Altium - need to simulate but parts have no sim models

Im new to electronics and Im using Altium to simulate some analogue circuits which will ultimately be connected to micro controllers.

This is all fine and well, I have no typical newbie issues.

One problem I find myself dealing with is the lack of models for certain components. I have to, with the voltage regulator I want to use, use a voltage source instead of the actual component.

This leaves me with the issue that I cant generate a PCB from my circuit until I replace all the simulation only bits of the circuit with the actual components. But what if I want to simulate again after I find an issue? I have to destroy the circuit and add the sim only bits in again.

What is the best method to overcome this niggle?

Any help would be appreciated!

2k

I'm not a big user of analog simulation (in part because most manufacturers don't supply simulation models), but I have a few comments.

1) if you are trying to use analog simulation for a linear voltage regulator, then you are over-using the simulator - using a voltage source should be fine in most cases. For switching regulators, National has an excellent website which will simulate their parts and model all of the parts in the circuit. TI and I think Linear Tech have SMPS simulators also.

2) Personally I would create a separate design just for the part of the circuit I want to simulate. I wouldn't try to generate a PCB from the simulation design. I would select components for the "real" PCB design based on the simulation results.

3) The main reason I don't use analog simulation much is that most manufacturers don't supply models. Sure, I could try to create my own best guess of a model, but I don't see much point in that - I would never have much confidence in simulation results based on models that had never been validated. I usually just wind up modeling the relevant factors in an excel spreadsheet (power and thermal, etc.)

Good luck,
Kevin