FEAConcepts:SWSimulationOverview

J.E.Akin

13 ConceptsofThermalAnalysis
13.1 Introduction
Therearethreedifferenttypesofheattransfer:conduction,convection,andradiation.Atemperature
differencemustexistforheattransfertooccur.Heatisalwaystransferredinthedirectionofdecreasing
temperature.Temperatureisascalar,butheatfluxisavectorquantity.
Conductiontakesplacewithintheboundariesofabodybythediffusionofitsinternalenergy.The
temperaturewithinthebody,T,isgiveninunitsofdegreesCelsius[C],Fahrenheit[F],Kelvin[K],orRankin[R].
Itsvariationinspacedefinesthetemperaturegradientvector,T,withunitsof[K/m]say.Theheatflux
vector,q,isdefinebyFouriersConductionLaw,asthethermalconductivity,k,timesthenegativeofthe
temperaturegradient,q=kT.Thermalconductivityhastheunitsof[W/mK]whiletheheatfluxhasunits
of[W/m2].Theconductivity,k,isusuallyonlyknowntotwoorthreesignificantfigures.Forsolidsitranges
fromabout417W/mKforsilverdownto0.76W/mKforglass.
Aperfectinsulatormaterial(k 0)willnotconductheat;thereforetheheatfluxvectormustbeparalleltothe
insulatorsurface.Aplaneofsymmetry(wherethegeometry,kvalues,andheatsourcesaremirrorimages)
actsasaperfectinsulator.Infiniteelementanalysis,allsurfacesdefaulttoperfectinsulatorsunlessyougivea
specifiedtemperature,aknownheatinflux,aconvectioncondition,oraradiationcondition.
Convectionoccursinafluidbymixing.Herewewillconsideronlyfreeconvectionfromthesurfaceofabody
tothesurroundingfluid.Forcedconvection,whichrequiresacoupledmasstransfer,willnotbeconsidered.
Themagnitudeoftheheatfluxnormaltoasolidsurfacebyfreeconvectionisqn=hAh(ThTf)wherehisthe
convectioncoefficient,Ahisthesurfaceareacontactingthefluid,Thistheconvectingsurfacetemperature,and
Tfisthesurroundingfluidtemperature,respectively.Theunitsofhare[W/m2K].Itsvaluevarieswidelyandis
usuallyknownonlyfromonetofoursignificantfigures.Typicalvaluesforconvectiontoairandwaterare525
and5001000W/m2K,respectively.
Radiationheattransferoccursbyelectromagneticradiationbetweenthesurfacesofabodyandthe
surroundingmedium.Itisahighlynonlinearfunctionoftheabsolutetemperaturesofthebodyandmedium.
Themagnitudeoftheheatfluxnormaltoasolidsurfacebyradiationisqr=Ar(Tr4Tm4).HereTristhe
absolutetemperatureofthebodysurface,Tmistheabsolutetemperatureofthesurroundingmedium,Aris
thebodysurfaceareasubjectedtoradiation,=5.67x108W/m2K4istheStefanBoltzmannconstant,and
isasurfacefactor(=1foraperfectblackbody).
Transient,orunsteady,heattransferintimealsorequiresthematerialpropertiesofspecificheatatconstant
pressure,cpin[kJ/kgK],andthemassdensity,in[kg/m3].Thespecificheatistypicallyknownto2or3
significantfigures,whilethemassdensityisprobablythemostaccuratelyknownmaterialpropertywith4to5
significantfigures.

13.1.1 Onedimensionalthermalstructuralanalogy
TheonedimensionalgoverningdifferentialequationfortransientheattransferthroughanareaA,of
conductivitykx,density,specificheatcpwithavolumetricofheatgeneration,Q,forthetemperatureTat
timetis(kxT/x)/x+Q(x)=cpT/t,for0xLandtimet0.Itrequiresinitialconditionstodescribe
thebeginningstate,andboundaryconditionsforlatertimes.Forasteadystatecondition(T/t=0)the
typicalboundaryconditionsofoneofthefollowing:
1. Tprescribedat0andL,or
2. Tprescribedatoneendandaheatsourceattheother,or
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3. Tprescribedatoneendandaconvectionconditionattheother,or
4. Aconvectionconditionatoneendandaheatsourceattheother,or
5. Aconvectionconditionatbothends.
Thesethermalconditions,in1D,arerelatedtothedisplacementsandstressinanaxialbarassummarizedin
Table131.
Table131Termsofthe1Dthermalstructuralanalogy

ThermalAnalysisItem,[units],symbol
Unknown:Temperature[K],T
Gradient:TemperatureGradient[K/m],T
Flux:Heatflux[W/m2],q
Source:HeatSourceforpoint,line,surface,volume
[W],[W/m],[W/m2],[W/m3],Q
Restraint:Prescribedtemperature[K],T
Reaction:Heatflowresultant[W],Q

StructuralAnalysisItem,[units],symbol
Unknown:Displacements[m],u
Gradient:Strains[m/m],
Flux:Stresses[N/m2],
Source:Forceforpoint,line,surface,volume
[N],[N/m],[N/m2],[N/m3],Q
Restraint:Prescribeddisplacement[m],u
Reaction:Forcecomponent[N],Q

MaterialProperty:Thermalconductivity[W/mK],k
MaterialLaw:Fourierslaw

MaterialProperty:Elasticmodulus[N/m2],E
MaterialLaw:Hookeslaw

13.1.2 Threedimensionalformulation
Inthe3DcasethedifferentialequationbecomestheanisotropicPoissonEquation(seeChapter16).Thatis,
theabovediffusionterm(secondderivativesinspace)isexpandedtoincludederivativeswithrespecttoyand
z,timestheircorrespondingthermalconductivityvalues.

13.2 Thermalanalysisinputproperties
ThethermalmaterialpropertiesavailableinSWSimulationarelistedinTable133.Onlytheconductivitiesare
theoreticallyneededforasteadystatestudy,butSWSimulationalwaysrequeststhemassdensity.Any
transient(timedependent)thermalanalysisinvolvestheproductofthemassdensityandspecificheat,asseen
intheaboveequation.
Table132Isotropicthermalproperties
Symbol

c
k

Label
DENS
C
KX

Item
Massdensity
Specificheat,atconstantpressure
Thermalconductivity

Application
Transient
Transient
Steadystateandtransient

Table133Anisotropicthermalpropertiesinprincipalmaterialdirections

Symbol

c
kx
ky
kz

Label
DENS
C
KX
KY
KZ

Item
Massdensity
Specificheat,atconstantpressure
ThermalconductivityinmaterialXdirection
ThermalconductivityinmaterialYdirection
ThermalconductivityinmaterialZdirection

13.3 FiniteElementThermalAnalysis
13.3.1 Thermalrodelement
Fromtheaboveanalogythematrixequationsofasingleelement(fromsections2.3and2.4)is
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wherek kxA/Lmaybereferredtoasthethermalstiffnessoftherodoflength,L,area,A,andthermal
conductivitykx.Inthiscase,T correspondstoanodaltemperature,andFcorrespondstotheresultantnodal
heatpowerfromthevariousheatsources.ThetypicalunitsoftheabovethreematricesareW/C,C,andW.

13.3.2 Algebraicequations
Thefiniteelementmethodcreatesasetofalgebraicequationsbyusinganequivalentgoverningintegralform
thatisintegratedoverameshthatapproximatesthevolumeandsurfaceofthebodyofinterest.Themesh
consistsofelementsconnectedtonodes.Inathermalanalysis,therewillbeonesimultaneousequationfor
eachnode.Theunknownateachnodeisthetemperature.Today,atypicalthermalmeshinvolves20,000to
100,000 nodes and thus temperature equations. The restraints are specified temperatures (or a convection
condition since it includes a specified fluid temperature). The reactions are is the resultant heat power
necessary to maintain a specified temperature. All other conditions add load or source terms. The default
surfaceconditionisaninsulatedboundary,whichresultsinazerosource(load)term.
The assembled matrix equations for thermal equilibrium have exactly the same partitioned form as the
structuralsystemsofsection2.5:

wherenowTgrepresentsthegiven(restrained)nodaltemperatures,Fgrepresentstheknownresultantnodal
heatpoweratthenode.Thissystemofequationsissolvedjustasdescribedinsection2.5.Thethermal
restraintsitemsforsteadystateanalysisaregiveninTable134.
Mostprogramsofferonlyatemperaturerestraint.SWSimulationalsoofferstheabilitytodefineanonideal
materialinterface,asillustratedinFigure131.Thisisoftenneededinpracticeandisreferredtoasacontact
resistance.Itbasicallydefinesatemperaturejumpacrossaninterfaceforagivenheatfluxthroughthe
interface.Thenecessaryresistanceinput,R,dependsonvariousfactors.TheRvalueisthesameconceptused
isspecifyinghomeinsulation.Table135givestypicalRvalues,whileTable136citesvaluesofitsreciprocal,
theconductance.
Thethermalload(source)itemsforsteadystateanalysisaregiveninTable137.Bothconvectionand
radiationrequireinputsoftheestimatedsurfaceconditions.Typicalconvectioncoefficientsaregivenin
Table138.Notethatthereisawiderangeinsuchdata.Therefore,youwilloftenfinditnecessarytorun
morethatonestudytodeterminetherangeofanswersthatcanbedevelopedinyourthermalstudy.Having
suppliedalltherestraints,loads,andmaterialpropertiesyoucanrunathermalanalysisandcontinueonto
postprocessinganddocumentingtheresults.

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Table134Restraintsinsteadystatethermalanalysis

RestraintType

GeometricEntities

RequiredInput

Temperature
Contact
resistance

Vertexes,edges,facesandparts
Twocontactingfaces

Temperaturevalueandunits
Totalthermalresistanceorunitthermal
resistance.Seediscussion.

Figure131Idealandthermalcontactresistanceinterfaces

Table135Typicalcontactresistancevalues,Rxe4,[m2K/W]

ContactPressure
Aluminum/aluminum/air
Copper/copper/air
Magnesium/magnesium/air
Stainlesssteel/stainlesssteel/air

Moderate
0.5
0.1

100kN/m2
1.55.0
110
1.53.5
625

10,000kN/m2
0.20.4
0.10.5
0.20.4
0.74.0

Table136Typicalcontactconductancevalues,C,[W/m2K]

ContactingFaces(pressureunknown)
Aluminum/aluminum/air
Ceramic/ceramic/air
Copper/copper/air
Iron/aluminum/air
Stainlesssteel/stainlesssteel/air
Stainlesssteel/stainlesssteel/vacuum

Conductance
220012000
5003000
10,00025,000
45,000
20003700
2001100

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Table137Loadsforsteadystatethermalanalysis

LoadType
Convection

GeometricEntities
Faces

RequiredInput
Filmcoefficientandbulktemperatureinthedesiredunits

HeatFlux

Faces

Heatflux(heatpower/unitarea)valueinthedesiredunits

HeatPower Vertexes,edges,faces
andparts
Insulated
Faces
(Adiabatic)
Radiation
Faces

Totalheatpowervalueandunits(rateofheatgenerationper
unitvolumetimesthepartvolume)
None.Thisisthedefaultconditionforanyfacenotsubjectto
oneofthethreeaboveconditions
Surroundingtemperature,emissivityvaluesandunits,and
viewfactorforsurfacetoambientradiation

Table138Typicalheatconvectioncoefficientvalues,h,[W/m2K]
FluidMedium

Air(naturalconvection)
Air/superheatedsteam(forcedconvection)
Oil(forcedconvection)
Steam(condensing)
Water(boiling)
Water(forcedconvection)

525
10500
601800
5000120,000
250060,000
3006000

13.3.3 Postprocessing
Thetemperatureoftendependsonlyongeometry.Theheatflux,andthethermalreaction,alwaysdepends
onthematerialthermalconductivity.Therefore,itisalwaysnecessarytoexamineboththetemperaturesand
heatfluxtoassureacorrectsolution.Theheatfluxisdeterminedbythegradient(derivative)ofthe
approximatedtemperatures.Therefore,itislessaccuratethanthetemperatures.Theusermustmakethe
meshfinerinregionswheretheheatfluxvectorisexpectedtorapidlychangeitsvalueordirection.Theheat
fluxshouldbeplottedbothasmagnitudecontours,andasvectors.
Thetemperaturesshouldbeplottedasdiscretecolorbandsorascontourlines.Thetemperaturecontours
shouldbeperpendiculartoinsulatedboundaries.Nearsurfaceswithspecifiedtemperatures,thecontours
shouldbenearlyparalleltothesurfaces.TheseeyeballchecksareillustratedinFigure132.Theheatflux
vectorsshouldbeparalleltoinsulatedsurfaces.Theyshouldbenearlyperpendiculartosurfaceswitha
specifiedconstanttemperature.ThosefluxchecksareillustratedinFigure133.Theitemsavailableforoutput
afterathermalanalysisrunaregiveninTable139.
Theexacttemperaturegradientisdiscontinuousataninterfacebetweendifferentmaterialsbecausetheir
thermalconductivitieswillbedifferent.Prettycontinuouscolorcontours(thedefault)tendtopreventthese
importantengineeringchecks.Thetemperatureandtemperaturegradientvectorcandependonlyonthe
geometryinsomeproblems.
InSWSimulationitispossibletolist,sum,average,andgraphresultsalongselectededges,lines,curvesor
surfaces.Thus,youshouldplanaheadandadd"splitlines"tothemeshwhereyouexpecttofindsuchgraphs
informative.Writtenresultsshouldnotbegivenwithmoresignificantfiguresthanthematerialinputdata.
Forheattransferproblemsthatistypicallythreeorfoursignificantfigures.

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Figure132Guidelinesforcheckingtemperatures

Figure133Graphicalchecksforheatfluxvectors

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Table139Thermalanalysisoutputoptions
Symbol

T
T/x
T/y
T/z
|T|
qx
qy
qz
q

Label

TEMP
GRADX
GRADY
GRADZ
GRADN
HFLUXX
HFLUXY
HFLUXZ
HFLUXN

Item

Temperature
TemperaturegradientintheselectedreferenceXdirection
TemperaturegradientintheselectedreferenceYdirection
TemperaturegradientintheselectedreferenceZdirection
Resultanttemperaturegradientmagnitude
HeatfluxintheXdirectionoftheselectedreferencegeometry
HeatfluxintheXdirectionoftheselectedreferencegeometry
HeatfluxintheXdirectionoftheselectedreferencegeometry
Resultantheatfluxmagnitude

SWSimulationalsoofferspadaptiveelements(pisforpolynomial).Keepingthemeshunchanged,itcan
automaticallyrunaseriesofcaseswhereitusescompletesecond,third,fourth,andfinallyfifthorder
polynomialinterpolations.Itallowstheusertospecifytheallowableamountoferror.Thatis,itcansolvea
givenproblemquiteaccurately.However,youstillmustdefinethegeometry,materials,loadandrestraint
locations,andloadandrestraintvaluesaswellasinterprettheresultsproperly.Youstillhavetheageold
problemofgarbageingarbageout,soavoidcomputeraidedstupidity.

13.4 Classical1Dthermalsolutions
Thereareafewwellknowthermalproblemsthathaveknownsimplesolutionsthatgiveyousomeinsightinto
thephenomenonandareeasilyverifiedwithaSWSimulationanalysis.Afewofthesewillbepresentedinthe
followingsections.Thefirstoftheseisaplanarwallwithatemperaturedifferenceoneachside.Thisisoften
approximatedasasemiinfinitewall,whichreducestheproblemtoaonedimensionalstudy.Thesolution[5]
showsthatthetemperaturethroughthewallislinearinspace.Therefore,theheatflux,perunitarea,willbe
constant.Anyfiniteelementmodelshouldgivetheexactresulteverywhere[2].

13.4.1 Heattransferthroughaplanarwall
TheheattransferthroughawallwillbeillustratedbyaSWSimulationmodel.Itcouldbesolvedwithasingle
layerofelementsthroughthewall.Hereitisassumedthattheanalyticsolutionisnotknown,soseveral
thousandunknownsareusedtoclearlyillustratetheresponse.Thewallinthiscaseisfiveinchesthickand
madeofalloysteel.Aunitcrosssectionalareaisused.Theouter(left)sideiskeptat100Fwhiletheinner
sideisat0F.Thosetworestraintsmustbeexplicitlyapplied.Theotherfourfacesofthebodyareplanesof
symmetryandareautomaticallytreatedasinsulated.Themeshisshownalongwiththeresultinglinear
temperaturedropdistribution.ThelineartemperaturechangewithpositionisclearlyseeninFigure134.
Notethatataposition40%throughthewallthetemperaturedifferencehasdropped40%to60F.Thisresult
willbecomparedtoacylindricalwalllater.Theheatfluxshouldbeconstant.Constantvaluesdonotcontour
wellsothecontourboundsmustbesettogiveareasonableplot.Thefluxvaluesattheinletandoutletfaces
areselectedandlistedintablesshowninFigure135.Itshowsthateachsquareinchoftheouterwallrequires
about0.0134BTU/sofpowertomaintaintheoutertemperature.Foraplanarwallmadeupofconstant
thicknesslayersofdifferentmaterialstheheatfluxmuststillremainconstant,butthetemperaturedifference
willoccuraslinearchangesfromoneinterfacetothenext.Thelineardistributionoftemperatureismore
easilyseenwithagraphalongoneedgeofthemesh.

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Figure134Temperaturesofahomogeneouswall

13.4.2 Heattransferthroughcylindricalwallsorpipes
Anotherwellknownheattransferproblemwithasimpleanalyticsolutionisthatofradialconductionthrough
aninfinitepipe,orcurvedwall.Inthatcase,thetemperaturedifferencevariesinalogarithmicmanner
throughthewallthickness.Thatmeansthattheheatfluxmustalsovarythroughthewall,sinceitpasses
throughmorematerialastheradiusincreases.
Theexamplehere[4],willbeforanalloysteelpipewithaninnerradiusof10inchesandwithathicknessof5
inches.Thusitisverysimilartothepreviousexamplehavinginnerandoutertemperaturesof100Fand0F,
respectively.Inthiscase,eachofthoserestraintsisappliedtocylindricalfaces.Theotherfourfacesare
insulatedanddonotrequirespecificaction.Thegeometry,averyfinemesh,theresultingtemperature
contours,andtheradialvariationofthetemperaturearegiveninFigure136.Thecontourplottheremight
appeartoagainbelinear,butthegraphofthetemperaturealongaradialedgeisactuallylogarithmic.
ComparedtoFigure134,youseethatatadistanceof40%throughthewallthetemperaturehasdropped
morethan40%toabout56.4F.Thenonconstantnatureofthecorrespondingheatfluxisseeninthecontour
plotandintheradialedgeheatfluxgraphofFigure137.

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Figure135Constantheatfluxthroughawall

Figure136Radialtemperaturethroughacylindricalwall

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Figure137Contoursandgraphofradialheatfluxinacylindricalwall

13.4.3 Shellthermalradialmodel
ThelastradialheattransferexamplecouldhavealsobeensolvedbyusingtheSWSimulationmidsurfaceshell
element,whichhasonetemperatureunknownpermeshnode.Whenthe5degreesolidsegmentofthe
cylinder(top)ismeshedasamidsurfaceshell(inthecircumferentialdirection)themeshisplacedinthe
middleofaplaneofconstantthickness.Herethemeshisgeneratedinaconstantaxial(z)plane.Clearly,it
hasonlyafewpercentasmanyequationsasthesolidmeshabove.Thetwotemperaturerestraintsare
appliedtothetwocirculararcedges.Thetwostraightedgesandtheshellface(s)areinsulated.The
temperatureresultsagreeverycloselywiththemuchmoreexpensivesolidcomputations.Thatiseasilyseen
byexaminingthetemperatureresultsgiveninFigure138.Likewise,theheatfluxcontoursandradialgraph
valuesinFigure139arealsoincloseagreementwiththesolidmodel(andtheanalyticsolution).

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Figure138Pipesegmenttemperaturesfrommidsurfaceshellmesh

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Figure139Midsurfaceshellheatfluxresultforthepipe

13.5 Heattransferwithanorthotropicmaterial
13.5.1 Introduction
Itisbecomingmorecommontoencountermaterialswhichhavepropertiesthataredirectionallydependent
(anisotropic).Acommoncaseisthatoforthotropicmaterialsthathavetheirpropertiescompletelydefinedin
termsofthreeperpendiculardirections.Thosethreeprincipalmaterialdirectionsareusuallydefinedbyauser
definedcoordinatesystemorauserdefinedreferenceplane.SWSimulationemploysthereferenceplane
approach.Theinputreferencesystemprovidesthedatanecessarytocomputethedirectioncosinesbetween
thematerialdirectionsandtheglobalxyzaxes.Thatdefinesacoordinatetransformationmatrix,sayT,that
convertstheprincipalproperties,sayK123,tothecorrespondingglobalpropertiesasKxyz=TTK123T.Forthe
commonisotropiccasethisreducestoKxyz=kI,whereIistheidentitymatrix.
Itcanbeconfusingtoinputorthotropicpropertiesintocommercialsoftwaresoitiswisetobeginwitha
problemwithaknownsolution.Therearefewsuchproblemsbut[4]presentstheexactsolutionfor
temperaturesinanorthotropicrectangularblockwithaconstantinternalheatgenerationrate,Q.Theblockis
2by1by0.1mthickanditsouteredgefacesareheldataconstanttemperatureof0C.Thethermal
conductivityinthelongdirectionis2W/mKwhilethatshortdirectionis1.2337W/mK.Itisassumedthatno
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