Dynamic Simulation of High-Power Machinery Systems

A meaningful computer simulation effort in the area of high-power machinery systems could have a major impact upon the cost of developing these systems. It is proposed, in this Phase 1, to develop modular, detailed and reduced-order digital computer simulations for an example high-power machinery system. Implementing these types of simulations using standard techniques may not be sufficiently innovative for a SBIR; however, P. C. Krause and Associates (PCKA) have developed methods which could markedly improve the speed and facility of these simulations. In particular, a method has been developed which permits a detailed simulation of an ac power system which is orders of magnitude faster than standard methods. It is proposed to apply this technique to high-power machinery systems. Secondly, PCKA have developed a technique to extract information from an accurate reduced-order simulation and, using this information, reconstruct the instantaneous steady-state waveforms including harmonics, without resorting to a standard cost-prohibitive detailed digital simulation. It is also proposed to apply this technique (waveform reconstruction) to high-power machinery systems. If successful, this research would yield an accurate systems simulation environment for in-house use by the government and industry, not just to investigate pulsed power systems but to study a wide range of high- power machinery systems.