This kind of stuff is regularly done at LHC - they simulate the detectors and the collisions, and then compare real data against that, to both confirm that the detectors are working properly, and for searching of new physics.
Also in the LIGO project, it's a branch of astrophysics called numeric relativity. The gravity wave signatures predicted by the simulations was what helped confirm the LIGO detections of black hole and neutron star mergers.
