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Altair > Case Studies > Schneider Electric's Multi-Disciplinary System Design Approach for Developing Miniature Circuit Breakers

Schneider Electric's Multi-Disciplinary System Design Approach for Developing Miniature Circuit Breakers

Technology Category

Analytics & Modeling - Digital Twin / Simulation
Sensors - Voltage Sensors

Applicable Industries

Buildings
Electronics

Applicable Functions

Product Research & Development

Use Cases

Virtual Prototyping & Product Testing
Virtual Reality

Services

Testing & Certification

The Challenge

Schneider Electric, a global leader in power management and automation systems, faced a challenge when they identified a new market opportunity for their circuit breaker business in a region where they had no presence. The challenge was to adapt an existing standard design for a circuit breaker’s automatic recloser to be used under different operating conditions, including different voltage levels and types (DC rather than AC), and varying temperatures. The product variant had to meet all-new specifications and the window of opportunity was short, requiring the development of a viable product within only four months. The challenge was further compounded by the need to maintain Schneider Electric's high product standards, superior customer satisfaction, and an excellent corporate reputation for providing products that perform with high reliability.

About The Customer

Schneider Electric is a global leader in the digital transformation of energy management and automation in homes, buildings, data centers, infrastructure, and industries. With 150,000 employees worldwide and a presence in over 100 countries, Schneider Electric is the undisputed leader in power management and automation systems. The company offers IoT-enabled solutions to seamlessly connect, collect, analyze and act on data in real-time, providing integrated solutions that help customers better manage their energy systems to achieve higher energy efficiency and sustainability. Schneider Electric has been an Altair customer for many years and has extended their usage to several more software products in the Altair HyperWorks suite to apply co-simulation in their development processes.

The Solution

To meet this challenge, Schneider Electric turned to simulation technology to speed up the process and meet the development deadline. They adopted a multi-disciplinary design approach using the Altair HyperWorks suite, which included tools like Altair Activate, Altair Flux, and Altair MotionSolve. This approach allowed Schneider Electric engineers to evaluate numerous variants and identify the optimal design parameters for the various operating conditions. By combining 1D and 3D models, they were able to successfully simulate their circuit breaker as the complete system-of-systems that it is. Activate enabled the engineers to model their control strategy and electronics disciplines. These results were then combined with the 3D models from Flux and MotionSolve. The multi-disciplinary approach revealed some interesting findings and allowed for early risk management, preventing the engineers from moving in the wrong design direction or building prototypes which wouldn’t work.

Operational Impact

The multi-disciplinary simulation approach adopted by Schneider Electric not only helped them meet their ambitious time-to-market goal but also improved their product quality and reduced risk pertaining to product performance. The approach allowed them to evaluate numerous variants and identify the optimal design parameters for the various operating conditions. The close correlation between simulation results and test data provided confidence in the approach. The early identification of a potential issue with the third operating condition saved Schneider Electric from pursuing the development of a product that would not have worked robustly under all anticipated operating conditions. Instead, they were able to focus on a new development path which helped them maintain their high product standards, superior customer satisfaction, and an excellent corporate reputation for providing products that perform with high reliability.

Quantitative Benefit

Schneider Electric was able to meet the ambitious time-to-market goal of four months.
Early identification of technical risks allowed for early risk management.
The multi-disciplinary approach revealed that only two of the three sets of operating conditions they tested provided satisfactory performance, saving time and resources.