Why Power Systems Engineering Needs Dedicated Analysis Software
General-purpose CAE tools (covered elsewhere on this site) are built around structural, thermal, and fluid physics — none of which directly models the specific mathematics of electrical power systems: load flow (how real and reactive power distributes across a network under steady-state conditions), short-circuit/fault analysis (fault current magnitude and its effect on equipment ratings and protective device coordination), and transient stability (how a power system responds dynamically to a disturbance like a fault or a sudden load change). Dedicated power system analysis software exists specifically because these calculations, at the scale of a real electrical distribution system or transmission grid, require solving large systems of nonlinear equations that a general CAE tool has no built-in capability for.