Electrical Machine Simulation

What are Electrical Machines?

We use electrical machines to convert mechanical energy into electrical energy as a generator, to transform and distribute electric energy, and to convert electrical energy into mechanical as a motor. Electrical machines support our modern life in a multitude of ways and are indispensable to electrification on our way into a more sustainable future with fewer carbon emissions. Maximizing the energy efficiency of electrical machines is crucial to minimizing resource consumption.

What are the Benefits of Simulating Electrical Machines?

Electromagnetic simulation supports performance and sustainability targets by helping to create machines that use fewer materials, provide higher efficiency, and produce less noise and vibration. Engineers can optimize their designs to produce maximum efficiency in the required operating regime and to find the best trade-offs between competing design factors.

How are Electrical Machines Simulated?

Electrical machines are complex devices that by definition require multiphysics simulation capabilities. Electromagnetic forces translate into torque in a motor, and conversely, the rotation of a generator generates electromagnetic power. Analyzing the conversion between the two requires a motion analysis, capturing the changing behavior of the machine over time. Ripples in the torque curve can give rise to noise and vibration in the machine. The large currents inside electrical machines can also cause significant heating. The precise evaluation of the coupling of electrical to mechanical forces requires comprehensive material modeling options. Besides the traditional electric losses in realistically modeled conductors, modeling options also include magnetization and demagnetization effects in service. We are able to consider iron losses such as eddy current, hysteresis, and excess/rotational losses explicitly during the simulation. The losses can be used in a thermal analysis of the machine. An electrical machine is always part of a larger system, with electrical circuits and controllers on one side and transmission mechanisms and gearboxes on the other. The simulation model can be connected as a functional mock-up unit to a representation of the entire system, including controllers, for a system simulation of the behavior of the machine in real-world scenarios.

Electrical machine KPIs that can be calculated with simulation include:

• Efficiency
• Inductances
• Saturation curves
• Short-circuit analysis
• Open-circuit analysis
• Inrush current/load test
• Switch-on transients
• Losses – copper, eddy-current, hysteresis
• Dynamic forces on coils
• Noise and Vibration