MATLAB: Initial Condition (IC) block does not output initial state

Question

I'm trying to start the simulation of my model containing an algebraic loop. In order to start it I use an Initial Condition block to assign a start value to a parameter. When running the simulation it stops immediately. It cannot solve the algebraic loop as the parameter I used the IC block for is somehow not defined. Indeed, the IC block seems not to output its initial condition at the start of the simulation. I checked this by outputting the signal values just after the IC block to the workspace. The first and only value logged is not the same as the initial condition set in the IC block.

Why is that? It seems to me that an IC block should first output its initial condition and that this value should thus be found in the signal log at t=0s

Could someone clarify what I'm doing wrong? Or could this be a bug in Simulink?

Answer 1

Hi Luca,

the algebraic loop needs to be solved by Simulink in each time step, including the very first step. The output of the IC block is used as starting point for the nonlinear solver for solving the loop. At the end of the timestep (i.e., after solving the algebraic equation), the output is usually not the value of the IC block (only in those cases, where the IC gives the correct value already, i.e., the IC block gives the result of the algebraic equation).

Hope this helps,

Titus