Air Gap | PartQuest™ Explore

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Member of the PartQuest Explore Development Team. Focused on modeling and simulation of analog, mixed-signal and multi-discipline systems covering a broad range of applications, including power electronics, controls and mechatronic systems.

Description

This example shows that you can build an inductor model from magnetic components (i.e. a winding and a core), and with an air-gap if needed.

You can run the nominal simulation with n = 23 turns on the winding, with the core model state set to "Linear" and a near-zero air-gap. The current transient in the winding matches the current in an ideal inductor model, both are representative of 1mH inductance. But in that configuration, the flux density "b" in the core is over 1.8 Tesla, well beyond the limits of a ferrite material.

You can set the magnetic core to "Non-linear with Saturation", and note that the saturation level is 525mT for the modeled core material. Then you can re-run the simulation to see the actual current profile that would result from this more realistic core behavior.

Finally, set the number of winding turns to 96. Then set the air-gap to 0.25mm, instead of the nominal 0.25um. This will restore the current rise profile that is expected for a 1mH inductor, but also keep the flux density in the core below the 525mT level.

It is also instructive to observe the energy stored in the ideal inductor, as well as the magnetic core and the air-gap, in each of the cases above.

Circuit Breaker - Single Phase AC

Designer19

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11 years 6 months

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Member of the PartQuest Explore Development Team. Focused on modeling and simulation of analog, mixed-signal and multi-discipline systems covering a broad range of applications, including power electronics, controls and mechatronic systems.

Description

This is a physical or “assembly” model of an electro-magnetic circuit breaker. Rather that modeling the pure electrical “behavior” of that type of circuit protection device, this model represents the actual assembly of physical components which could be used to construct a real circuit breaker. The components are multi-discipline, including electrical, magnetic and mechanical natures. The color coding of the connections among them makes it easy to see these various aspects and their interactions.

The section with black connections represents the electrical aspect. The voltage source is the AC line-in voltage, and it is applied across a switch and winding element which are part of the circuit breaker. The switch represents the make/break function of the contactors. A fixed 8 Ohm load resistor is attached to this protected part of the circuit, as well as a switched additional 8 Ohm load in parallel.

The section with purple connections represents the magnetic aspect of the breaker. The winding current produces an MMF in proportion to the number of turns, and this MMF drives flux around the magnetic loop. The Neodymium-Iron-Boron permanent magnet also drives flux around the loop, but in one direction only. The magnetic core model represents the flux path through the iron, and the air-gap model represents the energy conversion between the magnetic and mechanical domains.

The section with orange connections represents the mechanical (translational) aspects, including a hard-stop which limits the travel of the moving armature, a preload spring, plus the viscous drag and mass of the armature. A simple “glue” model was created to convert the armature displacement into a logical control signal that opens the breaker switch to interrupt the load current, when the air-gap exceeds the contactor over-travel length. The user’s ability to easily create a new custom VHDL-AMS model, when the needed function doesn’t already exist, has value which cannot be overstated.

The circuit breaker functions when the current in the winding is of the right polarity and magnitude to create an MMF that sufficiently cancels the MMF of the permanent magnet. This causes a flux drop across the air-gap, to the point where the magnetic attraction force can no longer overcome the pre-load return force of the spring. The armature is then rapidly pushed away. In the simulation results, note that the additional load is applied at 60 msec. The current in the winding increases to just over 40A (peak), and the air-gap force drops below 8N, at which time the armature begins to pull away, opening the electrical circuit. The armature bounces as it reaches the stiff travel limit.

This model can be used to re-size or select alternate components (e.g. try a spring with different stiffness or a different magnetic material). It can also be used to assess margins on the current trip level (e.g. try a 10 Ohm resistor for the “additional” load, the breaker won’t trip!), or the opening speed or other performance aspects. This type of “assembly” model is also suitable for exploration of new design concepts.

Copy of Circuit Breaker - Single Phase AC - on Wed, 01/29/2025 - 11:21

Designer260982

Member for

3 months 1 week

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Welcome to the community!!

Description

This is a physical or “assembly” model of an electro-magnetic circuit breaker. Rather that modeling the pure electrical “behavior” of that type of circuit protection device, this model represents the actual assembly of physical components which could be used to construct a real circuit breaker. The components are multi-discipline, including electrical, magnetic and mechanical natures. The color coding of the connections among them makes it easy to see these various aspects and their interactions.

The section with black connections represents the electrical aspect. The voltage source is the AC line-in voltage, and it is applied across a switch and winding element which are part of the circuit breaker. The switch represents the make/break function of the contactors. A fixed 8 Ohm load resistor is attached to this protected part of the circuit, as well as a switched additional 8 Ohm load in parallel.

The section with purple connections represents the magnetic aspect of the breaker. The winding current produces an MMF in proportion to the number of turns, and this MMF drives flux around the magnetic loop. The Neodymium-Iron-Boron permanent magnet also drives flux around the loop, but in one direction only. The magnetic core model represents the flux path through the iron, and the air-gap model represents the energy conversion between the magnetic and mechanical domains.

The section with orange connections represents the mechanical (translational) aspects, including a hard-stop which limits the travel of the moving armature, a preload spring, plus the viscous drag and mass of the armature. A simple “glue” model was created to convert the armature displacement into a logical control signal that opens the breaker switch to interrupt the load current, when the air-gap exceeds the contactor over-travel length. The user’s ability to easily create a new custom VHDL-AMS model, when the needed function doesn’t already exist, has value which cannot be overstated.

The circuit breaker functions when the current in the winding is of the right polarity and magnitude to create an MMF that sufficiently cancels the MMF of the permanent magnet. This causes a flux drop across the air-gap, to the point where the magnetic attraction force can no longer overcome the pre-load return force of the spring. The armature is then rapidly pushed away. In the simulation results, note that the additional load is applied at 60 msec. The current in the winding increases to just over 40A (peak), and the air-gap force drops below 8N, at which time the armature begins to pull away, opening the electrical circuit. The armature bounces as it reaches the stiff travel limit.

This model can be used to re-size or select alternate components (e.g. try a spring with different stiffness or a different magnetic material). It can also be used to assess margins on the current trip level (e.g. try a 10 Ohm resistor for the “additional” load, the breaker won’t trip!), or the opening speed or other performance aspects. This type of “assembly” model is also suitable for exploration of new design concepts.

Play with current sense transformer model

Designer19

Member for

11 years 6 months

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Member of the PartQuest Explore Development Team. Focused on modeling and simulation of analog, mixed-signal and multi-discipline systems covering a broad range of applications, including power electronics, controls and mechatronic systems.

Compare Hard Saturation Inductor (modeled with a magnetic equivalent circuit) to XAL8080-103

Designer19

Member for

11 years 6 months

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Member of the PartQuest Explore Development Team. Focused on modeling and simulation of analog, mixed-signal and multi-discipline systems covering a broad range of applications, including power electronics, controls and mechatronic systems.

Description

Measure magnetic path reluctance

Designer19

Member for

11 years 6 months

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Member of the PartQuest Explore Development Team. Focused on modeling and simulation of analog, mixed-signal and multi-discipline systems covering a broad range of applications, including power electronics, controls and mechatronic systems.

Description

Copy of Inductor Model using Magnetic Circuit Modeling Method - on Tue, 10/13/2020 - 10:52

Designer203848

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6 years 7 months

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Add a bio to your profile to share information about yourself with other SystemVision users.

Description

This example shows that you can build an inductor model from magnetic components (i.e. a winding and a core), and with an air-gap if needed.

You can run the nominal simulation with n = 23 turns on the winding, with the core model state set to "Linear" and a near-zero air-gap. The current transient in the winding matches the current in an ideal inductor model, both are representative of 1mH inductance. But in that configuration, the flux density "b" in the core is over 1.8 Tesla, well beyond the limits of a ferrite material.

You can set the magnetic core to "Non-linear with Saturation", and note that the saturation level is 525mT for the modeled core material. Then you can re-run the simulation to see the actual current profile that would result from this more realistic core behavior.

Finally, set the number of winding turns to 96. Then set the air-gap to 0.25mm, instead of the nominal 0.25um. This will restore the current rise profile that is expected for a 1mH inductor, but also keep the flux density in the core below the 525mT level.

It is also instructive to observe the energy stored in the ideal inductor, as well as the magnetic core and the air-gap, in each of the cases above.

Copy of Inductor Model using Magnetic Circuit Modeling Method - on Thu, 10/01/2020 - 20:51

Designer7846

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9 years 6 months

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Description

This example shows that you can build an inductor model from magnetic components (i.e. a winding and a core), and with an air-gap if needed.

You can run the nominal simulation with n = 23 turns on the winding, with the core model state set to "Linear" and a near-zero air-gap. The current transient in the winding matches the current in an ideal inductor model, both are representative of 1mH inductance. But in that configuration, the flux density "b" in the core is over 1.8 Tesla, well beyond the limits of a ferrite material.

You can set the magnetic core to "Non-linear with Saturation", and note that the saturation level is 525mT for the modeled core material. Then you can re-run the simulation to see the actual current profile that would result from this more realistic core behavior.

Finally, set the number of winding turns to 96. Then set the air-gap to 0.25mm, instead of the nominal 0.25um. This will restore the current rise profile that is expected for a 1mH inductor, but also keep the flux density in the core below the 525mT level.

It is also instructive to observe the energy stored in the ideal inductor, as well as the magnetic core and the air-gap, in each of the cases above.

Copy of Inductor Model using Magnetic Circuit Modeling Method - on Tue, 08/18/2020 - 15:36

Designer233792

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4 years 8 months

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Description

This example shows that you can build an inductor model from magnetic components (i.e. a winding and a core), and with an air-gap if needed.

You can run the nominal simulation with n = 23 turns on the winding, with the core model state set to "Linear" and a near-zero air-gap. The current transient in the winding matches the current in an ideal inductor model, both are representative of 1mH inductance. But in that configuration, the flux density "b" in the core is over 1.8 Tesla, well beyond the limits of a ferrite material.

You can set the magnetic core to "Non-linear with Saturation", and note that the saturation level is 525mT for the modeled core material. Then you can re-run the simulation to see the actual current profile that would result from this more realistic core behavior.

Finally, set the number of winding turns to 96. Then set the air-gap to 0.25mm, instead of the nominal 0.25um. This will restore the current rise profile that is expected for a 1mH inductor, but also keep the flux density in the core below the 525mT level.

It is also instructive to observe the energy stored in the ideal inductor, as well as the magnetic core and the air-gap, in each of the cases above.

Copy of Inductor Model using Magnetic Circuit Modeling Method - on Fri, 06/19/2020 - 15:21

Designer208

Member for

10 years 2 months

580

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Description

This example shows that you can build an inductor model from magnetic components (i.e. a winding and a core), and with an air-gap if needed.

You can run the nominal simulation with n = 23 turns on the winding, with the core model state set to "Linear" and a near-zero air-gap. The current transient in the winding matches the current in an ideal inductor model, both are representative of 1mH inductance. But in that configuration, the flux density "b" in the core is over 1.8 Tesla, well beyond the limits of a ferrite material.

You can set the magnetic core to "Non-linear with Saturation", and note that the saturation level is 525mT for the modeled core material. Then you can re-run the simulation to see the actual current profile that would result from this more realistic core behavior.

Finally, set the number of winding turns to 96. Then set the air-gap to 0.25mm, instead of the nominal 0.25um. This will restore the current rise profile that is expected for a 1mH inductor, but also keep the flux density in the core below the 525mT level.

It is also instructive to observe the energy stored in the ideal inductor, as well as the magnetic core and the air-gap, in each of the cases above.