Storm-Safe, designed in SolidWorks, reduces damage, power outage time, and electrocution risk during storms
'Breakaway link' is key feature in new, safer utility connector
CONCORD, Mass., Nov. 7, 2007 - The ice-glazed branches of your front-yard oak tree shimmer in the December sunlight. It's a beautiful pre-holiday scene; until a limb crashes down onto a power line, ripping clapboards from your house, stranding your family without electricity, and posing a deadly electrocution risk; sometimes for days.
This fearsome scenario plagued hundreds of thousands of Midwesterners last year and prompted The Homac Companies, a utility connector manufacturer in Florida, to design an entirely new, safer way for homes to connect to power lines. Storm-Safe®, designed entirely in SolidWorks® 3D CAD software, is a simple "breakaway link" fixed to a utility pole that automatically disconnects cables from poles under abnormal stresses. Because the cables disconnect on the pole side, not at the home, the fallen wire carries no current. When the storm subsides, a new link is quickly installed, allowing utility workers to plug in the cables, energize the home, and be on their way.
"Storm-Safe minimizes damage to both the home and utility, containing damage to a single breakaway link, ensuring fallen wires aren't energized, and compressing the power recovery process to mere minutes," said Jim Zahnen, senior product development engineer for Homac. "This is an industry first and something that is gaining worldwide interest from our international utilities customers. It's good business and it's good for customers. SolidWorks software helped us visualize the design, refine it with internal and customer feedback, and quickly develop the necessary engineering drawings for each configuration, a process that couldn't happen with our old 2D software. SolidWorks is helping us work more productively, especially in developing configurations of new products, and the transition from 2D has been surprisingly intuitive."
Storm-Safe comes in configurations to serve one, two, or three homes and is rated for 200 amp service.
"As Homac is demonstrating with Storm-Safe, the right CAD tool can make a significant difference in the nature of product a company can produce," said Rainer Gawlick, SolidWorks vice president of worldwide marketing . "This isn't an incremental improvement; this is what we like to call an 'absurdly ideal' breakthrough with a big potential impact."
Homac relies on authorized SolidWorks reseller ModernTech Mechanical for ongoing software training, implementation, and support.
About Homac
Homac is a premier manufacturer and supplier of electric power delivery connectors and cable accessories. Homac and innovation are synonymous when it comes to electrical connectors. By working closely with our customers, we have been able to provide solutions to many applications, making installation of our connectors easier, saving both time and money. Many of these applications have become industry standards. For more information, visit www.homac.com.
About ModernTech Mechanical
Representing SolidWorks since 1996, ModernTech Mechanical is a value added reseller representing leading design technology providers such as SolidWorks, Z Corporation, CADpo, and others. ModernTech Mechanical is focused on the needs of companies in the mechanical and manufacturing marketplace and is one of the largest SolidWorks resellers in the Southeast. For more information, visit http://www.moderntechmech.com.
About Dassault Systèmes SolidWorks Corp.
Dassault Systèmes SolidWorks Corp., a Dassault Systèmes S.A. subsidiary, is a world leader in 3D solutions that help millions of engineers and designers succeed through innovation. Our products deliver an intuitive experience in product design, simulation, publishing, data management, and environmental impact assessment. For the latest news, information, or an online demonstration, visit our Web site (www.solidworks.com) or call 1-800-693-9000 (outside of North America, call +1-978-371-5000).
About Dassault Systèmes
As a world leader in 3D and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solutions, Dassault Systèmes brings value to more than 100,000 customers in 80 countries. A pioneer in the 3D software market since 1981, Dassault Systèmes develops and markets PLM application software and services that support industrial processes and provide a 3D vision of the entire lifecycle of products from conception to maintenance to recycling. The Dassault Systèmes portfolio consists of CATIA for designing the virtual product – SolidWorks for 3D mechanical design – DELMIA for virtual production – SIMULIA for virtual testing – ENOVIA for global collaborative lifecycle management, and 3DVIA for online 3D lifelike experiences. Dassault Systèmes’ shares are listed on Euronext Paris (#13065, DSY.PA) and Dassault Systèmes’ ADRs may be traded on the US Over-The-Counter (OTC) market (DASTY). For more information, visit http://www.3ds.com/.
CATIA, DELMIA, ENOVIA, SIMULIA, SolidWorks, and 3D VIA are registered trademarks of Dassault Systèmes or its subsidiaries in the US and/or other countries. Other brand and product names are trademarks of their respective owners. Copyright © 2009 Dassault Systèmes SolidWorks Corp.
