Modeling Analog Circuit Architectures, Mechatronic Systems, and Electrical Power Systems Using Simscape Electrical

When you model and analyze mechatronic systems, analog circuit architectures, or electrical power systems using Simscape™ Electrical™, your workflow might include the following tasks:

Create a Simulink^® model that includes components from Simscape Electrical libraries.
In most applications, it is most natural to model the physical system using Simscape Electrical blocks and other Simscape blocks, and then develop the controller or signal processing algorithm in Simulink.
For more information about modeling the physical system, see Essential Electrical Modeling Techniques.
Define component data by specifying electrical or mechanical properties as defined on a datasheet.
For more information about parametrization, see Parameterizing Blocks from Datasheets.
Configure the solver options.
For more information about the settings that most affect the solution of a physical system, see Setting Up Solvers for Physical Models.
Run the simulation.
For more information on how to perform time-domain simulation of an electrical system, see Simulating an Electronic, Mechatronic, or Electrical Power System.

Simulink Templates for Modeling with Simscape Electrical

On the Simulink start page, the Simscape section has model templates that provide you with design patterns for modeling with Simscape Electrical:

Electrical
Electrical Three-Phase
Mechanical Rotational
Mechanical Translational

Models you create from these templates have the corresponding reference block, the required Solver Configuration block, and the frequently used Simscape-Simulink interfacing blocks already in the Simulink canvas. The models also contain links that you can double-click to access other blocks in the corresponding Simscape libraries.

To create a model using one of these Simscape templates:

Open the Simulink Start page. In the MATLAB^® Home tab, select the Simulink button. Alternatively, at the command line, enter:
```
simulink
```
In the Simscape section, locate the templates that are preconfigured for modeling with Simscape Electrical. Selecting a template opens a model in the Simulink Editor. To save the model, select Simulation > Save > Save As.

Simscape Electrical Blocks and Ports

Simscape Electrical blocks that are written in the Simscape language are fully compatible with Simscape technology, including the local solver, code generation, and data logging.

Simscape Electrical blocks have single-phase, composite three-phase, thermal, magnetic, mechanical translational conserving, and mechanical rotational conserving ports. You can use composite three-phase ports to build models corresponding to single-line diagrams of three-phase electrical systems. Composite three-phase ports connect to other composite three-phase ports. Electrical and mechanical rotational conserving ports connect directly to Simscape Foundation library components and Simscape add-on products such as Simscape Driveline™. You can use a Phase Splitter block to split a composite three-phase port into individual electrical conserving ports.

Machine and Transformer Source Code Examples

Simscape Electrical software provides Simscape language source code examples for machines and transformers, which you can view and customize. To access the example blocks, type ThreePhaseExamples_lib at the MATLAB command prompt.

Plotting and Display Options for Asynchronous and Synchronous Machines

For the Machine Inertia block and the asynchronous and synchronous machine blocks in Simscape Electrical software, you can perform some useful plotting and display actions using the Electrical menu on the block context menu. For example, to plot torque versus speed (both in SI units) for the Induction Machine Wound Rotor block, right-click the block. From the block context menu, select Electrical > Plot Torque Speed (SI). The software plots the results in a figure window.

Using other options on the Electrical menu, you can plot values in per-unit or display base parameter values in the MATLAB Command Window. These options enable you to tune the performance of your three-phase machine quickly.

Choosing the Right Simscape Electrical Technology

Simscape Electrical software includes two different technologies and corresponding libraries. For a comparison of the two technologies, see Simscape Electrical Block Libraries. Choose the Simscape Electrical technology most appropriate for your modeling needs and, if possible, build your model using blocks exclusively from that technology. However, if necessary, you can build a model that uses blocks from both technologies. To do so, use blocks from the Simscape > Electrical > Specialized Power Systems > Utilities library to interface between them.

Assumptions and Limitations

The Simscape Electrical blocks let you perform tradeoff analyses to optimize system design, for example, by testing various algorithms with different circuit implementations. The library contains blocks that use either high level or more detailed models to simulate components. Simscape Electrical does not have the capability to:

Perform either layout (physical design) tasks, or the associated implementation tasks such as layout versus schematic (LVS), design rule checking (DRC), parasitic extraction, and back annotation.
Model 3-D parasitic effects that are typically important for high-frequency applications.

For these types of requirements, you must use an EDA package specifically designed for the implementation of analog circuits.