A method for simulation and prediction of the plug-in life of an electrical connector contact

Abstract

The application relates to a simulation prediction method for the plugging life of an electrical connector contact piece, which comprises the following steps: establishing a three-dimensional simulation model of a plug end and a socket end of an electrical connector, and defining material properties and contact relations of each component in the three-dimensional simulation model; performing finite element grid discretization on the three-dimensional simulation model; applying a fixed constraint to the socket end, applying displacement load simulating a plugging process to the plug end, and performing statics solving to obtain plugging force in the plugging process of the plug end and the socket end and contact pressure data of the plug end contact piece and the socket end contact piece; and mapping the statics solving result to a fatigue analysis module to simulate and calculate output of life distribution results of the plug end contact piece and the socket end contact piece under repeated plugging load. The application has the effect of analyzing stress and strain states of internal contact pieces of the electrical connector and fatigue damage of the internal contact pieces under repeated plugging, so as to help monitoring personnel to find potential mechanical failure problems in time.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of electrical connectors, in particular to a simulation prediction method for the plugging life of an electrical connector contact. BACKGROUND

[0002] An electrical connector is a core basic element for realizing electrical connection and signal transmission in an electronic system, and its reliability is directly related to the normal operation of the entire system. The failure modes of an electrical connector mainly include three types of mechanical failure, electrical failure and environmental failure. Among them, mechanical failure is mainly manifested as the deterioration of plugging characteristics, and the core evaluation index of plugging characteristics is plugging force. The plugging force needs to be maintained within a reasonable range: too large will lead to difficult operation, low efficiency, and even physical damage of the connector; too small will lead to poor contact, increased contact resistance, and even the risk of overheating and open circuit. Therefore, accurate control and analysis of the plugging force are crucial to ensure the mechanical reliability and electrical performance of the electrical connector.

[0003] At present, the evaluation of the plugging performance of an electrical connector mainly relies on experimental tests of a physical prototype. This method has the disadvantages of long cycle, high cost, strong destructiveness, etc., and it is difficult to intuitively and concretely analyze the stress and strain state of the internal contact and its fatigue damage evolution process under repeated plugging in the design stage. Due to the inability to effectively predict the plugging life of the contact, simulation monitoring personnel have difficulty in timely discovering potential mechanical failure problems caused by poor plugging performance, and it is even more difficult to conduct targeted structural optimization, so there is room for improvement. SUMMARY

[0004] In order to intuitively and concretely analyze the stress and strain state of the internal contact of an electrical connector and its fatigue damage under repeated plugging, to help simulation monitoring personnel timely discover potential mechanical failure problems caused by poor plugging performance, and to conduct targeted structural optimization, the present application provides a simulation prediction method for the plugging life of an electrical connector contact.

[0005] In a first aspect, the present application provides a simulation prediction method for the plugging life of an electrical connector contact, comprising:

[0006] establishing a three-dimensional simulation model of the plug end and the socket end of the electrical connector, defining the material properties of each component in the three-dimensional simulation model, and the contact relationship between each component; wherein the contact relationship between the contact of the plug end and the contact of the socket end is nonlinear frictional contact;

[0007] performing finite element grid discretization on the three-dimensional simulation model, and performing local grid refinement on the contact of the plug end and the contact of the socket end;

[0008] In the simulation environment, a fixed constraint is applied to the socket end, a displacement load simulating the plug-in and plug-out process is applied to the plug end, and a statics solution is performed to obtain the plug-in and plug-out force of the plug end and the socket end in the plug-in and plug-out process, and the contact pressure data of the plug end contact and the socket end contact;

[0009] The statics solution result is mapped into a fatigue analysis module, and according to the low-cycle fatigue theory, a simulation calculation outputs a life distribution result of the plug end contact and the socket end contact under repeated plug-in and plug-out loads.

[0010] By adopting the technical scheme, the plug-in and plug-out performance and the life of the electrical connector can be predicted in the product design stage before the physical prototype is manufactured, the development cycle is greatly shortened, and the research and development cost and the trial and error cost are reduced; the stress and strain distribution of the internal contact in the plug-in and plug-out process of the electrical connector can be concretely displayed, and the full process curve of the plug-in and plug-out force can be accurately calculated, so that the simulation monitoring personnel can deeply understand the mechanical behavior, the fatigue life of the contact under a specified plug-in and plug-out number can be accurately predicted by combining the statics analysis and the low-cycle fatigue theory, and the dangerous area most prone to fatigue fracture can be intuitively identified in the form of a cloud chart, which provides clear and reliable basis for design optimization. Based on the life cloud chart and the dangerous node information obtained through simulation, the simulation monitoring personnel can improve and optimize the structure, material or process of the contact (such as modifying the shape of the spring leaf and adjusting the interference amount), so as to effectively improve the mechanical plug-in and plug-out life and the overall reliability of the electrical connector.

[0011] Optionally, the displacement load simulating the plug-in and plug-out process applied to the plug end is a displacement load in the direction of the preset ideal plug-in and plug-out axis;

[0012] The method further comprises:

[0013] According to the life distribution result output by the simulation calculation, a dangerous position is located from the three-dimensional simulation model, the statics analysis result is traced back, the stress and strain state of the dangerous position in the plug-in and plug-out process is solved, and the damage mode of the dangerous position is analyzed;

[0014] The damage mode is associated with a sensitive offset direction deviating from the ideal plug-in and plug-out axis, a mapping relationship between different angle offset loads applied along the sensitive offset direction and the damage degree of the dangerous position is established and output, so as to be known by the simulation monitoring personnel;

[0015] Based on the dangerous position and the mapping relationship, a structure optimization scheme for the contact of the electrical connector is output, so as to be known by the simulation monitoring personnel.

[0016] By adopting the technical scheme, the life distribution result obtained through simulation is associated with the bad operation habit of a user during plugging and unplugging of the electric connector, the stress state of a damage position is analyzed, and it is deduced reversely that how the specific bad habit (for example, the non-horizontal plugging angle) can aggravate the damage to the corresponding damage position. Based on the deduction, targeted design optimization (for example, strengthening a specific area and adding a guide structure) is performed, so that the sensitivity (that is, the robustness) of the electric connector to the bad use habit of the user is reduced, a closed-loop strategy from virtual damage to real cause and then to design prevention is realized, and the simulation result, human behavior (that is, user habit) and design prevention are creatively deeply integrated.

[0017] Optionally, the method further comprises:

[0018] According to the life distribution result output by the simulation calculation, at least one high-risk area with a life lower than a first preset threshold is identified from the three-dimensional simulation model;

[0019] Based on the geometric features of the high-risk area, an independent sub-component containing only the high-risk area and a main structure except the high-risk area are segmented from the three-dimensional simulation model, and a detachable connection interface of the independent sub-component is designed at the segmentation position; wherein the detachable connection interface at least includes a buckle connection, a threaded connection;

[0020] According to the detachable connection interface, the contact relationship between the independent sub-component and the main structure is redefined, and the three-dimensional simulation model is updated;

[0021] After updating the three-dimensional simulation model according to different detachable connection interface schemes, the updated three-dimensional simulation model is simulated to obtain a life distribution result; the life change of the high-risk area and the decline ripple degree of the life of the surrounding area under each detachable connection interface scheme are calculated and compared;

[0022] The interface scheme that makes the life of the high-risk area meet the requirements and has the minimum decline ripple degree of the life of the surrounding area is selected as the optimal detachable connection interface scheme, and the optimal detachable connection interface scheme and the corresponding updated three-dimensional simulation model are output.

[0023] By adopting the technical scheme, the life prediction data simulated is used as the module division basis of the structure dimension of the three-dimensional simulation model, a region with short life and easy mechanical damage (i.e., a high-risk region) is separated from the three-dimensional simulation model to form an independent subcomponent, and a detachable connection mode of the subcomponent and the three-dimensional simulation model is defined, thereby effectively solving the problem that the whole structure of the electrical connector is scrapped due to the life limit of a local part of the three-dimensional simulation model, and achieving the effects of prolonging the overall service life of the product and reducing the maintenance cost. Further, the detachable connection interface itself is taken as a new "design variable" into the simulation verification system, and the detachable connection mode is optimized with the "suppression of life decline ripple effect" as the optimization target, and finally a design scheme of a three-dimensional simulation model that is globally optimized and most reliable is output.

[0024] Optionally, the method further comprises:

[0025] For the three-dimensional simulation model updated according to the optimal detachable connection interface scheme, a target high-risk region and a corresponding target peripheral region are determined from the life distribution result output by simulation calculation; the target high-risk region refers to a high-risk region in the life distribution result, for which the difference between the corresponding life and the life corresponding to the adjacent main structure is higher than a preset difference; the target peripheral region is a peripheral region adjacent to the periphery of the target high-risk region; and the target peripheral region is located between the target high-risk region and the main structure.

[0026] The target peripheral region is subjected to structure reconstruction, a load is applied to the reconstructed target peripheral region, and a stress distribution cloud map is obtained; based on the stress distribution cloud map, it is verified whether the target peripheral region can reduce the stress amplitude transmitted from the target high-risk region to the main structure through its own deformation or energy consumption; if so, a verification result and a structure reconstruction scheme of the target peripheral region are output; and the verification result at least includes a life distribution result obtained by simulation calculation of the three-dimensional simulation model updated by using the target peripheral region subjected to structure reconstruction.

[0027] By adopting the technical scheme, on the basis of optimizing the detachable connection interface between the high-risk region and the adjacent main structure, a peripheral region between the high-risk region and the adjacent main structure is further demarcated as a buffer zone, and the material and geometric structure of the peripheral region are optimized, so as to realize the structure reconstruction of the peripheral region, and then verify whether the life of the corresponding target high-risk region in the life distribution result of the three-dimensional simulation model updated by using the target peripheral region subjected to structure reconstruction is improved; if so, it is considered that the target peripheral region can reduce the stress amplitude transmitted from the target high-risk region to the main structure through its own deformation or energy consumption, and at this time, the structure reconstruction scheme of the target peripheral region is output, and the design of the three-dimensional simulation model is further optimized.

[0028] Optionally, the method further comprises:

[0029] obtaining a degradation trajectory of a key performance parameter of the electrical connector with the number of plugging and unplugging through a plugging and unplugging process simulation;

[0030] According to the degradation trajectory, a critical point at which the key performance parameter accelerates degradation and a corresponding critical cycle number are identified, and a root cause of the critical point is analyzed;

[0031] According to the root cause, an initial design optimization scheme is formulated and implemented, and the optimization scheme aims to delay the occurrence of the critical point;

[0032] Simulation verifies whether the optimized design effectively delays the critical point, and if so, the initial design optimization scheme is output.

[0033] By using the above technical solution, through finite element simulation, not only a life distribution diagram is obtained, but more importantly, a degradation trajectory of a key performance parameter of the electrical connector is extracted, the performance degradation process of the electrical connector in the whole life cycle is accurately predicted in the product design stage, a critical point at which the performance accelerates degradation is actively identified, a root cause of the critical point is analyzed, and a clear mapping relationship between the root cause and the optimization measure is established. With the core purpose of delaying the critical point at which the performance accelerates degradation, the product maintains stable performance attenuation for a longer period of time, thereby greatly improving the reliability and stability of the product in use. A complete "analysis-optimization-verification" closed loop is provided, and all optimization effects can be quantitatively verified by simulation means (such as comparing the cycle number of the critical point before and after optimization), so that the design decision has a basis, and the result is reliable and credible.

[0034] Optionally, the method further comprises:

[0035] The degradation trajectory is encapsulated into a prediction model, the input of the prediction model is a key performance parameter, and the output is a remaining life, so as to predict the remaining life based on the value of the key performance parameter;

[0036] Through a cycle simulation process, a mapping relationship between an easily monitored proxy parameter and a key performance parameter is established;

[0037] A prediction instruction is received, based on a specific value of the proxy parameter contained in the prediction instruction and the mapping relationship between the proxy parameter and the key performance parameter, a value of the key performance parameter corresponding to the current proxy parameter is mapped and input into the prediction model to output the remaining life, so that the maintenance personnel can know the remaining life.

[0038] By adopting the technical scheme, two key models (a prediction model and a mapping model) are constructed through simulation, and the prediction model is indirectly driven by using an easily monitored proxy parameter, so that online prediction of the remaining life is realized, and an expensive, complex and unreliable scheme (such as implanting a sensor at a contact interface) that may be used for directly measuring the contact pressure is avoided; high-fidelity simulation data (the mapping model and a benchmark degradation trajectory) are deeply fused with online monitoring data in the actual use process of the electrical connector, so that the prediction model based on simulation can be dynamically updated according to the change of the actual product state, and the accuracy and individualization level of the remaining life prediction are greatly improved; the electrical connector is endowed with intelligent functions of self-sensing and self-prediction, so that it is transformed from a passive mechanical part into an intelligent terminal capable of providing information about its health state.

[0039] Optionally, the method further comprises:

[0040] Based on the life distribution result, the area in the three-dimensional simulation model in different life gradient ranges is displayed in a preset display mode.

[0041] In a second aspect, the present application provides a simulation prediction system for the plugging life of a contact piece of an electrical connector, comprising,

[0042] A three-dimensional modeling module is configured to establish a three-dimensional simulation model of a plug end and a socket end of the electrical connector, define material properties of each component in the three-dimensional simulation model, and define contact relationships between the components; wherein the contact relationship between the contact piece of the plug end and the contact piece of the socket end is a nonlinear friction contact.

[0043] A meshing module is configured to discretize the three-dimensional simulation model by finite elements, and to locally refine the mesh of the contact piece of the plug end and the contact piece of the socket end.

[0044] A plugging simulation module is configured to apply a fixed constraint to the socket end, apply a displacement load simulating a plugging process to the plug end, and perform statics solving to obtain plugging force in the plugging process of the plug end and the socket end, and contact pressure data of the contact piece of the plug end and the contact piece of the socket end.

[0045] A life prediction module is configured to map the statics solving result to a fatigue analysis module, and to simulate and calculate a life distribution result of the contact piece of the plug end and the contact piece of the socket end under repeated plugging load according to low-cycle fatigue theory.

[0046] In a third aspect, the present application provides a simulation prediction device for the plugging life of a contact piece of an electrical connector, comprising a memory and a processor, and the memory stores a computer program capable of being loaded and executed by the processor to perform the method of any one of the first aspect.

[0047] In a fourth aspect, the present application provides a computer readable storage medium storing a computer program capable of being loaded and executed by a processor to perform the method according to any one of the first aspect.

[0048] In summary, the present application includes at least one of the following beneficial technical effects:

[0049] In the present application, the plug-in performance and life of the electrical connector are predicted, which greatly shortens the development cycle, reduces the research and development cost and the trial and error cost; it can break through the concretization of experimental test, concretely show the stress and strain distribution of the internal contact piece of the electrical connector in the plug-in process, and accurately calculate the whole process curve of the plug-in force, so that the simulation monitoring personnel can deeply understand the mechanical behavior, accurately predict the fatigue life of the contact piece under the specified plug-in times by combining statics analysis with low-cycle fatigue theory, and intuitively identify the dangerous area most prone to fatigue fracture in the form of a cloud chart, providing clear and reliable basis for design optimization. Based on the life cloud chart and dangerous node information obtained by simulation, the simulation monitoring personnel can improve and optimize the structure, material or process of the contact piece (such as modifying the shape of the spring leaf, adjusting the interference amount, etc.), thereby effectively improving the mechanical plug-in life and overall reliability of the electrical connector;

[0050] Further, the simulation obtained life distribution result is analyzed in association with the bad operation habit of the user in the plug-in process of the electrical connector, the stress state of the damaged part is analyzed, and it is inversely reasoned that how a specific bad habit (such as non-horizontal plug-in angle) will aggravate the damage to the corresponding damaged part. Based on this reasoning, targeted design optimization (such as strengthening a specific area or increasing a guide structure) is performed, so as to reduce the sensitivity (i.e. improve the robustness) of the electrical connector to the bad use habit of the user, realize the closed-loop strategy from virtual damage to real cause and then to design prevention, and creatively deeply integrate the simulation result, human behavior (i.e. user habit) and design prevention. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0051] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application, the following will briefly introduce the drawings needed to be used in the embodiment description. Obviously, the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present application, and for those skilled in the art, other drawings can also be obtained without creative labor based on these drawings.

[0052] Figure 1 is a flowchart of the simulation prediction method of the plug-in life of the contact piece of the electrical connector disclosed by the embodiments of the present application.

[0053] Figure 2is a structural block diagram of a simulation prediction system for plug-in life of an electrical connector contact disclosed in the embodiments of the present application.

[0054] Explanation of reference signs: 201, three-dimensional modeling module; 202, meshing module; 203, plug-in simulation module; 204, life prediction module. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0055] The following will be described in detail in combination with the accompanying drawings. Figures 1-2 The present application will be further described in detail.

[0056] The embodiments of the present application disclose a simulation prediction method for plug-in life of an electrical connector contact (hereinafter referred to as a simulation prediction method), and an execution subject of the simulation prediction method is a simulation prediction system for plug-in life of an electrical connector contact (hereinafter referred to as a simulation prediction system). The following will be described in combination with the accompanying drawings. Figure 1 The execution process of the simulation prediction system on the simulation prediction method will be specifically described.

[0057] S101, a three-dimensional simulation model of a plug end and a socket end of an electrical connector is established, material properties of each component in the three-dimensional simulation model are defined, and contact relationships between the components are defined; wherein the contact relationship between a contact piece of the plug end and a contact piece of the socket end is a nonlinear friction contact.

[0058] S102, finite element mesh discretization is performed on the three-dimensional simulation model, and local mesh refinement is performed on the contact piece of the plug end and the contact piece of the socket end.

[0059] S103, in a simulation environment, a fixed constraint is applied to the socket end, a displacement load simulating a plug-in process is applied to the plug end, and statics solving is performed to obtain plug-in force in the plug-in process of the plug end and the socket end, and contact pressure data of the contact piece of the plug end and the contact piece of the socket end.

[0060] S104, the statics solving result is mapped to a fatigue analysis module, and according to low-cycle fatigue theory, life distribution results of the contact piece of the plug end and the contact piece of the socket end under repeated plug-in load are simulated and calculated and output.

[0061] Based on the life distribution results, according to a preset life gradient range and a preset display mode, regions in the three-dimensional simulation model in different life gradient ranges are distinguished and displayed.

[0062] In implementation, first, in three-dimensional modeling software, create digital geometric model (i.e. three-dimensional simulation model) of charging connector plug end (including pin) and socket end (including socket), and finely model the contact (i.e. pin and socket), especially the structure of the socket (such as leaf spring, crown spring, torsional spring, the embodiment of the application takes the leaf spring type connector as an example), because the geometry of these subtle structures directly determines the performance of point contact (such as contact area, stress distribution).

[0063] Then import the three-dimensional simulation model into the simulation platform (such as ANSYS Workbench), and assign real material properties to different parts in the three-dimensional simulation model. The key parameters corresponding to the material properties include elastic modulus, Poisson's ratio, and density. Among them, the pin material is set to red copper, and the socket material is set to phosphor bronze.

[0064] Then define the contact relationship between each part in the three-dimensional simulation model, such as setting the contact relationship between the pin and the socket as frictional contact, and setting the friction coefficient to 0.2, and selecting enhanced Lagrange algorithm as the contact algorithm, selecting asymmetric contact behavior in the advanced contact settings of the simulation platform software, and setting the contact stiffness to 0.1.

[0065] Then divide the three-dimensional simulation model using tetrahedral mesh, and use smaller mesh size (such as 0.4mm mesh size for the inner surface of the socket spring, and 0.5mm mesh size for the surface of the pin) in the contact area (i.e. the surface of the pin and the inner surface of the socket spring), and use larger mesh size (such as 1mm) in the non-release area.

[0066] Then, completely fix the socket end, i.e. apply a fixed constraint, to simulate its state of being held or installed on the device during plugging and unplugging; and according to the coordinate system position in the simulation interface, apply a horizontal displacement load to the plug end, which can be specifically set to a displacement load of 8mm size in combination with the plugging and unplugging displacement amount in the actual use process of the electric vehicle charging connector, to simulate the plugging and unplugging process, i.e. within 0-10s, the plug gun moves forward by 8mm (insertion stage), within 10s-20s, the plug gun moves backward by 8mm (unplugging stage). In addition, since the plugging and unplugging process simulation of the research object belongs to the category of static nonlinear analysis, the plugging and unplugging process of the pin in the crown spring involves large deformation of the spring sheet, so the application also proposes to open the large deformation option setting in the advanced settings option of the simulation platform software, and at the same time, to make the solution more easily convergent, open the force convergence option setting.

[0067] Before solving, set the probe, "probe" is a standard built-in function of ANSYS Workbench platform, by setting a force reaction probe at the plug end, for monitoring the plug end in the process of moving reaction force (i.e. plug force), and draw the plug force curve with displacement changes as changes;

[0068] The input of statics solving process is: three-dimensional geometric model, material properties of each component in three-dimensional simulation model, and contact relationship between each component;

[0069] The output of statics solving process is:

[0070] 1. Displacement field data (i.e. the position change of each point in the three-dimensional geometric model after the plug force), stress field (i.e. the stress of each point in the three-dimensional geometric model), strain field (i.e. the strain of each point in the three-dimensional geometric model (such as equivalent elastic strain, equivalent plastic strain)), contact state (for showing which areas are in contact, sliding or separation state).

[0071] The output also includes the plug force: the reaction force-time (or reaction force-displacement) curve in the whole plug process is output through the force reaction probe;

[0072] 2. Contact pressure: the pressure distribution and size on the contact surface obtained by the pressure probe, where the contact surface refers to the contact surface between the contact member of the plug end and the contact member of the socket end during the plug process.

[0073] The input of fatigue analysis module (such as nCode DesignLife module) includes:

[0074] 1. Statics solving results, which contain the stress and strain results of each component (including the contact member of the plug end and the contact member of the socket end) of the three-dimensional simulation model under the load;

[0075] 2. Load history: the load history refers to the stress change process in the model caused by the plug displacement calculated by the statics analysis, which is the whole process of stress change in the material caused by the plug displacement read by the nCode DesignLife module.

[0076] 3. Material fatigue properties: i.e. E-N curve (strain-life curve), E-N curve is the inherent fatigue property of the material, which is pre-stored in the simulation prediction system after pre-standard material fatigue test.

[0077] The output of fatigue analysis module (such as nCode DesignLife module) includes:

[0078] 1. Life cloud (i.e. the life distribution result described above): the cycle number required for fatigue failure at each position on the three-dimensional simulation model, for example, the area with the bluest color in the cloud may show a life of 100000 cycles, and the most dangerous area with the reddest color may show a life of 5200 cycles, so as to distinguish the areas in different life gradient ranges (such as 10000 cycles) by different colors (i.e. the preset display mode mentioned above). The simulation monitoring personnel compares the displayed cycle number with the preset target cycle number, so as to determine whether the life target is met (such as >10000 cycles).

[0079] 2. Damage cloud: used to display the accumulated damage value (calculated according to the Miner linear cumulative damage rule) of each position on the three-dimensional simulation model at a specified target cycle number. Damage value ≥1 indicates that the corresponding position has been damaged. The dangerous position in the three-dimensional simulation model can be determined based on the damage value (such as the position with a damage value close to 1 and a difference from 1 less than a preset difference).

[0080] Optionally, the displacement load applied to the plug end during the simulated plug-in and plug-out process refers to the displacement load in the direction of the preset ideal plug-in and plug-out axis;

[0081] The simulation prediction method further includes the following steps:

[0082] According to the life distribution result output by the simulation calculation, the dangerous position is located from the three-dimensional simulation model, the static analysis result is traced back, the stress and strain state of the dangerous position in the plug-in and plug-out process is solved, and the damage mode of the dangerous position is analyzed;

[0083] The damage mode is associated with the sensitive offset direction deviating from the ideal plug-in and plug-out axis, and a mapping relationship between the damage degree of the dangerous position and the different angle offset loads applied in the sensitive offset direction is established and output, so as to be known by the simulation monitoring personnel;

[0084] Based on the dangerous position and the mapping relationship, an optimization scheme for the structure of the electrical connector contact is output, so as to be known by the simulation monitoring personnel.

[0085] In implementation, as known from the foregoing, the output result of the fatigue analysis module (such as the nCode DesignLife module) is obtained based on the simulation under the condition that a horizontal displacement load of 8 mm is applied to the plug end, that is, the output result of the fatigue analysis module (such as the nCode DesignLife module) is the simulation result obtained by simulating the scenario that the user inserts and pulls the electrical connector in the horizontal direction (i.e., the ideal plug-pull axis described in the present disclosure), but in actual use, the user is prone to have bad use habits (such as deviating from the horizontal direction when plugging and pulling), which will aggravate the mechanical damage of the electrical connector. To this end, the present application proposes the following scheme to reduce the sensitivity of the electrical connector to the user's bad use habits (i.e., to improve the robustness):

[0086] The simulation prediction system is used to locate the dangerous positions in the damage cloud map output by the fatigue analysis module, such as positions where the damage value is close to 1 and the difference from 1 is less than a preset difference value, in the three-dimensional simulation model. Then, the "probe" function or time history post-processor in the simulation platform software is used to extract the mechanical data of each dangerous position in the entire plug-pull time history, including:

[0087] Equivalent stress time history (used to understand the stress level and variation amplitude), stress component time history (first principal stress (reflecting the bending trend) and shear stress (reflecting the friction shear trend) are analyzed), and contact pressure time history (if the dangerous position is located on the contact surface, the contact pressure curve with time needs to be obtained).

[0088] Then, based on the above mechanical data, the damage mode of the dangerous position is comprehensively determined:

[0089] If the proportion of the amplitude of the first principal stress to the total equivalent stress amplitude exceeds a preset percentage (such as 60%), and the contact pressure peak value is less than a specified percentage (such as 10%) of the material yield strength, it is determined that the damage mode of the dangerous position is fatigue cracking damage caused by bending stress;

[0090] If the contact pressure peak value exceeds a specific percentage (such as 50%) of the material yield strength, and the ratio of the shear stress amplitude to the contact pressure peak value is greater than 0.2 times the Coulomb friction coefficient, it is determined that the damage mode of the dangerous position is mainly wear damage caused by contact extrusion and friction.

[0091] According to the determined damage mode, the sensitive deviation direction of each damage mode is inferred, respectively, wherein the sensitive deviation direction refers to other plug-pull directions deviating from the horizontal plug-pull direction in actual operation of the user, and the plug-pull direction will cause the corresponding damage mode to occur at the corresponding dangerous position, thereby causing the life to decrease. The corresponding inference scheme is as follows:

[0092] If the damage mode is fatigue cracking damage caused by bending stress, then the sensitive offset direction is considered to be the direction perpendicular to the bending plane; that is, when the user inserts and pulls the electrical connector in the direction perpendicular to the bending plane, it is easy to cause fatigue cracking damage to the corresponding dangerous position due to bending stress.

[0093] If the damage mode is wear damage caused by contact extrusion and friction, then the sensitive direction is considered to be the rotation direction around the plug axis; that is, when the user inserts and pulls the electrical connector in the rotation direction around the plug axis, it is easy to cause friction damage to the corresponding dangerous position due to contact extrusion and friction.

[0094] After determining the sensitive offset direction corresponding to the damage mode of the dangerous position, the displacement load of the simulated plug-in process applied to the plug end in S103 is modified, that is, the sensitive offset direction is taken as the displacement direction of the displacement load (the direction after assigning a specific, relatively horizontal offset angle value (such as ±1°, ±2°) is taken as the sensitive offset direction), and then the operations of S102, S103, and S104 are re-executed, different offset angle values are defined and simulated respectively, and the simulation results corresponding to each offset angle value are obtained.

[0095] The dangerous position in each group of simulation results, as well as the damage value or life value of the dangerous position, is extracted, a relationship curve of "offset angle and damage value / life" is drawn, and the curve is output. The curve quantitatively reveals the influence degree of user operation offset on life, that is, the mapping relationship between different angle offset loads applied in the sensitive offset direction and the damage degree of the dangerous position.

[0096] Finally, for the dangerous position and the corresponding damage mode, the corresponding optimization strategy is output for simulation monitoring personnel to know and refer to. For example, when the damage mode is fatigue cracking damage caused by bending stress, a geometric reinforcement strategy is proposed (such as increasing the local material thickness at the dangerous position, setting a reinforcing rib, or changing the form of the support structure to improve the bending stiffness and reduce the sensitivity to stress). When the damage mode is wear damage caused by contact extrusion and friction, a behavior limiting strategy is adopted (such as designing a longer guide groove, a more precise anti-misplug key, or a conical guide port on the electrical connector shell. These structures can physically guide and constrain the user's plug-in action, maximize the probability of harmful angle offset, and avoid the occurrence of destructive working conditions from the source).

[0097] Optionally, the simulation prediction method further includes the following steps:

[0098] According to the life distribution result output by the simulation calculation, at least one high-risk area with a life value lower than a first preset threshold is identified from the three-dimensional simulation model;

[0099] Based on the geometric characteristics of the high-risk area, an independent sub-component containing only the high-risk area and a main structure excluding the high-risk area are segmented from the three-dimensional simulation model, and a detachable connection interface is designed at the segmentation position of the independent sub-component and the main structure; wherein the detachable connection interface at least includes a buckle connection, a threaded connection;

[0100] According to the detachable connection interface, the contact relationship between the independent sub-component and the main structure is redefined, and the three-dimensional simulation model is updated;

[0101] After updating the three-dimensional simulation model according to different detachable connection interface schemes, the updated three-dimensional simulation model is simulated to obtain the life distribution results; the life change of the high-risk area and the decline of the life of the surrounding area under each detachable connection interface scheme are calculated and compared;

[0102] The interface scheme that makes the life of the high-risk area meet the requirements and has the smallest decline of the life of the surrounding area is selected as the optimal detachable connection interface scheme, and the optimal detachable connection interface scheme and the corresponding updated three-dimensional simulation model are output.

[0103] In implementation, the simulation prediction system identifies the area where the part with a life lower than the first preset threshold value is located as the high-risk area (such as a circular area formed by taking the point with the first first preset threshold value as the center and a specified length as the radius) according to the life distribution results output by simulation calculation. The area within a specified distance (such as 3mm) around the high-risk area is defined as the surrounding area, and its average life L_original is recorded.

[0104] Then, based on the position of the high-risk area, a segmentation operation is performed on the original geometry (i.e. the three-dimensional simulation model) in the CAD software or the DM / SCDM of Workbench, i.e. using a plane or a curved surface as a segmentation tool, performing a Boolean segmentation operation on the original model along the predetermined boundary, separating the high-risk area from the whole model, so that it becomes an independent geometric entity (i.e. a sub-component independent of the overall structure of the three-dimensional simulation model). Finally, the initial three-dimensional simulation model is segmented into a three-dimensional simulation model composed of: an independent sub-component corresponding to each high-risk area, and a main structure excluding all independent sub-components.

[0105] In the Mechanical module of Workbench, the independent sub-component will be automatically identified as a new "part", and the Mechanical module of Workbench will automatically generate a contact pair. Usually, it will identify the contact between the independent sub-component and the main structure as "Bonded", at this time, the automatically generated contact pair needs to be deleted or suppressed, and a new contact pair needs to be created on the parting surface between the independent sub-component and the main structure, and on the parting surface, the corresponding geometric structure is designed according to the selected connection interface (such as buckle, thread), such as designing the hook, lug structure to simulate the buckle connection, designing the thread hole, bolt structure to simulate the thread connection.

[0106] Then in the simulation software, for the independent sub-component and the main structure formed by partitioning, the contact relationship (such as friction contact, non-separation contact) or joint constraint capable of simulating the mechanical properties of the selected detachable connection interface is redefined on the contact surface of each other. For example, for the buckle connection: in Workbench, "nonlinear spring" or "constraint equation" is used to simulate the buckling behavior of the buckle. In the detail setting, the stiffness of the spring needs to be defined to represent the elasticity of the buckle, and the behavior is set to nonlinear, and the force-displacement curve is input to define the buckling and disengagement process. For example, for the thread connection: the "bolt thread" tool is used to simulate. In the detail setting, the size of the pre-tightening force is needed, and the "contact type" is set to "bonded" to simulate the state after tightening, so as to redefine the contact relationship of the three-dimensional simulation model, and finally realize the update of the three-dimensional simulation model.

[0107] For the three-dimensional simulation model updated according to different detachable connection interfaces, S102, S103 and S104 are re-executed, and the life distribution results corresponding to the three-dimensional simulation model under each detachable connection interface scheme are obtained. According to the life distribution results, the average life L_new of the corresponding peripheral area and the life decline propagation degree η = (L_original-L_new) / L_original*100% of the peripheral area are calculated respectively. The detachable connection interface scheme with the smallest life decline propagation degree η of the peripheral area is selected as the optimal detachable connection interface scheme, and the optimal detachable connection interface scheme (such as all independent sub-components and connection interface types) and the updated three-dimensional simulation model corresponding thereto are output.

[0108] Optionally, the simulation prediction method further comprises the following steps:

[0109] For the three-dimensional simulation model updated according to the optimal detachable connection interface scheme, a target high-risk area and a corresponding target peripheral area thereof are determined from a life distribution result corresponding to a simulation calculation output; the target high-risk area refers to a high-risk area in the life distribution result, a difference between a corresponding life and a life corresponding to an adjacent main structure being higher than a preset difference value; the target peripheral area is a peripheral area adjacent to the periphery of the target high-risk area; and the target peripheral area is located between the target high-risk area and the main structure.

[0110] The target peripheral area is subjected to structure reconstruction, a load is applied to the reconstructed target peripheral area, and a stress distribution cloud map is obtained; based on the stress distribution cloud map, it is verified whether the target peripheral area can reduce the stress amplitude transmitted from the target high-risk area to the main structure through its own deformation or energy consumption, and if so, a verification result and a structure reconstruction scheme of the target peripheral area are output; the verification result at least includes a life distribution result obtained by simulating and calculating the three-dimensional simulation model updated by the target peripheral area subjected to structure reconstruction.

[0111] In implementation, it can be known from all high-risk areas (i.e., regions in which parts with a life lower than a first preset threshold value are located) determined in the three-dimensional simulation model described in the foregoing that the three-dimensional simulation model has been divided into an independent subcomponent in which each high-risk area is located and a main structure other than the independent subcomponent based on the high-risk areas, and a detachable connection relationship between the independent subcomponent and the main structure has been established, and then on this basis, the application further proposes that a boundary area (i.e., the peripheral area described in the foregoing) is divided at a position at which the main structure and the independent subcomponent are detachably connected, that is, a region in the main structure that directly realizes detachable connection with the independent subcomponent, or in other words, a region within a specified distance range (such as 3 mm) from the periphery of the high-risk area mentioned in the foregoing.

[0112] Next, the simulation prediction system is further used to calculate a life difference between each high-risk area and a main structure detachably connected therewith from a life distribution cloud map for all high-risk areas and corresponding peripheral areas thereof, and if the life difference is higher than a preset difference threshold value, it indicates that the life difference between the high-risk area and the main structure detachably connected therewith is too large, and at this time, the corresponding high-risk area is defined as a target high-risk area, and the corresponding peripheral area is defined as a target peripheral area.

[0113] The simulation prediction system is also used to re-correct the material properties of the target peripheral region in the three-dimensional simulation model, such as simulating the replacement of the material of the target peripheral region with a flexible material by reducing the elastic modulus value; by changing the geometric shape of the target peripheral region (such as designing a thinning groove, introducing an arc-shaped hollow, and manufacturing a gradually changing variable cross-section) to reduce the local stiffness of the target peripheral region, so that it is easy to be elastically deformed, thereby realizing the structural reconstruction of the target peripheral region, and then updating the three-dimensional simulation model using the structurally reconstructed target peripheral region, and re-executing S102 (including the operation of applying a load, simulating the actual plugging working condition), S103, S104, calculating the stress distribution cloud diagram of the target high-risk region, the target peripheral region, and the surrounding main structure by the finite element solver, and obtaining a new life distribution cloud diagram using statics-fatigue life joint simulation.

[0114] The effectiveness of the structural reconstruction scheme of the target peripheral region is verified according to the stress distribution cloud diagram, the deformation animation, and the new life distribution cloud diagram. The specific verification method is as follows:

[0115] 1. If the stress distribution cloud diagram shows that, compared with before the structural reconstruction, the stress value borne by the target high-risk region in the updated three-dimensional simulation model after the structural reconstruction is reduced, and at the same time, the stress value borne by the main structure surrounding the target peripheral region does not increase significantly (such as an increase of no more than a preset amplitude).

[0116] 2. The new life distribution cloud diagram shows that, compared with before the structural reconstruction, the average life of the target high-risk region in the updated three-dimensional simulation model after the structural reconstruction is improved.

[0117] If the above two verification results occur, it is considered that the structural reconstruction scheme is effective, at which time the structural reconstruction scheme (such as the position of the target peripheral region, and the material properties and geometric shape of the reconstructed target peripheral region) and the reconstructed and updated three-dimensional simulation model can be output, and the new life distribution cloud diagram and the stress distribution cloud diagram are output as verification results, otherwise (i.e., the above two verification results do not occur), the reconstruction is ended, or the material properties and geometric shape of the target peripheral region are adjusted again, and further iteration simulation and verification are performed until the above two verification results occur.

[0118] Optionally, the simulation prediction method further includes the following steps:

[0119] Obtain the degradation trajectory of the key performance parameter of the electrical connector with the number of plugging times through the plugging process simulation;

[0120] According to the degradation trajectory, identify the critical point of accelerated degradation of the key performance parameter and the corresponding critical cycle number, and analyze the root cause of the critical point;

[0121] According to the root cause, a corresponding initial design optimization scheme is formulated and implemented, and the optimization scheme is targeted at delaying the occurrence of the critical point;

[0122] The simulation verifies whether the optimized design effectively delays the critical point, and if so, the initial design optimization scheme is output.

[0123] In implementation, in ANSYS, multiple plug-in cycles can be simulated through multi-load step analysis or quasi-static analysis, and APDL scripts or Worksheet in Workbench are used to set cycles and extract key results after each cycle, and the key results can be specific values of key performance parameters of the electrical connector, so that a curve (i.e. degradation trajectory) of the key performance parameters of the electrical connector with the number of plug-in times in the multiple plug-in simulation process is obtained, and the key performance parameters can be contact pressure and / or plug-in force. The key parameters in the embodiments of the application are specifically contact pressure.

[0124] In the degradation trajectory, a critical point at which the key performance parameter accelerates degradation is identified, and the identification method of the critical point is one of the following two methods or a combination thereof:

[0125] Method one: based on the mathematical characteristics of the performance degradation trajectory, an inflection point at which the performance index attenuation rate changes significantly is identified. That is, in the degradation trajectory, the position where the curve slope changes abruptly, and the degradation trajectory can be Fenixed by mathematical algorithms (such as moving average and second derivative to find inflection points) to automatically identify the point with the most significant slope change as the critical point;

[0126] Method two: based on the functional requirements of the electrical connector, the minimum allowable value of the performance index is set, and the point corresponding to the performance degradation to the minimum allowable value is defined as the critical point. For example, when the contact pressure drops to the preset minimum allowable value.

[0127] After the critical point is identified, based on the degradation trajectory, the number of plug-in times corresponding to the critical point is taken as the critical cycle number, and the root cause of causing the critical point is analyzed, and the analysis method is as follows:

[0128] The simulation analysis is fixed at the critical cycle number N_critical at which the critical point occurs, the finite element cloud data obtained in the simulation process at the critical cycle number N_critical is extracted, and the root cause is inferred based on the finite element cloud data, and the inference scheme is:

[0129] Observe whether the maximum equivalent stress value in the equivalent stress cloud exceeds the material yield strength, and if so, the root cause is material yield;

[0130] whether a non-zero plastic strain area appears in the observed equivalent plastic strain cloud map, if yes, it is inferred that the root cause is plastic deformation accumulation;

[0131] whether the difference between the contact area ratio in the observed contact state cloud map and the contact area ratio in the contact state cloud map of the previous cycle number is greater than a preset difference value, if yes, it is considered that the contact area ratio is significantly reduced, and it is inferred that the root cause is wear leading to contact failure.

[0132] According to the corresponding root cause, an initial design optimization scheme is executed, specifically:

[0133] If the root cause is material yield or plastic deformation accumulation, the corresponding initial design scheme is to increase the fillet radius of the dangerous area in CAD or perform gradual chamfer processing. Update the Geometry cell, refresh the Mechanical model; in Mechanical, reduce the interference amount defined in the model, or reduce the friction coefficient;

[0134] If the root cause is wear, the corresponding initial design scheme is to modify the contact shape in CAD, such as optimizing point contact to line contact or surface contact, update the geometry and refresh the three-dimensional simulation model. A new material is created in EngineeringData, which is assigned a higher hardness attribute. Then assign this material to the contact component that is subject to wear.

[0135] Finally, after executing the initial design optimization scheme to update the three-dimensional simulation model, S102, S103, S104 are executed again based on the updated simulation model, and a new degradation trajectory is obtained through multiple cycle simulations. Determine whether the critical point is postponed (i.e. whether there is no critical point, or there is a critical point but the corresponding critical cycle number is greater than the critical cycle number before updating), if yes, output the corresponding initial design optimization scheme and the updated three-dimensional simulation model.

[0136] Optionally, the simulation prediction method further comprises the following steps:

[0137] The degradation trajectory is encapsulated into a prediction model, the input of the prediction model is the key performance parameter, and the output is the remaining life, so as to predict the remaining life based on the value of the key performance parameter;

[0138] Through the cycle simulation process, a mapping relationship between the easily monitored proxy parameter and the key performance parameter is established;

[0139] Receive a prediction instruction, based on the specific value of the proxy parameter contained in the prediction instruction and the mapping relationship between the proxy parameter and the key performance parameter, map the key performance parameter value corresponding to the current proxy parameter, and input it into the prediction model to output the remaining life, so that the maintenance personnel can know.

[0140] In implementation, in the process of performing the plug-in simulation in the cycle described above, the curve (i.e. the degradation trajectory) of the relationship between the key performance parameter corresponding to each plug-in simulation and the number of plug-ins is recorded, and at the same time, the peak value of the plug-in force is extracted through the fixed constraint reaction force probe, a large number of data pairs composed of the corresponding plug-in force and contact pressure are obtained, the plug-in force is taken as the proxy parameter, the aforementioned data pairs are analyzed, the mapping function of the plug-in force and the contact pressure is established through linear regression or neural network fitting, which indicates that for any measured plug-in force value, the corresponding contact pressure estimation value can be calculated through the mapping function, and the mapping relationship is solidified and stored in the simulation prediction system.

[0141] In addition, for the degradation trajectory obtained above, the degradation trajectory data is mathematically processed, the data points are fitted by using a curve fitting algorithm, a mathematical expression of the degradation trajectory is obtained, and a failure threshold P_failure of the key performance parameter is defined. The threshold is determined based on the electrical design specification, such as the minimum contact pressure necessary to ensure that the contact resistance is lower than the specified value.

[0142] The corresponding prediction model is the mathematical expression (i.e. a mathematical function) of the degradation trajectory, the input is any key performance parameter value, and the output is the remaining plug-in cycle number (i.e. the remaining life) experienced from the current time to the performance attenuation to the failure threshold P_failure. The model can be encapsulated as a simple algebraic calculation function or a query table.

[0143] For example, the remaining life RUL = -τ*ln( (P_failure - P_0) / A ) - N_current; wherein N_current is the cumulative plug-in cycle number so far; P_0, A and τ are all preset constants, wherein P_0 represents the value to which the contact pressure will eventually stabilize when the number of plug-ins tends to infinity. It can be understood as the residual pressure; A represents the total change of the contact pressure from the initial value to the asymptotic value P_0, the initial contact pressure = P_0 + A; τ is a key parameter that determines the speed of attenuation, the larger the τ value, the slower the curve decays, and the longer the life; the smaller the τ value, the faster the decay, and the shorter the life.

[0144] In actual use of the electrical connector, a force sensor (such as a strain gauge or a micro pressure sensor) is integrated on the electrical connector to monitor and record the specific value of the proxy parameter (i.e. the plug-in force) in real time. When the specific value of the plug-in force is higher than the preset value, it is determined that a plug-in operation is being performed. The monitoring simulation prediction system accumulates the plug-in frequency N_current (i.e. the plug-in frequency + 1) of the corresponding electrical connector each time it is determined that a plug-in operation is being performed. In other embodiments, other methods for determining whether a plug-in operation is performed can also be provided, such as when the current experiences a process from nothing to something and then to nothing (i.e. a complete charging phenomenon occurs), it is considered that a plug-in operation is completed.

[0145] The monitoring simulation prediction system can periodically trigger the prediction instruction by itself or receive the prediction instruction triggered by a person. The automatically generated prediction instruction contains the plug-in force data obtained at the time when the prediction instruction is triggered. Then, the simulation prediction system determines the contact pressure estimation value corresponding to the current plug-in force data based on the aforementioned mapping relationship, and then substitutes the contact pressure estimation value into the prediction model to output the remaining plug-in cycle number (i.e. the remaining useful life RUL).

[0146] The embodiments of the present application also disclose a simulation prediction system for the plug-in life of an electrical connector contact. Figure 2 , comprising:

[0147] a three-dimensional modeling module, configured to establish a three-dimensional simulation model of a plug end and a socket end of an electrical connector, define material properties of each component in the three-dimensional simulation model, and define contact relationships between the components; wherein the contact relationship between the contact of the plug end and the contact of the socket end is a nonlinear friction contact;

[0148] a meshing module, configured to discretize the three-dimensional simulation model by finite elements, and locally refine the mesh of the contact of the plug end and the contact of the socket end;

[0149] a plug-in simulation module, configured to apply a fixed constraint to the socket end, apply a displacement load simulating a plug-in process to the plug end, and perform statics solving to obtain the plug-in force in the plug-in process of the plug end and the socket end, and the contact pressure data of the contact of the plug end and the contact of the socket end;

[0150] a life prediction module, configured to map the statics solving result to a fatigue analysis module, and simulate and calculate a life distribution result of the contact of the plug end and the contact of the socket end under repeated plug-in loads according to a low-cycle fatigue theory.

[0151] Optionally, the damage tracing module is further configured to locate a dangerous position from the three-dimensional simulation model according to the life distribution result output by the simulation calculation, backtrack the statics analysis result, and solve a stress and strain state of the dangerous position in the plugging process to analyze a damage mode of the dangerous position; correlate and reason the damage mode with a sensitive offset direction deviating from the ideal plugging axis, and output a mapping relationship between different angle offset loads applied along the sensitive offset direction and damage degrees of the dangerous position for the simulation monitoring personnel to know; and output a structure optimization scheme for the contact piece of the electrical connector based on the dangerous position and the mapping relationship for the simulation monitoring personnel to know.

[0152] Optionally, the model optimization module is further configured to identify at least one high-risk area with a life lower than a first preset threshold from the three-dimensional simulation model according to the life distribution result output by the simulation calculation; segment an independent subcomponent containing only the high-risk area and a main structure excluding the high-risk area from the three-dimensional simulation model based on geometric features of the high-risk area, and design a detachable connection interface of the independent subcomponent at a segmentation position of the independent subcomponent; wherein the detachable connection interface at least includes a buckle connection, a threaded connection, and the like.

[0153] The model optimization module is further configured to redefine a contact relationship between the independent subcomponent and the main structure according to the detachable connection interface, update the three-dimensional simulation model, perform simulation on the updated three-dimensional simulation model, and obtain a life distribution result; calculate and compare life changes of the high-risk area and a decline ripple degree of the life of the surrounding area under each detachable connection interface scheme; select an interface scheme that makes the life of the high-risk area meet the requirements and has the minimum decline ripple degree of the life of the surrounding area as an optimal detachable connection interface scheme, and output the optimal detachable connection interface scheme and the corresponding updated three-dimensional simulation model.

[0154] Optionally, the model optimization module is further configured to determine a target high-risk area and a corresponding target surrounding area from the life distribution result output by the corresponding simulation calculation for the three-dimensional simulation model updated according to the optimal detachable connection interface scheme; wherein the target high-risk area refers to a high-risk area in the life distribution result, a difference between a corresponding life and a life corresponding to the adjacent main structure is higher than a preset difference; the target surrounding area is a surrounding area adjacent to the periphery of the target high-risk area; and the target surrounding area is located between the target high-risk area and the main structure.

[0155] The model optimization module is further configured to perform structural reconstruction on the target peripheral region, apply a load to the reconstructed target peripheral region, and obtain a stress distribution cloud diagram, based on the stress distribution cloud diagram, verify whether the target peripheral region can reduce the stress amplitude transmitted from the target high-risk region to the main structure through its own deformation or energy consumption, and if so, output a verification result and a structural reconstruction scheme of the target peripheral region; wherein the verification result at least includes a life distribution result simulated and calculated by updating the three-dimensional simulation model with the reconstructed target peripheral region.

[0156] Optionally, the model optimization module is further configured to obtain a degradation trajectory of the key performance parameter of the electrical connector with the number of plug-in and plug-out times through plug-in and plug-out process simulation, identify a critical point of accelerated degradation of the key performance parameter and a corresponding critical cycle number according to the degradation trajectory, analyze the root cause of the critical point, formulate and implement an initial design optimization scheme according to the root cause, and optimize the scheme to delay the occurrence of the critical point, and simulate and verify whether the optimized design effectively delays the critical point, and if so, output the initial design optimization scheme.

[0157] Optionally, the life prediction module is configured to encapsulate the degradation trajectory into a prediction model, the input of the prediction model is the key performance parameter, and the output is the remaining life, so as to predict the remaining life based on the value of the key performance parameter; through a cycle simulation process, a mapping relationship between the proxy parameter and the key performance parameter is established; receiving a prediction instruction, based on the specific value of the proxy parameter contained in the prediction instruction and the mapping relationship between the proxy parameter and the key performance parameter, the value of the key performance parameter corresponding to the current proxy parameter is mapped and input into the prediction model to output the remaining life for the maintenance personnel to know.

[0158] Optionally, the life display module is configured to distinguish and display the regions in different life gradient ranges in the three-dimensional simulation model based on the life distribution result, according to the preset life gradient range and the preset display mode.

[0159] The embodiment of the application further discloses a simulation and prediction device for plug-in and plug-out life of an electrical connector contact piece, which comprises a memory and a processor, and the memory stores a computer program capable of being loaded and executed by the processor to perform the simulation and prediction method for the plug-in and plug-out life of the electrical connector contact piece.

[0160] The application further discloses a computer readable storage medium storing a computer program capable of being loaded by a processor and executing the simulation and prediction method for plug-in life of an electrical connector contact as described above, and the computer readable storage medium comprises, for example, a U disk, a mobile hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk or an optical disk, and various storage program code mediums.

[0161] It should be noted that, in this document, relational terms such as first and second and the like can be used solely to distinguish one entity or action from another entity or action without necessarily requiring or implying any actual such relationship or order between such entities or actions.

[0162] The above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present application, but not limit the protection scope of the application. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present application, rather than all the embodiments. Based on these embodiments, all the other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative work belong to the scope of protection of the present application.

Claims

1. A simulation prediction method for the mating and extraction life of electrical connector contacts, characterized in that, include: Establish a three-dimensional simulation model of the plug and socket ends of the electrical connector, define the material properties of each component in the three-dimensional simulation model, and the contact relationship between each component; The contact relationship between the contact element at the plug end and the contact element at the socket end is a non-linear frictional contact. The three-dimensional simulation model is discretized using finite element mesh, and the mesh of the contacts at the plug end and the contacts at the socket end is locally refined. In the simulation environment, a fixed constraint is applied to the socket end, and a displacement load simulating the insertion and removal process is applied to the plug end. Static solutions are then performed to obtain the insertion and removal forces during the insertion and removal process of the plug end and the socket end, as well as the contact pressure data between the plug end contact and the socket end contact. The static solution results are mapped to the nCode DesignLife fatigue analysis module. Based on the strain and life properties of the material, the simulation calculates and outputs the life distribution results of the plug end contact and the socket end contact under repeated insertion and removal loads. The life distribution results include at least a life distribution cloud map expressed in terms of the number of cycles.

2. The simulation prediction method for the mating and extraction life of electrical connector contacts according to claim 1, characterized in that, The displacement load applied to the plug end to simulate the insertion and removal process refers to the displacement load in the direction of the preset ideal insertion and removal axis. The method further includes: Based on the life distribution results output by the simulation calculation, the dangerous location is located from the three-dimensional simulation model. The static analysis results are then traced back to solve the stress and strain state of the dangerous location during the insertion and removal process, so as to analyze the damage mode of the dangerous location. The damage mode is correlated with the sensitive offset direction that deviates from the ideal insertion and removal axis, and a mapping relationship between different angular offset loads applied along the sensitive offset direction and the degree of damage at the dangerous location is established and output, so that simulation monitoring personnel can know it. Based on the dangerous locations and the mapping relationship, an optimized structural scheme for the electrical connector contacts is output for simulation monitoring personnel to understand.

3. The simulation prediction method for the mating and extraction life of electrical connector contacts according to claim 1, characterized in that, The method further includes: Based on the lifetime distribution results output by the simulation calculation, at least one high-risk area with a lifetime below a first preset threshold is identified from the three-dimensional simulation model. Based on the geometric features of the high-risk area, an independent sub-component containing only the high-risk area and the main structure excluding the high-risk area are segmented from the three-dimensional simulation model. A detachable connection interface between the independent sub-component and the main structure is designed at the segmentation location of the independent sub-component; wherein, the detachable connection interface includes at least a snap-fit ​​connection and a threaded connection. Based on the detachable connection interface, the contact relationship between the independent sub-component and the main structure is redefined to update the three-dimensional simulation model; After updating the 3D simulation model according to different detachable connection interface schemes, the updated 3D simulation model is simulated and the lifetime distribution results are obtained; the lifetime change of the high-risk area and its impact on the decline of the lifetime of the surrounding area are calculated and compared under each detachable connection interface scheme. Select the interface scheme that ensures the lifespan of the high-risk area meets the requirements while minimizing the impact of lifespan degradation on surrounding areas as the optimal detachable connection interface scheme, and output the optimal detachable connection interface scheme and its corresponding updated 3D simulation model.

4. The simulation prediction method for the mating and extraction life of electrical connector contacts according to claim 3, characterized in that, The method further includes: For the updated 3D simulation model according to the optimal detachable connection interface scheme, the target high-risk area and its corresponding target surrounding area are determined from the life distribution results output by the corresponding simulation calculation; wherein, the target high-risk area refers to the high-risk area in the life distribution results where the difference between the corresponding life and the life corresponding to the adjacent main structure is higher than a preset difference; the target surrounding area is the surrounding area adjacent to the target high-risk area; the target surrounding area is located between the target high-risk area and the main structure; The surrounding area of ​​the target is restructured, a load is applied to the restructured surrounding area, and a stress distribution cloud map is obtained. Based on the stress distribution cloud map, it is verified whether the surrounding area of ​​the target can reduce the stress amplitude transmitted from the high-risk area of ​​the target to the main structure through its own deformation or energy dissipation. If so, the verification result and the structural reconstruction scheme of the surrounding area of ​​the target are output. The verification result includes at least the life distribution result calculated by updating the three-dimensional simulation model using the restructured surrounding area of ​​the target.

5. The simulation prediction method for the mating and extraction life of electrical connector contacts according to claim 1, characterized in that, The method further includes: By simulating the insertion and removal process, the degradation trajectory of key performance parameters of electrical connectors with the number of insertions and removals is obtained; Based on the degradation trajectory, identify the critical point where the key performance parameter undergoes accelerated degradation and its corresponding critical cycle number, and analyze the root cause of the occurrence of the critical point. Based on the root cause, a corresponding initial design optimization scheme is formulated and implemented, the optimization scheme aiming to postpone the occurrence of the critical point; The simulation verifies whether the optimized design effectively postpones the critical point. If so, the optimized initial design scheme is output.

6. The simulation prediction method for the mating and extraction life of electrical connector contacts according to claim 5, characterized in that, The method further includes: The degradation trajectory is encapsulated into a prediction model, the input of which is a key performance parameter and the output is the remaining lifetime, for use in predicting the remaining lifetime based on the key performance parameter values. Through a cyclic simulation process, a mapping relationship between easily monitored proxy parameters and key performance parameters is established; The system receives a prediction instruction, maps the value of the key performance parameter corresponding to the current proxy parameter based on the specific value of the proxy parameter contained in the prediction instruction and the mapping relationship between the proxy parameter and the key performance parameter, and inputs it into the prediction model to output the remaining lifespan for maintenance personnel to know.

7. The simulation prediction method for the mating and extraction life of electrical connector contacts according to claim 1, characterized in that, The method further includes: Based on the lifetime distribution results, regions in the three-dimensional simulation model that are located in different lifetime gradient ranges are distinguished and displayed according to the preset lifetime gradient range and the preset display method.

8. A simulation and prediction system for the mating and extraction life of electrical connector contacts, characterized in that, include, The 3D modeling module (201) is used to create a 3D simulation model of the plug end and socket end of the electrical connector, define the material properties of each component in the 3D simulation model, and the contact relationship between each component; The contact relationship between the contact element at the plug end and the contact element at the socket end is a non-linear frictional contact. The mesh generation module (202) is used to discretize the three-dimensional simulation model into a finite element mesh and to refine the local mesh of the contact parts at the plug end and the contact parts at the socket end. The insertion and removal simulation module (203) is used to apply a fixed constraint to the socket end and a displacement load to the plug end to simulate the insertion and removal process in the simulation environment, and to perform static solution to obtain the insertion and removal force of the plug end and socket end during the insertion and removal process, as well as the contact pressure data of the plug end contact and the socket end contact. The life prediction module (204) is used to map the static solution results to the fatigue analysis module. Based on the low-cycle fatigue theory, it simulates and calculates the life distribution results of the plug end contact and the socket end contact under repeated insertion and removal loads.

9. A simulation and prediction device for the mating and extraction life of electrical connector contacts, characterized in that, It includes a memory and a processor, wherein the memory stores a computer program that can be loaded by the processor and executed as described in any one of claims 1 to 7.

10. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, The computer program is stored that can be loaded by a processor and executed as described in any one of claims 1 to 7.

Images