Hyosung (www.hyosung.com) Power System PU is a major provider of transformers and circuit breakers to power plants in local as well as global markets. To perform impact analysis and seismic analysis which are required for ultra-high voltage transformers, Hyosung purchased midas NFX in 2009 and developed an efficient product development process based on the concept of “Analysis Driven Design”

Developing high-voltage transformers and circuit breakers for power plants needs high standard specialties. “The household models are totally incomparable here as the products require quick interrupting capabilities to minimize power loss, whilst maintaining a robust power generation capability. Additionally, the arc effect and collisions between inner parts during reconnection, need to be thoroughly considered.

The right CAE software for designers

Eung-Young Choi explained, “Another CAE solution was being used in a different part of Hyosung. The software was very high-end and there were challenges to learning it and as you know, performing FEA analysis requires lots of specialist knowledge, as well as years of experience. We couldn’t understand all the things that were going on and felt overwhelmed by the large quantity of required inputs. As beginners, we needed something smarter and more flexible.”

“In our team, we used to have a spreadsheet to check the designs. It was very practical for simple models, but as the models became more complicated, accuracy significantly decreased. We needed a more versatile tool to handle FEA analysis effectively, and so decided to adopt midas NFX in 2009.” “For designers, the main reason to use CAE is to predict the results according to design change. midas NFX is perfect for this task. It allows simultaneous analyses of multiple design plans, increasing the robustness and decreasing the time. With this new process, we have reduced our number of prototype tests to only one, significantly cutting the time and cost for product development.”

“One of the main reasons we use CAE is to perform seismic analysis and with midas NFX, we have saved quite a bit of time, in making our products conform with earthquake-resistance standards. NFX is the software solution that we need and with the help of wizards and automation functions, we can produce trustworthy results, even though at times we can’t understand all of the theories as well as we would like.”

Catch the wave of CAE universalization

“CAE, exclusively used by researchers and expert analysts in the past, is earning its popularity among designers. First in the sectors of automotive and aerospace, and now in heavy industries. ‘Analysis Driven Design’ is not just a fancy concept as when implemented successfully, the software will save you a lot of time and the cost saving is remarkable. Besides, the demand from the client’s side is increasing too and our clients expect to have all the seismic analysis data presented correctly in order to make a decision to purchase” Choi remarked.

“With this new trend of CAE among designers, CAE software developers are faced with new challenges as well. The tools required need to be simpler, smarter and more adopted to designer’s specific needs. This is where NFX is already forging a strong path and with our constant progress, we hope to see more dedicated features in future updates.”