Simscape Power Systems Simulation and Analysis

Simulation and Analysis

With Simscape Power Systems, you can use the simulation method that best matches the task you need to perform. Many key power system analyses are automated to help you quickly and accurately assess the performance of your design.

Simulation Methods

Simscape Power Systems enables you to simulate your model with continuous, discretized, or phasor methods. Continuous methods perform highly accurate simulations of power system models, varying the step size to capture the dynamics of your system. With discrete methods, you can control the precision of your simulation by selecting the size of the time step. Phasor simulation replaces the differential equations representing the network with a set of algebraic equations at a fixed frequency, enabling transient stability studies of systems with multiple machines. You can choose the method that best meets your needs.

Options for continuous, discrete, or phasor simulation mode (left) to analyze transient effects or simply magnitudes of circuit voltages (right).

Ideal Switching Algorithm

The ideal switching algorithm in Simscape Power Systems enables fast and accurate simulation of systems containing power electronic devices. This algorithm does not require numerically stiff high-impedance snubbers to model power electronic devices. Using this method gives you greater flexibility in selecting a solver, and results in shorter simulation times.

Enabling the ideal switching algorithm (left) in Simscape Power Systems to accelerate simulations by eliminating snubbers and taking larger simulation steps (right).

Load Flow Analysis

Simscape Power Systems provides a tool for load flow analysis that helps you initialize your model and determine steady-state conditions. It computes initial currents, internal fluxes, and rotor positions for synchronous and asynchronous machines based on desired steady-state conditions for your circuit. The values are shown in a report and entered automatically into your model.

Power Quality Analysis

Simscape Power Systems enables you to analyze the power quality of your design. You can evaluate the relative overall harmonic distortion, compare the distortion to standard limits, and determine parameters for filtering the distortion. MATLAB® functions and graphical tools enable you to analyze your system under various conditions and summarize the results in reports and plots.

Harmonic Analysis of a Three-Phase Rectifier(Example)
Get harmonic magnitudes, calculate total harmonic distortion.

The Simscape Power Systems FFT analysis tool. The frequency spectrum of a voltage waveform is displayed, and power quality is measured by calculating total harmonic distortion.

Simscape Platform

Simscape™ is the platform for all Simscape add-on products. In addition to the Foundation libraries, it provides much of the fundamental technology for modeling and simulating physical systems in all domains.

Modeling with Physical Connections

Simscape components represent physical elements, such as pumps, motors, and op-amps. Lines in your model that connect these components correspond to physical connections in the real system that transmit power. This approach lets you describe the physical structure of a system rather than the underlying mathematics. Electrical, mechanical, hydraulic, and other physical connections are represented in your multidomain schematic by lines whose color indicates their physical domain. You can see right away which systems are in your model and how they are connected to one another.

Mass-spring-damper expressed as block diagram and schematic.

Simscape Platform Capabilities

Simscape Power Systems is based on Simscape, which provides much of the core technology and capabilities necessary for modeling and simulating electrical power systems. Simscape enables you to:

• Build models using components in the Foundation libraries
• Create custom components
• Simulate models that include multidomain schematics
• Analyze simulation results

Simscape Product Family

The Simscape product family consists of six products that cover many applications. You can combine any set of the Simscape add-on products with the Simscape platform to model multidomain physical systems. The add-on products include more advanced blocks and analysis methods.

• Simscape™
• Simscape Driveline™
• Simscape Electronics™
• Simscape Fluids™
• Simscape Multibody™
• Simscape Power Systems™

The Simscape family of products, shown in the Simulink library browser (left). It provides hundreds of components (examples upper right), and advanced analysis tools including 3D animation from Simscape Multibody (lower right).