PSIM SIMULATION SOFTWARE

The PSIM software is designed to provide a reliable simulation tool for students of electrical
power engineering. The softwares libraries contain circuit elements that include sources, power
components, power converter circuits, power switches, machines and control blocks. The PSIM
software is a product of Powersim Inc. (www.powersimtech.com). The full version of PSIM can
be found on PCs located in H-921. A smaller demo version can be downloaded from the
Powersim website as well as user manuals and examples for three related software products.
Another useful location is: www.psim-europe.com/learningcenter_usermanuals.php. Note that
the demo version is limited to 34 elements and 6 sources.

Figure 1. The PSIM webpage.

Figure 1 shows the PSIM website support page and the location of the Download icon.

Basic Diode Rectifier Circuit

Id
Io

is

Vd

Vo

vs

IRL
R

VL
+
VR
-

vs = Vm sin t

Figure 2. The single-diode rectifier.

A. Starting PSIM
The diode circuit shown in Fig. 2 will be created in PSIM as an introductory exercise. This
circuit is found in the lab manual for ELEC 433. To start the simulation on the PC, use the
sequence: Start > Programs >PSIM Ver.xx > PSIM. The display shown in Fig. 3 will appear.

Figure 3. The PSIM start page.

Choose File and New to create a new circuit. The PSIM workspace will open.

Figure 4. The PSIM Workspace.

As soon as the PSIM workspace appears the new circuit should be given a name and saved to an
external memory device as shown in Fig. 4.

Figure 5. Adding a voltage source to the circuit.

B. Building the Circuit with Simcad

The construction of the circuit begins by adding the elements to the workspace as shown in Fig.
5. The first component is the voltage source. The sinusoidal source can be located by two
methods. First, by use of the upper toolbar. The label Elements is chosen followed by a series of
drop-down menus that lead to the sequence: Sources, Voltage and Sine. On the lower toolbar

Figure 6. Adding a voltage source.

the same element appears as an icon. The lower tool bar does not contain all of the components
available in PSIM, only a few of the most common items. It is a useful short-cut.
The placement of the voltage source is shown in Fig. 6. Once the component has been added to
the circuit worksheet, the associated parameters can be adjusted by double-clicking on the icon.
The parameter panel has a tutorial function that is activated by pressing the Help button. The

new values are saved by clicking on the X button in the upper right-hand corner of the
parameters panel. Each parameter has a box that, when active, will print the value to the

Figure 7. Adding a diode to the circuit.

workspace screen. Note that the voltage is given as a maximum value.
In Fig.7, a diode is added to the circuit by invoking the sequence: Elements, Power, Switches
and Diode. If the orientation of the diode or any other component is to be changed, the Edit
command in the upper toolbar can access the Rotate or Flip functions.
The components are selected and positioned as shown in Fig. 8. The polarity of ammeters,
resistor, inductor voltmeters and voltage source is indicated by the small dot at one of the
terminals. For non-source components, the current is assumed to be entering the marked
connector. The voltmeters, Vs and Vload are single terminal measurement devices whose
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reference terminal is the ground element. The values of the circuit components are set by

Figure 8. Placing the components on the worksheet.

clicking on the device and changing the parameter panel.

C. Starting the Simulation

In Fig. 9 the pencil tool has been used to connect the circuit. The simulation controller has been
chosen from the upper command line by clicking the Simulation button. The parameters are set
for a Time Step of 50 us. The Total Time for the simulation is 50 ms or three cycles of a 60 Hz
sinusoidal source voltage. The Print Time is set to 0. The post-processor will start to print the
output waveforms at t = 0 seconds. Every point that is calculated will be printed since the Print
Step parameter has been set to 1. This value can be set to a higher level to shorten the simulation
time or to save memory. If the simulation requires a specific time interval to reach steady-state
conditions (50ms), then the Print Time can be set so that the plotting begins at 50ms and the
Total Time extended to 100ms. Thus, three cycles of the circuits performance can be viewed
under steady-state conditions.

Figure 9. Setting the Simulation Control.

Start the simulation by clicking on the Simulation command in the upper toolbar. Click on the
Run Simulation command shown in Fig. 9. The simulation will begin immediately As soon as
the simulation is complete, the Simview, post-processor display will appear. Fig. 10 shows the
properties panel of the Simview window.

D. Viewing the Results with Simview

To begin, the load current, I1, is chosen from the left column: Variables Available as shown in
Fig. 10. Since the value of the current is small compared to the voltage, it will be scaled up by a
factor of 100 to make it visible on the final plot. The variable I1 is moved into the calculator by
clicking on the arrow symbol. The multiplication function is added by clicking on the math
operations toolbar and then choosing the asterix, *, from the drop-down menu. When the math
operation is entered in the calculator, use the Add command to move the load current into the
Variables for Display column on the right. To add the load voltage to the output plot, hightlight

Figure 10`. Adding a scaled value of the current to the plot.

the variable Vload on the left-side panel. Variables available. Click on the Add>> button and
the parameter will appear in the right-side. When the current and the voltage have been added to
the right-side panel, Variables for Display, the click the OK button. The result is shown in
Fig.11.

In Fig.11 the two circuit variables are shown on the same set of axes. As an example, three
functions are used to provide information about the current-variable trace. One of the
waveforms is activated with the Active Waveform function at the bottom of the page. Next, the
current variable is chosen and the Scope Cursor (telescope icon) creates a vertical line (dashed)
that can be moved along the trace. Right-clicking with mouse will create a second vertical
cursor-bar that can be used to identify two points on a curve when the time difference between
them must be recorded. When the cursor button in the toolbar is active, the Add Text button,
which is to the right, is also active and can be used to print the values of the curve. If necessary,

Figure 11. Choosing a waveform and using the cursor and rms value display
functions.
the printed text can be repositioned by selecting it with the Escape button (white arrowhead) on
the left side of the upper toolbar. Finally there are a series of measurement functions located on
the lower toolbar. In Fig. 11, the rms command is used to display the rms value of both the
current and the diode voltage at the same time.
If it is not possible to distinguish between two waveforms on the same plot, then one trace can be
chosen with Add Or Delete curves tool and the Curves properties tab selected. Fig. 12 shows
how the trace representing the current has been thickened to make distinguishable from the
voltage curve on the same plot.

Figure 12. Changing the thickness of a trace to make it darker.

If two or more separate axes are required, then add the current (without the scaling expression) to
the right-side column directly and click on the OK button. The result is shown in Fig. 13. The
Add Or Delete Curves button on the upper toolbar can be used to remove a trace the voltage
in this example. A second plot can be created using either the Add Or Delete Curves button or
the Add One Screen command located to the right. Note that the active trace is indicated in the
lower left-hand corner and by the red dot that appears at the upper-right corner of the plot.
The Scope Cursor function can be activated as before by clicking the left mouse-button on the
telescope icon. Clicking on the right mouse-button will create a second vertical cursor bar that
can be repositioned by holding the button down while moving the mouse. The Measure screen
will display the values of both variables at the points selected by the respective cursors.

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Figure 13. Adding a second curve on a separate set of axes.

The results of the simulation as well as the diagram of the circuit can be printed, saved to the
clipboard, copied with Print Screen or saved to a file. Both Simcad and Simview will print
directly to the printer using either the File command or the printer icon located in the upper
toolbar.
The Simcad and Simview screens can be copied to the clipboard using the Edit function in the
upper toolbar. The File command can be used to save the results to a file.

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