Power electronics design faces formidable challenges in terms of performance, safety, and cost. Ansys, a leader in engineering simulation, offers comprehensive solutions to tackle these challenges head-on. In this blog post, we'll explore the key aspects and impact of Ansys simulation solutions on power electronics design.
1. Addressing Core Challenges:
Power electronics technology encounters hurdles related to high switching frequencies, thermal reliability, and the need to meet stringent standards over a product's lifespan of over 10 years. Ansys aims to provide solutions that enhance performance, ensure safety, and reduce costs.
2. The Power of Simulation:
Simulation emerges as a game-changer, boasting a 2000x speed-up using reduced-order models. This not only reduces the design cycle time by 75% but also leads to a substantial 30% cost reduction. The quantified impact of simulation is showcased in real-world case studies, where engineers improved inverter designs by predicting thermal performance in minutes.
3. Multidisciplinary Design Workflow:
An integrated, efficient multidisciplinary design workflow is pivotal for increasing power density and lifetime while reducing losses, noise, and over-voltages. This involves collaboration among mechanical, electrical, software, and electromagnetic/thermal teams. The goal is to optimize systems, enhance reliability, and meet evolving industry standards.
4. Simulation Capabilities:
Ansys provides comprehensive multi-physics solutions, covering power switches, magnetic components, PCBs, and entire systems. The focus is on optimizing system and circuit design, accounting for magnetics, and ensuring reliability, embedded control systems, and EMI/EMC compliance.
5. Proven Simulation Solutions:
Real-world success stories demonstrate the prowess of Ansys solutions. Engineers have improved the design process by accurately predicting inverter temperature and solder fatigue, leading to significant time and cost savings.
6. Development of Safe Embedded Controls:
Ansys solutions such as medini Analyze and the SCADE play a crucial role in identifying safety gaps early in the process. These tools facilitate the implementation of safety strategies, reducing the risk of malfunctions and ensuring compliance with safety standards.
7. Revolutionizing Powertrain Design:
Ansys solutions extend to powertrain design, addressing EMI/EMC for electric vehicles. Virtual prototyping allows for accelerated compliance testing, reduced design iterations, and substantial cost savings.
8. Tackling Complex Challenges:
Ansys emphasizes multi-level modeling for magnetics and electric machines, efficient handling of complex models, and model-based software design. The integration of these best practices enables efficient, fast, and accurate simulations, reducing the need for physical testing.
9. Reliability Analysis:
Reliability analysis is a cornerstone of Ansys solutions, covering thermal shock, cycling, vibration, and environmental factors. Virtual testing allows for early identification of design issues, significantly reducing the need for physical tests and accelerating development cycles.
10. Embedded Controls and Software:
Ansys Simplorer and SCADE Suite offer ideal control algorithms and model-based software design. The integrated approach allows for seamless collaboration between control system design and the simulation of physical systems.
11. Simulation Best Practices:
Simulation best practices involve using Ansys Simplorer and SCADE for model-in-the-loop and software-in-the-loop testing. Certified code generation ensures the production of efficient and readable code, further streamlining the development process.
In conclusion, Ansys simulation solutions revolutionize power electronics design by offering a holistic approach to multidisciplinary collaboration, optimization, and reliability analysis. Engineers can leverage these tools to accelerate innovation, reduce time-to-market, and ensure the robustness of their power electronic systems. If you're looking to get started with simulation in your product development cycle, make sure to contact us.
- Simplorer is a multi-physics system and circuit simulator, that allows analysis of Power electronics circuits combined with Control systems, Electromagnetic devices (FEA Maxwell models), and cooling systems.
- Maxwell is an electromagnetic FEA tool for inductors, transformers, PCBs, and other magnetic components for power electronics applications. It solves static, frequency-domain, and time-varying magnetic and electric fields.
- PExprt and PEmag are embedded tool suites included in Ansys Pro-electronics 2D, or Maxwell Premium, or EBU Enterprise for a concept design and analysis of magnetic components for power electronics.
- Icepak is a tool for electronics thermal analysis, which includes a CFD solver. It predicts airflow, temperature, and heat transfer in IC packages, PCBs, electronic assemblies/enclosures, and semiconductor devices.
- Q3D Extractor is a tool for a frequency-dependent parasitic impedance extraction of passive 3D structures, such as power modules, bus bars, PCBs, and interconnects.
- SIwave is a specialized tool for power integrity, signal integrity, and EMI analysis of PCBs and IC packages and for power electronics applications.
- SCADE Suite is a model-based development environment for reliable embedded software, which provides linkage to requirements management, model-based design, verification, qualifiable/certified code generation capabilities, and interoperability with other development tools and platforms.
We've provided additional supporting materials for you to access and learn more about power electronics. Click on the images below to access them.
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