Views: 0 Author: Site Editor Publish Time: 2026-08-11 Origin: Site
Translated from: Electrical & Energy Management Technology (2021 No. 4) Author: HU Jinli
Note: This document contains the full English translation starting from Section 2 of the paper, including all detailed text, numerical data, mathematical expressions, flowcharts, and structured tables.
In circuit breaker design, simulation methods facilitate the selection of materials for the bimetallic sheet and allow a preliminary evaluation of whether the tripping time of the circuit breaker satisfies the design requirements, thereby enhancing production efficiency and reducing development costs.
To obtain the accurate transient temperature rise and deformation of the bimetallic sheet, this paper utilizes Ansys finite element analysis software to perform thermal analysis on the bimetallic element. During the simulation procedure:
3D Modeling: First， Creo software is employed to construct the bimetallic sheet model, which encompasses four distinct components: the active layer, passive layer, intermediate layer, and welding point.
Import & Material Assignment: Second, the constructed model is imported into the Ansys APDL module, where element types are defined, material properties are assigned to each respective part, and finite element meshing is executed.
Boundary Conditions & Execution: Finally, the initial temperature of the bimetallic sheet is defined. Based on the ambient temperature and the applied current, the heat dissipation coefficients for each surface are calculated and assigned. Fixed constraints and current boundary conditions are applied to conduct transient thermal-mechanical coupled simulation. This yields the transient temperature field and deformation distribution, from which the exact time required for the bimetallic sheet to reach the tripping position is determined.
