Environment block for Simscape Electrical Specialized Power Systems models
Simscape / Electrical / Specialized Power Systems / Fundamental Blocks
The powergui block allows you to choose one of these methods to solve your circuit:
Continuous, which uses a variable-step solver from Simulink®
Discretization of the electrical system for a solution at fixed time steps
Continuous or discrete phasor solution
The powergui block also opens tools for steady-state and simulation results analysis and for advanced parameter design.
You need the powergui block to simulate any Simulink model containing Simscape™ Electrical™ Specialized Power Systems blocks. It stores the equivalent Simulink circuit that represents the state-space equations of the model.
When using one powergui block in a model:
Place the powergui block in the top-level diagram for optimal performance.
Make sure that the block is named powergui
.
Note
The powergui block becomes disabled during model update. To ensure proper model execution, do not restore the library link for the powergui block.
You can use multiple powergui blocks in a system that contains two or more independent electrical circuits that you want to simulate with different powergui solvers. For example, this system simulates the upper electrical circuit in discrete mode and the bottom circuit in continuous mode. The system compares the simulation performance of the two methods.
To do so, put each circuit in a different subsystem, and then add a powergui block inside each subsystem.
When you use more than one powergui block in a model:
Do not place a powergui block in the top-level diagram.
Place every independent model in a different subsystem.
Place a single powergui block in the top level diagram of every subsystem.
Note
Do not include commented-out powergui blocks in your model. Doing so will prevent the model from simulating.
Simulation type
— Simulation typeContinuous
(default) | Discrete
| Phasor
| Discrete phasor
Simulation type for the model:
Continuous
— Perform a
continuous solution of the model.
Discrete
— Perform a
discretization of the model using the sample time specified by
the Sample time (s) parameter.
Phasor
— Perform
continuous phasor simulation of the model at the frequency
specified by the Frequency (Hz)
parameter.
Discrete phasor
—
Perform a phasor simulation at fixed time steps specified by the
Sample time (s) parameter, and at the
frequency specified by the Frequency (Hz)
parameter. The Discrete
phasor
solver uses simplified machine models
that produce simulation results similar to transient stability
software.
Sample time (s)
— Sample time for discretization50e-6
(default) | positive scalarSample time used to discretize the electrical circuit, in s. The powergui block displays the value of the sample time.
To enable this parameter, set Simulation type
to Discrete
or Discrete phasor
.
Frequency (Hz)
— Frequency for phasor simulation60
(default) | positive scalarFrequency, in Hz, for performing the phasor simulation of the model. The powergui block displays the value of the phasor frequency.
To enable this parameter, set Simulation type
to Phasor
or Discrete phasor
.
Steady-State
— Display steady-state voltages and currentsOpen the Steady-State Voltages and Currents Tool dialog box to display
the steady-state voltages and currents of the model. For more
information, see power_steadystate
.
Initial State
— Display and modify initial capacitor voltages and inductor currentsOpen the Initial States Setting Tool dialog box to display and modify
initial capacitor voltages and inductor currents of the model. For more
information, see power_initstates
.
Machine Initialization
— Initialize three-phase networks containing three-phase machinesOpen the Machine Initialization Tool dialog box to initialize three-phase networks
containing three-phase machines so that the simulation starts in steady
state. The Machine Initialization Tool offers simplified load flow
features, but can still initialize machine initial currents of your
models. For more information, see power_loadflow
.
Impedance Measurement
— Display the impedance versus frequencyOpen the Impedance vs Frequency Measurement Tool dialog box to display the impedance
versus the frequency, as defined by the Impedance
Measurement blocks. For more information, see power_zmeter
.
FFT Analysis
— Perform Fourier analysis of signalsOpen the FFT Analysis Tool dialog box to perform Fourier analysis of
signals stored in a structure with time format. For more information,
see power_fftscope
.
For an example that uses the FFT Analysis tool, see Performing Harmonic Analysis Using the FFT Tool.
Use Linear System Analyzer
— Time and frequency domain responsesOpen the Linear System Analyzer dialog box to generate the state-space model of your
system (if you have a Control System Toolbox™ license) or to view time and frequency domain responses.
For more information, see power_ltiview
.
Hysteresis Design
— Design hysteresis characteristic for the saturable coreOpen the Hysteresis Design Tool to design a hysteresis characteristic for the saturable
core of the Saturable Transformer block and the
Three-Phase Transformer blocks (Two Windings and
Three Windings). For more information, see power_hysteresis
.
RLC Line Parameters
— Compute RLC parameters of an overhead transmission line Open the Compute RLC Line Parameters Tool to compute the RLC parameters of an overhead
transmission line from the conductor characteristics and tower geometry.
For more information, see power_lineparam
.
Generate Report
— Generate report of steady-state variables, initial states, and machine load flowOpen the Generate Report Tool dialog box to generate a report of
steady-state variables, initial states, and machine load flow for a
model. For more information, see power_report
.
Customize SPS blocks
— Create custom blocks Open the power_customize dialog box to create custom Simscape
Electrical Specialized Power Systems blocks. For more information,
see power_customize
.
Load Flow
— Perform load flow and initialize three-phase networks and machinesOpen the Load Flow Tool dialog box to perform load flow analysis and initialize
three-phase networks and machines so that the simulation starts in
steady state. The Load Flow Tool uses the Newton-Raphson method to
provide a robust and faster convergence solution compared to the Machine
Initialization Tool. The Load Flow Tool offers most of the functionality
of other tools available in the power utility industry. For more
information, see power_loadflow
.
Max iterations
— Maximum iterations used by Load Flow Tool50
(default) | positive integerMaximum number of times the Load Flow Tool iterates until the P and Q
powers mismatch at each bus is lower than the PQ
tolerance parameter value (in pu/Pbase). The power
mismatch is defined as the difference between the net power injected
into the bus by generators and loads and the power transmitted on all
links leaving that bus. For example, if the base power is 100 MVA and
PQ tolerance is set to 1e-4
,
the maximum power mismatch at all buses does not exceed 0.1 MW or 0.1
Mvar.
Frequency (Hz)
— Frequency for load flow computations60
(default) | positive scalarFrequency, in Hz, used by the Load Flow Tool to compute the normalized Ybus network admittance matrix of the model and to perform the load flow calculations.
Base power (VA)
— Base power used by Load Flow Tool100e6
(default) | positive scalarBase power, in VA, used by the Load Flow Tool to compute the normalized Ybus network admittance matrix in pu/Pbase and bus base voltages of the model, at the frequency specified by the Frequency (Hz) parameter for load flow computations.
To avoid a badly conditioned Ybus matrix, select a base power value in the range of nominal powers and loads of the model. For a transmission network with voltages ranging from 120 kV to 765 kV, a 100 MVA base is usually selected. For a distribution network or for a small plant consisting of generators, motors, and loads that have a nominal power in the range of hundreds of kilowatts, a 1 MVA base power is better adapted.
PQ tolerance (pu)
— Tolerance between P and Q1e-4
(default) | positive scalarTolerance between P and Q when the Load Flow Tool stops to iterate.
Voltage units
— Voltage units used by Load Flow ToolkV
(default) | V
Voltage units used by the Load Flow Tool to display voltages.
Power units
— Power units used by Load Flow ToolMW
(default) | kW
| W
Power units used by the Load Flow Tool to display powers.
The load flow parameters are for model initialization only. They do not have an impact on simulation performance.
Disable Specialized Power Systems warnings
— Disable warnings during analysis and simulationoff
(default) | on
Control display of Simscape Electrical Specialized Power Systems warnings during model analysis and simulation.
Display Specialized Power Systems compilation messages
— Display echo messages during analysisoff
(default) | on
Control display of the command-line echo messages during model analysis.
Use TLC file when in Accelerator Simulation Mode and for code generation
— Use TLC state-space S-functionsoff
(default) | on
Select to use TLC state-space S-functions (sfun_spssw_contc.tlc
and
sfun_spssw_discc.tlc
) in accelerator mode and
for code generation.
Clear this checkbox if you notice a slowdown in performance when using accelerator mode
when compared to previous releases. This slowdown occurs if you have the
LCC compiler installed as the default compiler for building the external
interface (mex
).
To enable this parameter, set Simulation type
to Discrete
.
Disable ideal switching
— Control model switching devices as current sourcesoff
(default) | on
Select to model switching devices as current sources. By default, this option is not selected, which corresponds to the recommended setting for most of your applications.
Modeling switches, such as circuit breakers or power electronic devices, as current sources implies that the on-state switch resistance (Ron) cannot be zero. In this modeling method, the switches cannot be connected in a series with an inductive circuit or with another switch or current source.
When this option is enabled, you must add a circuit (R or RC snubber) in parallel with the switches in your model so that the switches' off-state impedance has a finite value. If your real circuit does not use snubbers, or if you want to simulate ideal switches with no snubber, you must at least use resistive snubbers with a high resistance value to introduce a negligible leakage current. The drawback of introducing such high-impedance snubbers is that the large difference between the on-state and the off-state switch impedance produces a stiff state-space model.
To enable this parameter, set Simulation type
to Continuous
.
Disable snubbers in switching devices
— Control snubber devices of power electronic and breaker blocksoff
(default) | on
Select to disable the snubber devices of the power electronic and breaker blocks in your model.
To enable this parameter, set Simulation type
to Continuous
and clear Disable
ideal switching.
Disable Ron resistances in switching devices
— Control internal resistance of switches and power electronic devicesoff
(default) | on
Select to disable the internal resistance of switches and power electronic devices and to force the value to zero ohms.
To enable this parameter, set Simulation type
to Continuous
and clear Disable
ideal switching.
Disable forward voltages in switching devices
— Control internal forward voltage of power electronic devicesoff
(default) | on
Select to disable the internal forward voltage of power electronic devices and to force the value to zero volts.
To enable this parameter, set Simulation type
to Continuous
and clear Disable
ideal switching.
Display circuit differential equations
— Display differential equations in Diagnostic Vieweroff
(default) | on
Select to display the differential equations of the model in the Diagnostic Viewer when the simulation starts.
To enable this parameter, set Simulation type
to Continuous
and clear Disable
ideal switching.
Automatically handle Discrete solver and Advanced tab solver settings of blocks
— Set descretization method automaticallyoff
(default) | on
Select to automatically set the discretization method to Trapezoidal
robust
in models that contain at least one of the
following blocks:
Asynchronous Machine
Permanent Magnet Synchronous Machine
Simplified Synchronous Machine
Synchronous Machine
Surge Arrester
Variable Resistor
Variable Inductor
Variable Capacitor
Nonlinear Resistor
Nonlinear Inductor
Variable-Ratio Transformer
Any transformer blocks that are modeling saturation
If your model contains none of these blocks, the discretization method
is automatically set to Tustin/Backward Euler
(TBE)
.
To enable this parameter, set Simulation type
to Discrete
.
Discrete solver
— Discrete solver to use to simulate modelTustin/Backward Euler
(TBE)
(default) | Tustin
| Backward Euler
Set to Tustin/Backward Euler (TBE)
to
simulate the model using a combination of the Tustin and Backward Euler
methods.
Set to Tustin
to discretize the electrical
model using the Tustin method. If you use this solver, you need to
specify the Rs and Cs snubber
values to avoid numerical oscillations when the firing pulses are
blocked (when the bridge is operating as a rectifier). You can use the
following formulas to compute the values of Rs and
Cs:
Rs > 2* Ts / Cs
Cs < Pn /(1000*2*pi* f * Vn ^2
where:
Pn is the nominal power of the single-phase or three-phase converter, in VA.
Vn is the nominal line-to-line AC voltage, in Vrms.
f is the fundamental frequency, in Hz.
Ts is the sample time, in s.
These values are derived from these criteria:
The snubber leakage current at the fundamental frequency is less than 0.1% of the nominal current when power electronic devices are not conducting.
The RC time constant of the snubbers is larger than two times the sample time, Ts.
Note
The Rs and Cs values that guarantee the numerical stability of the discretized bridge can be different from the actual values used in the physical circuit.
Set to Backward Euler
to discretize the
electrical model using the Backward Euler method.
To enable this parameter, set Simulation type
to Discrete
and clear
Automatically handle Discrete solver and Advanced tab
solver settings of blocks.
Interpolate switching events
— Increase simulation speedoff
(default) | on
Select to increase simulation speed by enabling the solver to interpolate in discrete models using power electronics. When selected, the solver captures gate transitions of power electronic devices occurring between two sample times, allowing larger sample times (typically 20×) than you use with the standard solvers. For example, simulating a 5 kHz PWM converter with Tustin (no interpolation) or Tustin/Backward Euler normally requires a 1.0 µs sample time (sampling frequency = 200 × PWM frequency) to obtain a good resolution on pulse generation and guarantee accurate results. With interpolation enabled, using a sample time as large as 20 µs executes faster while preserving model accuracy.
When you select this option:
Use a continuous pulse generator to guarantee the best
accuracy on pulse generation. (Specify sample time =
0
in pulse-generation blocks.)
In the Configuration Parameters dialog box, select a
continuous, variable-step solver (ode45
or ode23tb
with default settings). The
continuous solver is required by the interpolation solver to
compute the gate signals' time delays with respect to discrete
sample times. The solver uses these pulse delays to interpolate
between sample times and produce accurate results.
To see how interpolation increases accuracy and simulation speed, see the power_buck example model.
To enable this parameter, set Simulation type
to Discrete
, clear
Automatically handle Discrete solver and Advanced tab
solver settings of blocks, and set Discrete
solver to Tustin
.
Use time-stamped gate signals
— Capture evolution of states at different switching timesoff
(default) | on
When selected, the interpolation method computes model outputs at fixed sample times while taking into account switching events that occur between two sample times. The method receives pulses at fixed time steps and computes the time delays of the gate signals arriving within each time step. Computing the time delays enables the method to capture the evolution of states at different switching times.
When cleared, the interpolation method computes the time delays of the gate signal.
When selected, the block does not compute the time delays of gate signals. You then need to directly provide time-stamped gate signals to the switching devices in your model. For more information on the concept of time-stamped gate signals in Simscape Electrical Specialized Power Systems switching devices, see the power_buck example.
To enable this parameter, set Simulation type
to Discrete
, clear
Automatically handle Discrete solver and Advanced tab
solver settings of blocks, set Discrete
solver to Tustin
, and
select Interpolate switching events.
Store switching topologies
— Increase simulation speedoff
(default) | on
Select to increase simulation speed by enabling the solver to store and reuse matrix computation results.
To enable this parameter, set Simulation type
to Continuous
or
Discrete
and clear
Automatically handle Discrete solver and Advanced tab
solver settings of blocks.
Buffer size (MBytes)
— Buffer size for saving computations100
(default) | positive scalarBuffer size for saving state-space matrix computations.
To enable this parameter, set Simulation type
to Continuous
or
Discrete
, clear
Automatically handle Discrete solver and Advanced tab
solver settings of blocks, and select Store
switching topologies.
Start simulation with initial electrical states from
— Initial state valueblocks
(default) | steady
| zero
If you select:
blocks
— Initial state values
defined in blocks are used for the simulation
steady
— Forces all initial
electrical state values to steady-state values
zero
— Forces all initial
electrical state values to zero
Solver tolerance
— Maximum solver error1e-4
(default) | positive scalarLargest acceptable solver error.
To enable this parameter, set Simulation type
to Discrete
and expand Solver
details for nonlinear elements.
Maximum number of iterations
— Iteration limit100
(default) | positive scalarMaximum number of iterations. Iterations stop when the Solver tolerance is achieved, or when the Maximum number of iterations is reached. A solution is usually found within 1 to 3 iterations. An error message is returned and simulation stops if a solution is not found when the maximum number of iterations is exceeded.
To enable this parameter, set Simulation type
to Discrete
and expand Solver
details for nonlinear elements.
Continue Simulation if maximum number of iterations is reached
— Limit maximum number of iterationsoff
(default) | on
Select to limit the maximum number of iterations. This parameter is used for real-time applications. Usually, limiting the number of iterations to 2 produces acceptable results.
To enable this parameter, set Simulation type
to Discrete
and expand Solver
details for nonlinear elements.
power_customize
| power_fftscope
| power_hysteresis
| power_initstates
| power_lineparam
| power_loadflow
| power_ltiview
| power_report
| power_steadystate
| power_zmeter