Brochure · EN — This brochure presents the proprietary suite of computer design programs Siemens Energy uses to engineer every power transformer individually to order. Built on more than 30 years of electromagnetic FEM design experience and a three-decade research collaboration with the Graz University of Technology in Austria, the tool chain covers electrics and transients, 2D/3D electromagnetic field calculation, thermal and aging simulation, noise, and mechanical analysis, all integrated around the TDS-E (Transformer Design System – Electrical) module shared across Siemens Energy factories. The programs compute losses and short-circuit stresses turn by turn, model transients and test circuits, verify design limits, and extend to special designs such as SVC, PST, VSHR, and ester-filled transformers, with design rules continuously maintained by the R&D department.
Siemens Energy's design programs are the tools used to create tailor-made power transformers. They enable fast, detailed development of transformers that satisfy every stipulated criterion, specification, and rule, and are considered essential to delivering a successful, one-of-a-kind transformer product.
The speed, accuracy, and stability of these programs directly translate into transformer reliability: defects are prevented at the design stage, yielding an all-in-one transformer solution that is reliable, durable, and trouble-free.
Every Siemens Energy power transformer is built individually to order rather than on an assembly line. The design programs support the full engineering scope of that process, including: engineering department needs; complete geometry checks; detailed winding setup; calculation of all eventualities; transients including limits and test-circuit modeling; advanced transient modeling for system studies; turn-wise losses; turn-wise short-circuit forces and stresses; low-noise design (load noise, no-load noise, fans, pumps, and sound panels); tank-rupture prevention; consideration of design limits; and summaries of all results.
Siemens Energy is a pioneer in transformer development and has successfully designed transformers with electromagnetic FEM (finite element method) programs for over 30 years. A three-decade intensive collaboration with the Graz University of Technology in Austria underpins this capability, and this partnership also drove the program technology forward as processor power increased.
The design suite is organized into domain-specific program families, each covering a distinct physics area of transformer engineering. Losses and short-circuit stresses are resolved turn by turn, and both 2D and 3D finite-element field calculation are used depending on the analysis target.
| Domain | Capabilities |
|---|---|
| Electrics and transients | Network generation for transients and circulating currents; RLC network analysis; complete transient analysis; frequency response in specific electromagnetic networks; simulation of transients in specific electromagnetic networks |
| Electromagnetics | FEM2D electromagnetic field calculation based on a turn-wise model; load losses, short-circuit forces, and stresses; FEM3D electromagnetic field calculation in inactive metallic parts; no-load losses; core and yoke losses in shunt reactors (FEM3D); DC magnetization issues |
| Thermals and aging | Transformer cooling; CFD (computational fluid dynamics) for hydraulic and thermal-hydraulic arrangements; state-of-the-art network models; relative losses and transient temperatures, local oil flow, transient moisture distribution |
| Noise | Load noise (dynamic vibration model); no-load noise and core resonances (dynamic vibration model) |
| Mechanics | Seismic models; tank rupture |
TDS-E is the central software for simulating and calculating transformers according to the latest Siemens Energy design rules. It provides central support, easy data transfer between Siemens Energy factories, identical training and comprehension for every designer, a common structure for costing calculation, and graphical outputs for quick design checks.
Benchmark flexibility: each transformer is built to the customer's specifications, so every unit differs across many parameters. The flexibility of the design programs allows models to be prepared for every requirement.
Stay in motion: because the transformer world changes constantly, the design rules produced by the R&D department at Siemens Transformers are kept in constant flux to meet all future requirements — ester-filled transformers, for example, are completely covered by the design tools.
Stay in contact: as the producers of the design rules, the R&D department maintains close collaboration with the design and engineering departments.
Stay out in front: Siemens Energy runs many program-improvement projects backed by extensive investment.
Be global: special designs such as SVC, PST, and VSHR are fully covered, as are prototype and series designs. Innovation, cutting-edge design concepts, and experience from all Siemens Energy locations flow into the tools, with global support for electrical and mechanical design from local Siemens Energy factories.
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