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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/m
2
].Theconductivity,k,isusuallyonlyknowntotwoorthreesignificantfigures.Forsolidsitranges
fromabout417W/mKforsilverdownto0.76W/mKforglass.
Aperfectinsulatormaterial(k0)willnotconductheat;thereforetheheatfluxvectormustbeparalleltothe
insulatorsurface.Aplaneofsymmetry(wherethegeometry,kvalues,andheatsourcesaremirrorimages)
actsasaperfectinsulator.Infiniteelementanalysis,allsurfacesdefaulttoperfectinsulatorsunlessyougivea
specifiedtemperature,aknownheatinflux,aconvectioncondition,oraradiationcondition.
Convectionoccursinafluidbymixing.Herewewillconsideronlyfreeconvectionfromthesurfaceofabody
tothesurroundingfluid.Forcedconvection,whichrequiresacoupledmasstransfer,willnotbeconsidered.
Themagnitudeoftheheatfluxnormaltoasolidsurfacebyfreeconvectionisq
n
=hA
h
(T
h
T
f
)wherehisthe
convectioncoefficient,A
h
isthesurfaceareacontactingthefluid,T
h
istheconvectingsurfacetemperature,and
T
f
isthesurroundingfluidtemperature,respectively.Theunitsofhare[W/m
2
K].Itsvaluevarieswidelyandis
usuallyknownonlyfromonetofoursignificantfigures.Typicalvaluesforconvectiontoairandwaterare525
and5001000W/m
2
K,respectively.
Radiationheattransferoccursbyelectromagneticradiationbetweenthesurfacesofabodyandthe
surroundingmedium.Itisahighlynonlinearfunctionoftheabsolutetemperaturesofthebodyandmedium.
Themagnitudeoftheheatfluxnormaltoasolidsurfacebyradiationisq
r
=A
r
(T
r

4
T
m

4
).HereT
r
isthe
absolutetemperatureofthebodysurface,T
m
istheabsolutetemperatureofthesurroundingmedium,A
r
is
thebodysurfaceareasubjectedtoradiation,=5.67x10
8
W/m
2
K
4
istheStefanBoltzmannconstant,and
isasurfacefactor(=1foraperfectblackbody).
Transient,orunsteady,heattransferintimealsorequiresthematerialpropertiesofspecificheatatconstant
pressure,c
p
in[kJ/kgK],andthemassdensity,in[kg/m
3
].Thespecificheatistypicallyknownto2or3
significantfigures,whilethemassdensityisprobablythemostaccuratelyknownmaterialpropertywith4to5
significantfigures.
13.1.1 Onedimensionalthermalstructuralanalogy
TheonedimensionalgoverningdifferentialequationfortransientheattransferthroughanareaA,of
conductivityk
x
,density,specificheatc
p
withavolumetricofheatgeneration,Q,forthetemperatureTat
timetis(k
x
T/x)/x+Q(x)=c
p
T/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 StructuralAnalysisItem,[units],symbol
Unknown:Temperature[K],T Unknown:Displacements[m],u
Gradient:TemperatureGradient[K/m],T Gradient:Strains[m/m],
Flux:Heatflux[W/m
2
],q Flux:Stresses[N/m
2
],
Source:HeatSourceforpoint,line,surface,volume
[W],[W/m],[W/m
2
],[W/m
3
],Q
Source:Forceforpoint,line,surface,volume
[N],[N/m],[N/m
2
],[N/m
3
],Q
Restraint:Prescribedtemperature[K],T Restraint:Prescribeddisplacement[m],u
Reaction:Heatflowresultant[W],Q Reaction:Forcecomponent[N],Q
MaterialProperty:Thermalconductivity[W/mK],k MaterialProperty:Elasticmodulus[N/m
2
],E
MaterialLaw:Fourierslaw 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
Table133Anisotropicthermalpropertiesinprincipalmaterialdirections
Symbol Label Item
DENS Massdensity
c C Specificheat,atconstantpressure
k
x
KX ThermalconductivityinmaterialXdirection
k
y
KY ThermalconductivityinmaterialYdirection
k
z
KZ ThermalconductivityinmaterialZdirection
13.3 FiniteElementThermalAnalysis
13.3.1 Thermalrodelement
Fromtheaboveanalogythematrixequationsofasingleelement(fromsections2.3and2.4)is
Symbol Label Item Application
DENS Massdensity Transient
c C Specificheat,atconstantpressure Transient
k KX Thermalconductivity Steadystateandtransient
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k j
1 -1
-1 1
[ _
I
1
I
2
_ = _
F
1
F
2
_
wherekk
x
A/Lmaybereferredtoasthethermalstiffnessoftherodoflength,L,area,A,andthermal
conductivityk
x
.Inthiscase,T correspondstoanodaltemperature,andFcorrespondstotheresultantnodal
heatpowerfromthevariousheatsources.ThetypicalunitsoftheabovethreematricesareW/C,C,andW.

13.3.2 Algebraicequations
Thefiniteelementmethodcreatesasetofalgebraicequationsbyusinganequivalentgoverningintegralform
that is integrated over a mesh that approximates the volume and surface of the body of interest. The mesh
consists of elements connected to nodes. In a thermal analysis, there will be one simultaneous equation for
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:
_
K
uu
K
ug
K
gu
K
gg
_ _
T
u
T
g
_ = _
F
g
F
u
_
wherenowT
g
representsthegiven(restrained)nodaltemperatures,F
g
representstheknownresultantnodal
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 Vertexes,edges,facesandparts Temperaturevalueandunits
Contact
resistance
Twocontactingfaces Totalthermalresistanceorunitthermal
resistance.Seediscussion.

Figure131Idealandthermalcontactresistanceinterfaces

Table135Typicalcontactresistancevalues,Rxe4,[m
2
K/W]
ContactPressure Moderate 100kN/m
2
10,000kN/m
2

Aluminum/aluminum/air 0.5 1.55.0 0.20.4

Copper/copper/air 0.1 110 0.10.5
Magnesium/magnesium/air 1.53.5 0.20.4
Stainlesssteel/stainlesssteel/air 3 625 0.74.0

Table136Typicalcontactconductancevalues,C,[W/m
2
K]
ContactingFaces(pressureunknown) Conductance
Aluminum/aluminum/air 220012000
Ceramic/ceramic/air 5003000
Copper/copper/air 10,00025,000
Iron/aluminum/air 45,000
Stainlesssteel/stainlesssteel/air 20003700
Stainlesssteel/stainlesssteel/vacuum 2001100

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Table137Loadsforsteadystatethermalanalysis
LoadType GeometricEntities RequiredInput
Convection Faces Filmcoefficientandbulktemperatureinthedesiredunits
HeatFlux Faces Heatflux(heatpower/unitarea)valueinthedesiredunits
HeatPower Vertexes,edges,faces
andparts
Totalheatpowervalueandunits(rateofheatgenerationper
unitvolumetimesthepartvolume)
Insulated
(Adiabatic)
Faces None.Thisisthedefaultconditionforanyfacenotsubjectto
oneofthethreeaboveconditions
Radiation Faces Surroundingtemperature,emissivityvaluesandunits,and
viewfactorforsurfacetoambientradiation

Table138Typicalheatconvectioncoefficientvalues,h,[W/m
2
K]
FluidMedium h
Air(naturalconvection) 525
Air/superheatedsteam(forcedconvection) 10500
Oil(forcedconvection) 601800
Steam(condensing) 5000120,000
Water(boiling) 250060,000
Water(forcedconvection) 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 Label Item
T TEMP Temperature
T/x GRADX TemperaturegradientintheselectedreferenceXdirection
T/y GRADY TemperaturegradientintheselectedreferenceYdirection
T/z GRADZ TemperaturegradientintheselectedreferenceZdirection
|T| GRADN Resultanttemperaturegradientmagnitude
q
x
HFLUXX HeatfluxintheXdirectionoftheselectedreferencegeometry
q
y
HFLUXY HeatfluxintheXdirectionoftheselectedreferencegeometry
q
z
HFLUXZ HeatfluxintheXdirectionoftheselectedreferencegeometry
q HFLUXN 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,sayK
123
,tothecorrespondingglobalpropertiesasK
xyz
=T
T
K
123
T.Forthe
commonisotropiccasethisreducestoK
xyz
=kI,whereIistheidentitymatrix.
Itcanbeconfusingtoinputorthotropicpropertiesintocommercialsoftwaresoitiswisetobeginwitha
problemwithaknownsolution.Therearefewsuchproblemsbut[4]presentstheexactsolutionfor
temperaturesinanorthotropicrectangularblockwithaconstantinternalheatgenerationrate,Q.Theblockis
2by1by0.1mthickanditsouteredgefacesareheldataconstanttemperatureof0C.Thethermal
conductivityinthelongdirectionis2W/mKwhilethatshortdirectionis1.2337W/mK.Itisassumedthatno