Graphical user interface for water distribution network pressure-driven analysis using artificial elements

The simulation of the water distribution network (WDN) can be carried out either by demand-driven analysis (DDA) or by pressure driven analysis (PDA). DDA fails to present the real scenario when a pressure deficiency problem happened. On the other hand, in PDA, a relation between the available pressure and the actual demand exists. Many researchers have tried to model PDA using different methodologies by changing the source code of EPANET, adding artificial elements (AE) to the network, or changing demand nodes (DN) to emitters. Recent softwares are available to model the network in normal conditions using DDA; however, solving PDA's automated process is not available in any available software. This paper describes the development of a MATLAB-based program, which simulates the WDN in normal and abnormal situations. The developed program uses different existing PDA methods that add artificial elements to the network, which helps the decision-maker evaluate the network in different failure scenarios.