A Finite Element Based Design Optimization Tool for Large Synchronous Generators

The paper seeks the development of a design optimization tool package for turbogenerators based on the Finite Element Method (FEM). The package comprises of a FEM simulation software and a numerical computing program for secondary user-defined post-processing calculations. In this paper the Ansys Electronics Desktop is chosen as the FEM package due to its fast and precise solutions and scripting options, and MATLAB was our post-processing application. Since the package was supposed to be used as the electromagnetic design section of a multi-physics design tool for turbogenerators, it had to be as fast as possible. Some properties of synchronous generators, like machine’s performance under sustained short circuit and full load conditions, are usually obtained from time consuming transient calculations. Such calculations can be replaced with single magneto-static simulations accompanied by some post-processing and parallel processing.