Circuit Simulation Software Research Articles

Accurate Computation of IGBT Junction Temperature in PLECS

In the article, a new method to improve the accuracy of the insulated-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) junction temperature computations in the piecewise linear electrical circuit simulation (PLECS) software is proposed and described in detail. This method allows computing the IGBT junction temperature using a nonlinear compact thermal model of this device in PLECS. In the method, a nonlinear compact thermal model of the IGBT is used, which considers the dependence of thermal resistance on the junction temperature. The usefulness of the method is experimentally verified, and it is confirmed that it increases the accuracy of the computations and shortens their time. The differences between the measured and computed characteristics are discussed. The application of the developed method for computations resulted in a significant reduction of their error to only a few percent. The developed method can be applied in the system-level simulations of the power electronics converters.

Comparison between piezoelectric transformer and electromagnetic transformer used in electronic circuits

This paper presents study, modeling and simulation of the piezoelectric material works as transformer (piezoelectric transformer (PT)) in power electronic circuits, comparisons are made with the regular transformer (iron core) works in the same circuit, the tested circuit is the full bridge converter which used in the simulation as dc power supply circuit. As a result, a detailed simulation for both the piezoelectric transformer and traditional transformer are achieved, as well as the output voltage from the dc power supply is tested by varying the load resistance. The dc power supply circuit has been simulated using PSIM (V9.1) power electronic circuit simulation software.

Real-time laser energy meter of nanosecond and subnanosecond optical pulses

Abstract Energy meters have become one of the most important tools to determine the performance of pulsed lasers. In case of low power semiconductor lasers operating in a nanosecond and subnanosecond regime, the pulse energy measurement is difficult due to low sensitivity of the apparatus. Moreover, the energy measurement of pulses generated with high frequencies is still challenging for many commercially available meters. In this paper, an ultra-sensitive, high repetition rate, real-time and low-cost laser energy meter based on a high-speed photodiode is presented. The meter’s performance was optimized by using circuit simulation software to achieve maximum sensitivity and high-speed operation. In the experimental part, the minimum detectable energy and the maximum pulse repetition rate were determined to be 110 fJ and 2.28 MHz, respectively. To the best of author’s knowledge, the developed meter is the most sensitive and the fastest infrared pulse energy meter ever reported, including commercially-available devices.

A simpler approach to analysis ship maneuvering performances of hybrid propulsion ship using a HILS

A simulation verification of the hybrid propulsion ship considering accurate electro-dynamic model is required to evaluate ship maneuverability before the maritime demonstration. This paper presents the simplified model constructions for the hybrid propulsion ship using a real time simulator in terms of the dynamic models accuracy and the improvement of a computation speed. In addition, the hardware in the loop simulator based on a laboratory virtual instrument engineering workbench using the ship dynamic model and the developed equipment is proposed to evaluate the electro dynamic characteristics of hybrid propulsion ship. The validity of a proposed model on a hardware in the loop simulator is verified by simulation compared with a detailed model on an electronic circuit simulation software.

Simulation and measurement of image charge detection with printed-circuit-board detector and differential amplifier.

We present a novel and thorough simulation technique to understand image charge generated from charged particles on a printed-circuit-board detector. We also describe a custom differential amplifier to exploit the near-differential input to improve the signal-to-noise-ratio of the measured image charge. The simulation technique analyzes how different parameters such as the position, velocity, and charge magnitude of a particle affect the image charge and the amplifier output. It also enables the designer to directly import signals into circuit simulation software to analyze the full signal conversion process from the image charge to the amplifier output. A novel measurement setup using a Venturi vacuum system injects single charged particles (with diameters in the 100 s of microns range) through a PCB detector containing patterned electrodes to verify our simulation technique and amplifier performance. The measured differential amplifier presented here exhibits a gain of 7.96 µV/e- and a single-pass noise floor of 1030 e-, which is about 13× lower than that of the referenced commercial amplifier. The amplifier also has the capability to reach a single-pass noise floor lower than 140 e-, which has been shown in Cadence simulation.

Application of numerical calculation to simulation analysis of stray current corrosion in radiator of HVDC Converter Valve

According to the electrical structure design of the converter valve, the stray current scattered in the water path of the converter valve tower is coupled in the internal waterway of the aluminum radiator. It promotes the occurrence of corrosion on the inner surface of the waterway. However, due to the wide range of stray current in the valve tower distribution pipe, many factors affecting the properties of fluid and the actual engineering not allowed to be measured, and so on. For a long time, the corrosion of converter valve radiator has always been an urgent technical problem to be solved in the field of DC transmission. It has received extensive attention in various research institutions around the world. In this paper, according to the distribution pipe of 500kV light-triggered converter valve tower, the structure model and equivalent circuit model of the water path are built and the mechanism of stray current corrosion of aluminum radiator is analyzed. At the same time, the circuit simulation software is used, and according to Faraday’s law, the stray current, corrosion rate and annual corrosion rate of aluminum radiator in distribution pipe were calculated quantitatively. According to the numerical calculation results, the corrosion of aluminum radiator is compared with that of actual engineering aluminum radiator, the primary and secondary relationship of stray current corrosion in aluminum radiator corrosion is put forward, which provides the basis and reference for system optimization and engineering transformation.

Computer Simulation of Partial Discharges in Voids inside Epoxy Resins Using Three-Capacitance and Analytical Models.

Epoxy resin is one of the most common polymers used as part of the insulation system in key electrical assets such as power transformers and hydrogenerators. Thus, it is necessary to know their main characteristics and to evaluate their condition when subjected to High Voltage (HV). A brief review of epoxy resins’ applications as insulating materials is made, their main characteristics as insulating media are given, the improvements with nano-fillers are summarized and the main electric properties required for Partial Discharges (PD) modelling are listed. In addition, the theoretical background and state-of-the-art of the three-capacitance and analytical models for simulating PD in solid dielectrics, such as epoxy resins, are reviewed in detail. Besides, their main advantages and disadvantages are presented, some critical arguments to the modelling procedure and assumptions are made and some improvements are proposed, taking into account conclusions made from other authors using models related to the PD development process. Finally, a case study was simulated using a modified three-capacitance model and the analytical model. The PD rate, q-φ-n diagrams and the minimum, mean and maximum PD electric charge are compared with measurements reported in the literature. Simulation results are in reasonable agreement with measured values. Capacitance models can be implemented in general purpose electric circuit simulation packages; however, its simulation is computationally expensive. Additional to this, although the modified three-capacitance model is not as accurate as finite elements or analytical models, results are also in agreement with real data.

Two-stage S-Band LNA Development Using Non-Simultaneous Conjugate Match Technique

This paper presents the development of a two-stage low noise amplifier (LNA) operating at the S-band frequency that is implemented using the non-simultaneous conjugate match (NSCM) technique. The motivation of this work was to solve the issue of the gain of LNAs designed using the most commonly used technique, i.e. simultaneous conjugate match (SCM), which often produce an increase of other parameter values, i.e. noise figure and voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR). Prior to hardware implementation, the circuit simulation software Advanced Design System (ADS) was applied to design the two-stage S-band LNA and to determine the desired trade-off between its parameters. The proposed two-stage S-band LNA was deployed on an Arlon DiClad527 using a bipolar junction transistor (BJT), type BFP420. Meanwhile, to achieve impedances that match the two-stage S-band LNA circuit, microstrip lines were employed at the input port, the interstage, and the output port. Experimental characterization showed that the realized two-stage S-band LNA produced a gain of 22.77 dB and a noise figure of 3.58 dB at a frequency of 3Â GHz. These results were 6.1 dB lower than the simulated gain and 0.76 dB higher than the simulated noise figure respectively.

Simulation-Based Learning in Electronics: Modified TAM and DeLone & McLean IS Success Model

Today, technology has greatly influenced many aspects of our lives. Technology is increasingly becoming an integral tool complementary to innovative instructional models. Multimedia and network interactivity are leading new forms of teaching and learning and creating new roles for students as active participants of the learning process. The study analyzed the satisfaction and intention towards actual use of the circuit simulation software as the basis for technology adoption in education, particularly in teaching electronics in higher education. The study introduced a new model called Technology Acceptance Model-Integrated System (TAM-IS). A TAM and D & M success model was also incorporated in adopting simulation-based instructional material for electronics instruction. The study demonstrated excellent internal consistency confirmed by results of the analysis utilizing Confirmatory Factor Analysis, Kaiser – Meyer – Olkin (KMO), Cronbach Alpha and Barlette Test. The results showed that respondents’ responses validated the acceptability of simulation-based learning in electronics. The behavioral intention & attitude towards the use of the technology confirmed the acceptability of adopting simulation software platform in teaching-learning electronics. The study further recommends needs assessment, proper orientation and evaluation of technology to be utilized. Future studies involving a larger pool of experts from different sectors, may be beneficial as technology becomes more accessible and rapidly evolving.

Electric circuit realizations of fracton physics

We design a set of classical macroscopic electric circuits in which charge exhibits the mobility restrictions of fracton quasiparticles. The crucial ingredient in these circuits is a transformer, which induces currents between pairs of adjacent wires. For an appropriately designed geometry, this induction serves to enforce conservation of dipole moment. We show that a network of capacitors connected via ideal transformers will forever remember the dipole moment of its initial charge configuration. Relaxation of the dipole moment in realistic systems can only occur via flux leakage in the transformers, which will lead to violations of fracton physics at the longest times. We propose a concrete diagnostic for these "fractolectric" circuits in the form of their characteristic equilibrium charge configurations, which we verify using simple circuit simulation software. These circuits not only provide an experimental testing ground for fracton physics, but also serve as DC filters. We outline extensions of these ideas to circuits featuring other types of higher moment conservation laws, as well as to higher-dimensional circuits which act as fracton "current-ice." While our focus is on classical circuits, we discuss how these ideas can be straightforwardly extended to realize quantized fractons in superconducting circuits.

Regenerative braking system using pulse width modulation technique on brushed DC motor

In automobiles, large amount of energy loss due to braking takes place without any recycling. A brake is required to control the motion of an automobile. The conventional braking system uses friction of brake shoes and drums for conversion of kinetic energy developed by the vehicle into heat energy. In conventional braking system the heat energy generated at contact surfaces is dissipated to surroundings. In regenerative braking system the speed of the vehicle is reduced by the motors. No surplus energy of the vehicle will be wasted as the unwanted heat, the overhead wires receive electricity from the motors which act as a generator. In this paper, a novel technique of pulse width modulation on brushed DC motor is used for evaluating the availability of braking energy recovery. The vehicle receives power from the electrical energy taken from the battery is used by an electric motor that provides motive force to the wheels. To obtain more efficiency the regenerative braking should take place on the vehicle, so a model to control the speed of the motor has been simulated using circuit simulation software Proteus. The laboratory test has been performed on the built model before being mounted on the vehicle. The circuit is repeatedly tested for the desired wave functions and are absorbed on the oscilloscope. Results are presented for the amount of power generated during braking and variation of run speed of the vehicle with time for different rated speeds of the motor at different loads.

An empirical noise model for III-V compound semiconductor based HBT

This paper presents a novel approach for the modeling of noise behavior of III-V compound semiconductor based HBT’s over a wide frequency range. The main advantage is that the proposed model is based on two individual un-correlated noise sources, and easy to be incorporated with commercial circuit simulation software. The model is verified by measurements of the four noise parameters of an InP HBT up to 20 GHz and a GaAs HBT up to 26 GHz. The good agreements have been obtained.

Harmonic modeling of vibration energy harvesting systems using extended impedance method

Vibration energy harvesting (VEH) systems convert the mechanical vibration energy in AC form into storable electrical energy in DC form. The mechanical structure, electromechanical transducer, and power electronics are three necessary parts for realizing the electromechanical energy transduction and rectification. The difficulty was found in modeling the electromechanical joint dynamics, in particular, when complex mechanical dynamics or sophisticated electrical switching transient are involved. Harmonic analysis is proven to be an efficient tool for modeling such a multiple-field-coupled power conversion system. In this paper, we develop a multiple harmonics analysis for the piezoelectric energy harvesting systems based on the extended impedance method (EIM). This method was used in the analysis of nonlinear power electronic circuits, such as resonant inverters and dc-dc converters. The theoretical results at steady state are compared with the simulation results from the commercialized circuit simulation software. The new modeling technique provides an efficient tool for the customized design and holistic optimization of the vibration energy harvesting systems.

A time-domain method for the electromagnetic transient response of multiconductor transmission lines excited by the electromagnetic pulse

An efficient field-to-line coupling method in the time-domain is developed based on the waveform relaxation (WR) techniques for evaluating the electromagnetic(EM) transient response of multiconductor transmission lines (MTLs) excited by an electromagnetic pulse(EMP). Firstly, the incident EMP electric fields on the lines are calculated as equivalent distributed sources introduced into the MTLs equations. Then, the telegraphs equations of lossless transmission lines are decoupled by applying the WR techniques and different types of equivalent current sources at the terminal of MTLs are calculated using the iterative convolution and analytical method separately. Finally, the equivalent circuit is established and the transient currents/voltages induced on the lines are obtained by using the circuit simulation software PSCAD. The proposed time-domain method has the advantages of accuracy and high efficiency compared with the method based on finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) via two numerical examples.

Comparison of Lithium-Ion Battery Models for Simulating Storage Systems in Distributed Power Generation

Lithium-ion batteries are well known in numerous commercial applications. Using accurate and efficient models, system designers can predict the behavior of batteries and optimize the associated performance management. Model-based development comprises the investigation of electrical, electro-chemical, thermal, and aging characteristics. This paper focuses on the analysis of models describing the electrical behavior. In particular, it investigates how cell voltage and state of charge can be determined with sufficient accuracy for a given load profile. For this purpose, the Thevenin-based, the Rint, and the Shepherd’s models, as well as a generic library model of an electronic circuit simulation software package, are compared. The procedure for determining model parameters is discussed in detail. All models are evaluated for the application in the analysis of distributed power generation. The validation is carried out by comparing simulation and measurement results with the help of a case study.

Simulation, Design, and Test of a Dual-Differential D-Dot Overvoltage Sensor Based on the Field-Circuit Coupling Method.

Accurate measurement of overvoltage in power grids is of great significance to study the characteristics of overvoltage and design of insulation coordination. Based on the research of D-dot voltage sensor, we designed a Dual-Differential D-dot overvoltage sensor. In order to quantify the structural parameters of the sensor, improve the performance and measurement accuracy of the sensor. The Field-Circuit Coupling method was proposed to be used in the parameter design of D-dot overvoltage sensor. The joint simulation of space electromagnetic field model and equivalent circuit model of the Dual-Differential D-dot overvoltage sensor was established with the finite element simulation software Ansoft Maxwell and circuit simulation software Simplorer. Finally, the actual sensor was manufactured. A test platform was built to verify the steady-state and transient performance of the sensor. The results show that the Dual-Differential D-dot sensor has excellent steady-state and transient performance, the error of phase and amplitude are small, and the sensor can achieve the non-contact measurement of power transmission line. Simultaneously, the rationality of the Field-Circuit Coupling method was further verified.

The Cascade Carry Array Multiplier – A Novel Structure of Digital Unsigned Multipliers for Low-Power Consumption and Ultra-Fast Applications

This article presents a low power consumption, high speed multiplier, based on a lowest transistor count novel structure when compared with other traditional multipliers. The proposed structure utilizes 4×4-bit adder units, since it is the base structure of digital multipliers. The main merits of this multiplier design are that: it has the least adder unit count; ultra-low power consumption and the fastest propagation delay in comparison with other gate implementations. The figures demonstrate that the proposed structure consumes 32% less power than using the bypassing Ripple Carry Array (RCA) implementation. Moreover, its propagation delay and adder units count are respectively about 31% and 8.5% lower than the implementation using the bypassing RCA multiplier. All of these simulations were carried out using the HSPICE circuit simulation software in 0.18 μm technology at 1.8 V supply voltage. The proposed design is thus highly suitable in low power drain and high-speed arithmetic electronic circuit applications.

Prototipe Penggerak Atap Kanopi Otomatis Menggunakan Sensor Cahaya, Sensor Hujan Dan Sensor Suhu Berbasis Mikrokontroler ATMega16

Small house design, sometimes ignoring comfort factors such as air circulation and direct sunlight that can make humidity increase and higher temperature inside the house. Giving a controll system at the part of the house can make the air circulation better. In this paper, the prototype design of automatic roof canopy drive using a light sensor, rain sensor, and an ATMega16 microcontroller based temperature sensor is used to solve the problem. This prototype uses the programming language in BASCOM AVR software and PROTEUS software for circuit simulation. Light sensor in the form of LDR will detect changes in light intensity, that is when dark produces a voltage of 1.17V and logic 0 and when light produces a voltage of 4.30V and logic 1. Rain sensor is used to detect the presence of water in the event of rain, that is in conditions the rain produces a 1.83V voltage and logic 0, whereas in the absence of rain it produces a voltage of 4.70V and logic 1. The LM35 temperature sensor is used to detect temperature changes that occur, namely when temperatures less than 29ºC will logic 0 and when the temperature is over from 29ºC will logic 1. All conditions generated by the three sensors will be converted through the ADC so that it can provide logic input to the microcontroller to drive the servo motor to close or open the canopy roof.

Simplified Silicon Carbide MOSFET Model Based on Neural Network

Silicon carbide (SiC) Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Field-Effect Transistor (MOSFET) has become the core device of power-switching converters with its excellent characteristics. An accurate and simple model of medium voltage SiC MOSFET is necessary for device evaluation, system design, and power converter efficiency prediction. This paper presents an equivalent circuit simulation behavior model, of which all parameters are abstracted from the datasheet, based on a three layers’ artificial neural network. The inputs are the gate voltage and the drain-source voltage, and the output is the drain current. In addition, the method of importing the neural network into circuit simulation software Pspice is discussed. The model is simple to create with no additional experiment, and is suitable for engineers at all stages to evaluate SiC MOSFET characteristics. The accuracy of the new model proposed in this paper has been verified by comparison with the data in the datasheet.

Generalized Circuit Model for Eddy Current Effects in Multi-Winding Transformers

This paper presents a novel circuit model for eddy-current effects for multi-winding transformers. It presents the theoretical framework to model eddy currents applicable to layer or disk windings with n-layers for two-dimensional (2-D) transformer arrangements. The new white-box model is physical, dual, and leakage reversible. Additionally, it does not have mutually coupled elements or negative inductors. The paper presents a complete circuit for transformer windings (including capacitances) and core. The model accurately predicts the variation of resistance (dc component, skin, and proximity effects) and leakage inductance of windings from dc to hundreds of kilohertz. Being derived from the principle of duality, the circuit elements can be physically related one-to-one to the distribution of flux and current in the winding geometry. A practical winding discretization, based on field penetration depth for the given frequency, allows estimating the parameters using very simple formulae requiring only geometrical information and properties of materials. Model verification is done using finite element simulations. It is shown that the circuit model matches very well with 2-D FEM simulations. The circuit can be easily implemented in any circuit simulation software like EMTP-RV, PSCAD, ATP, etc., by simply dragging and dropping elements.