models

Since its 3.3 release, Modelica offers the possibility to specify models of dynamical systems with multiple modes having different DAE-based dynamics. However, the handling of such models by the current Modelica tools is not satisfactory, with mathematically sound models yielding exceptions at runtime. In this article, we propose several contributions to this multifaceted issue, namely: an efficient and scalable multimode extension of the structural analysis of Modelica models; a systematic way of rewriting a multimode Modelica model, based on this analysis, so that the rewritten model is guaranteed to be correctly compiled by state-of-the-art Modelica tools; a proposal for the handling of the consistent initialization of multimode models; multimode structural analysis algorithms that handle both multiple modes and mode change events in a unified framework, coupled with a compile-time algorithm for identifying and quantifying impulsive behaviors at mode changes. Our approach is illustrated on relevant example models, and the performance of our implementations is assessed on a variable dimension large-scale model.