Open-source modeling and structural deformation analysis of a solar-powered charging station using freeCAD

Kasturi Kasturi, Regan Rahadian P, Novan Akhiriyanto, Muhammad Hafiz

Abstract


Solar energy is a sustainable and widely available resource with minimal environmental impact and low maintenance requirements. Ensuring the structural integrity of photovoltaic (PV) module supports is crucial for safe and efficient operation. This study utilizes FreeCAD, an open-source software with finite element analysis (FEA) capabilities, to evaluate the deformation and stress distribution in a solar-powered charging station structure. Two thickness variations (3 mm and 1.5 mm) of hollow carbon steel supports were analyzed under identical loading conditions. Results indicate that reducing the thickness from 3 mm to 1.5 mm increased deformation by 69.81% (from 0.53 mm to 0.9 mm) and stress by 96.93%, both remaining within acceptable structural tolerance limits. These findings validate FreeCAD as a cost-effective alternative to commercial FEA software, leveraging open-source libraries like Python, Calculix, and Open Cascade Technology (OCCT) to perform complex simulations without expensive licenses or high-end hardware.


Keywords


open-source, structure, deformation, finite element analysis, FreeCAD

Full Text:

PDF

References


R. A. Rachmanto, F. J. Regannanta, Ubaidillah, Z. Arifin, D. Widhiyanuriyawan, E. Yohana, and S. D. Prasetyo, “Analysis development of public electric vehicle charging stations using on-grid solar power plants in Indonesia,†Int. J. Transp. Dev. Integr., vol. 7, no. 3, pp. 215–222, 2023. doi: 10.18280/ijtdi.070305.

S. D. Prasetyo, A. R. Prabowo, and Z. Arifin, “The use of a hybrid photovoltaic/thermal (PV/T) collector system as a sustainable energy-harvest instrument in urban technology,†Heliyon, vol. 9, no. 2, p. e13390, 2023. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e13390.

L. Suman, K. Sadhu, P. Kumar, R. S. Dhar, R. Dey, S. B. Naskar, A. Ganguly, and A. Kumar, “Analysis of mechanical stress and structural deformation on a solar photovoltaic panel through various wind loads,†Microsystem Technologies, vol. 27, 2021.

Y. Adediji, “Review of Analysis of Structural Deformation of Solar Photovoltaic System under Wind-Wave Load,†2022. doi: 10.31224/2273.

R. Arndt and R. Puto, “Basic Understanding of IEC Standard Testing For Photovoltaic Panels,†TUV SUD Product Service, Peabody, MA, 2010.

N. Bosco, “Evaluation of Dynamic Mechanical Loading as an accelerated test method for ribbon fatigue,†IEEE 39th Photovoltaic Specialists Conference (PVSC), pp. 3173–3178, 2013.

R. G. Budynas, J. K. Nisbett, and McGraw-Hill, Shigley’s Mechanical Engineering Design, 8th ed. New York, 2008.

R. C. Juvinall and K. M. Marshek, Fundamentals of Machine Component Design, 4th ed., John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, NY, 2006.

I.-C. Jong and W. Springer, “Teaching von Mises stress: From principal axes to non-principal axes,†American Society for Engineering Education, 2009.

J. Riegel, W. Mayer, and Y. van Havre, Freecad, version 0.21. [Online]. Available: https://www.freecad.org/

D. Di Donato and M. Abita, “Low-cost 4D BIM modeling: A comparison between FreeCAD and commercial software,†ISPRS - International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, vol. XLII-2/W17, pp. 107–114, 2019. doi: 10.5194/isprs-archives-XLII-2-W17-107-2019.

F. Machado, N. Malpica, and S. Borromeo, “Parametric CAD modeling for open-source scientific hardware: Comparing OpenSCAD and FreeCAD Python scripts,†PLoS ONE, vol. 14, p. e0225795, Dec. 2019.

S. N. Ain, R. Nadler, R. A. Ilyas, A. M. Radzi, D. Sivakumar, “The Effect of Fiber Length on Mechanical and Thermal Properties of Roselle Fiber-Reinforced Polylactic Acid Composites via ANSYS Software Analysis,†in Roselle, S. M. Sapuan, R. Nadler, A. M. Radzi, and R. A. Ilyas, Eds., Academic Press, 2021, pp. 215-235, ISBN: 9780323852135, doi: 10.1016/B978-0-323-85213-5.00012-3.

F. Sarghini, F. Erdogdu, and R. Accorsi, “Designing advanced food packaging systems and technologies through modeling and virtualization,†in Sustainable Food Supply Chains: Planning, Design, and Control through Interdisciplinary Methodologies, R. Accorsi and R. Manzini, Eds. Academic Press, 2019, pp. 83-104. doi: 10.1016/B978-0-12-813411-5.00006-5.

V. Jagota, A. Sethi, and K. Dr.-Khushmeet Kumar, “Finite Element Method: An Overview,†Walailak Journal of Science & Technology, vol. 10, pp. 1–8, 2013. doi: 10.2004/wjst.v10i1.499.

J. Riegel, W. Mayer, and Y. van Havre, “FEM Workbench - FreeCAD Documentation.†[Online]. Available: https://wiki.freecad.org/FEM_Workbench

Y. A. Çengel and A. J. Ghajar, Heat and Mass Transfer: Fundamentals and Applications, 5th ed. New York, NY, USA: McGraw-Hill Professional, 2014, pp. 1–10.

A. Thompson and B. Taylor, “Guide for the Use of the International System of Units (SI), Special Publication (NIST SP),†National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD, 2008. [Online]. Available: https://doi.org/10.6028/NIST.SP.811e2008.

T.-Q. K. Lam, T.-M. D. Do, and B. Trương Văn, “Structural analysis of continuous beam using FEM and ANSYS,†Journal of Mechanical Construction, vol. 11, pp. 60-65, 2021. doi: 10.54772/jomc.v11i02.291.

Y. Liu, “ANSYS and LS-DYNA used for structural analysis,†International Journal of Computer Aided Engineering and Technology, vol. 1, 2008. doi: 10.1504/IJCAET.2008.021254.

K. Kono, M. Hayashi, T. Matsunaga, and H. Okuda, “Extension of analysis support with FreeCAD workbench FEM_FrontISTR,†The Proceedings of The Computational Mechanics Conference, 2023, pp. OS-0602. doi: 10.1299/jsmecmd.2023.36.OS-0602.

D. Di Donato and M. Abita, “Low-cost 4D BIM modeling: A comparison between FreeCAD and commercial software,†ISPRS - International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, vol. XLII-2/W17, pp. 107–114, 2019. doi: 10.5194/isprs-archives-XLII-2-W17-107-2019.

D. Winarski, K. Nygren, and T. Winarski, “Finite Element Analysis versus Empirical Modal Analysis of a Basketball Rim and Backboard,†Vibration, vol. 7, no. 2, pp. 582–594, 2024. doi: 10.3390/vibration7020030.

I. Sh. Nasibullayev, “Application of free software FreeFem++/Gmsh and FreeCAD/CalculiX for simulation of static elasticity problems,†Multiphase Systems, vol. 15, pp. 183–200, 2020. doi: 10.21662/mfs2020.3.129.

J.-Y. Li, L. Gu, H.-S. Xu, Y. Dai, Y. Zhang, R. Yu, L. Zhang, D. Wang, and W. Jiang, “FreeCAD based Monte Carlo modeling approach for fusion reactor facilities,†Fusion Engineering and Design, vol. 155, p. 111711, 2020. doi: 10.1016/j.fusengdes.2020.111711.

J. Jorgensen, M. Hodkiewicz, E. Cripps, and G. M. Hassan, “An open-source analysis workflow for geometrically imperfect bolted ring-flanges in wind turbine support structures,†Journal of Physics: Conference Series, vol. 2767, 2024. doi: 10.1088/1742-6596/2767/6/062004.

H. Wang, W. Lu, R. Shi, S. Yu, and F. Wu, “Research and Development of Railway Alignment Design System Using FreeCAD Software,†IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science, vol. 719, p. 032009, 2021. doi: 10.1088/1755-1315/719/3/032009.

F. Diara and F. Rinaudo, "Towards FreeCAD experimentation and validation as a FOS HBIM platform for building archaeology purposes," 2021.

W. Finnegan, Y. Jiang, N. Dumergue, P. Davies, and J. Goggins, “Investigation and Validation of Numerical Models for Composite Wind Turbine Blades,†J. Mar. Sci. Eng. vol. 9, p. 525, 2021. doi: 10.3390/jmse9050525.




DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.30811/jpl.v23i1.5958

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Bookmark and Share


Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Lisensi Creative Commons

Ciptaan disebarluaskan di bawah Lisensi Creative Commons Atribusi-BerbagiSerupa 4.0 Internasional .

 

Alamat Surat :

Politeknik Negeri Lhokseumawe
Jl. Banda Aceh-Medan Km 280
Buketrata, Lhokseumawe, 24301, Aceh, Indonesia