Arc Flash Concept Simulator
Explore how voltage, available fault current, working distance, clearing time, equipment configuration, and protection features influence conceptual incident energy and arc-flash boundary behavior.
Overview
Arc flash risk becomes much easier to understand when the variables are connected visually. This lab lets learners adjust system voltage, available fault current, working distance, breaker clearing time, equipment type, electrode configuration, and enclosure size, then immediately see how a simplified incident-energy trend, arcing-current estimate, arc-flash boundary, severity band, and PPE guidance respond. The simulator is intentionally framed as a conceptual teaching tool — not an IEEE 1584 calculator, not a label-generation tool, and not a substitute for an arc flash study performed by a qualified professional engineer. Five tabbed workspaces move from dashboard metrics to boundary visualization, mitigation experiments, scenario presets, and quiz-based reinforcement. Protection toggles such as maintenance mode, zone-selective interlocking, differential protection, and arc-reduction maintenance switch demonstrate the outsized impact of faster clearing. Scenario cards cover a typical 480 V MCC, high-fault switchgear, 208 V panelboard, 4160 V switchgear, and a long-clearing worst-case condition. The goal is not to calculate labels; the goal is to build intuition for why labels change when fault current, distance, equipment geometry, and clearing time change.
App preview
A live look at the app you'll launch — every control on the left drives the visualizations on the right in real time.
Inside the lab
What you'll do
- 01Explain how incident energy is influenced by available fault current, clearing time, working distance, and equipment configuration
- 02Distinguish an educational arc flash concept simulator from a formal IEEE 1584 arc flash study
- 03Interpret arc flash boundary, severity bands, and PPE guidance as conceptual learning cues rather than label-calculation outputs
- 04Compare how maintenance mode, ZSI, differential protection, and ARMS reduce effective clearing time in the simulator
- 05Evaluate predefined scenarios including 480 V MCCs, 208 V panelboards, high-fault switchgear, and medium-voltage switchgear
- 06Correct common arc flash misconceptions, including 'low voltage means low risk' and 'PPE is the primary protection'
Who it's for
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