Transformer Support-Base:Design & Analysis

Engineering design is vitally important and is the backbone of any industrial organization. The innovative approach to engineering design requires extensive calculations, estimations, workability and economic considerations to achieve a high level of customer satisfaction. Our project, for the ABB Group, was to design a structural frame-base for their transformers, and develop a set of design-standards to accommodate a range of transformer sizes. A transformer is used to step-up or step-down the voltage as needed to satisfy the electrical power needs of a facility. Industrial size transformers are an extremely heavy, sensitive and precise electrical devices that require a reliable support structure throughout their assembly, transport and usage by the customer. Therefore, a thorough design analysis must be performed to consider the engineering aspects of design, e.g. stress analysis, finite element analysis and commissioning of the design. The structural design analysis is of great importance because it involves human safety as well as asset safety. So for these reasons, we conducted several stress test analyses using SolidWorks CAD software to further refine our design. Since ABB wants to consider fabricating the frame-bases in their workshop, the designs’ simplicity is also important for this project. Several designs and multiple iterations were considered in this project. By including the considerations of function, scalability and economic viability, we have suggested our frame-base design for ABB Transformers to include their desired functions and low-cost materials. We are looking forward to the practical implementation and in-service commissioning of our design.https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/capstone/1218/thumbnail.jp