Customer Training Material

L t
Lecture
7
Transient Thermal
Analysis

ANSYS Mechanical
Heat Transfer
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ANSYS Mechanical Heat Transfer

Chapter Contents
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.

Customer Training Material

Transient Theory
Time Stepping
Transient Loading
Transient Post Processing
Workshop 7, Soldering Iron

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A. Transient Theory

Customer Training Material

Like steady-state analyses, transient analyses may be linear or

nonlinear. If nonlinear, the same preprocessing considerations apply
as with steady-state nonlinear analysis (described in Chapter 5).
The most significant difference between steady-state and transient
analyses lies in the Loading and Solution procedures.
We will focus on these procedures after a brief presentation of the
numerical methods employed during transient thermal analysis.

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. . . Transient Theory

Customer Training Material

Recall the governing equation for thermal analysis of a linear system

written in matrix form. The inclusion of the heat storage term
differentiates transient systems from steady-state systems:

[C ]{T& }+ [K ]{T } = {Q}

Heat Storage Term = (Specific Heat Matrix) x

(Time Derivative of Temperature)

In a transient analysis, loads may vary with time . . .

[C ]{T& }+ [K ]{T} = {Q(t )}

. . . or,
or in the case of a nonlinear transient analysis,
analysis time AND
temperature:

[C (T )]{T& }+ [K (T )]{T} = {Q(T , t )}

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. . . Transient Theory

Customer Training Material

When the response of a system over time is required due to loads

and/or boundary conditions change over time, a Transient Analysis
is performed.

Time-Varying Response

Time-Varying Loads

Thermal energy storage effects are now included. Time has

physical meaning.

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. . . Transient Theory

Customer Training Material

Material Property Considerations for Transient Analyses:

In addition to thermal conductivity (k), density () and specific heat (c )
material p
properties
p
must be specified
p
for entities which can conduct
and store thermal energy.
These material properties are used to calculate the heat storage
characteristics of each element which are then combined in the Specific
Heat Matrix [C].

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B. Time Stepping

Customer Training Material

The temperature of a linear thermal system changes continuously

from instant to instant: T

When p
performing
g a thermal transient analysis,
y , a time integration
g
procedure is used to obtain solutions to the system equations at
discrete points in time. The change in time between solutions is
called the integration time step (ITS).
T
t

t
tn

tn+1

tn+2

Generally, the smaller the ITS, the more accurate the solution
becomes.
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. . . Time Stepping

Customer Training Material

Selection of a reasonable time step size is important because of

its impact on solution accuracy and stability:
If tthe
e ttime
e step s
size
e is
s too small,
s a , tthen
e so
solution
ut o oscillations
osc at o s may
ay
occur which could result in temperatures which are not physically
meaningful (e.g. thermal undershoot).
If the time step
p is too large,
g , then temperature
p
gradients
g
will not be
adequately captured.

One approach is to specify a relatively conservative initial time

step
p and allow Automatic Time Stepping
pp g to increase the time step
p
as needed.
The guidelines on the following slides are presented as a way to
approximate a reasonable initial time step size for use with
Automatic Time Stepping.

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. . . Time Stepping

Customer Training Material

A reasonable time step size for thermal transient analyses can

be approximated using the Fourier modulus:
4 * K * t
Fo =
Where:

t
x
K

is ITS time step

is the average element length
is the average
g thermal conductivity
y
is average density
is average specific heat

* C *(x) 2

x 2 * * c
A suggested
gg
minimum integration
g
time step
p (ITS):
(
) t =
4* K
When t is 100 times the ITS suggestion, a warning appears:

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. . . Time Stepping

Customer Training Material

To help evaluate the accuracy of the time integration algorithm,

ANSYS computes and reports some helpful quantities after every
solution:
The Response Eigenvalue represents the dominant system
eigenvalue for the most recent time step solution (reported in
Solution information).
If the Eigenvalue is small, a larger time step is used and vice versa.

The Oscillation Limit is a dimensionless quantity that is simply the

product of the Response Eigenvalue and the current time step size
(reported in Solution information).
It is typically desirable to maintain the oscillation limit below 0.5 to insure
that the transient response of the system is being adequately
characterized.
characterized

See next page . . .

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. . . Time Stepping

Customer Training Material

Time step metrics can be viewed in the Solution Information.

By default, the Automatic Time Stepping (ATS) feature
b
bases
time
ti
step
t prediction
di ti
on the
th Oscillation
O ill ti
Limit.
Li it ATS
seeks to maintain the Oscillation Limit below 0.5 within a
tolerance, and will adjust the ITS to satisfy this criterion.

Notice how ATS

gradually reduces the
ITS based on the
Oscillation Limit. This
sample was taken from
the ANSYS Output
Window during a
nonlinear transient
analysis.

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C. Transient Loading

Customer Training Material

While loads can be applied as constants in transient analyses, often

they vary with time.
In Mechanical, thermal loads can be defined as constants, tables or
functions.
Recall that in chapter 3 we outlined non-constant loading. Here we
will illustrate using specific examples.

Table Loads

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Function Loads

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. . . Transient Loading

Customer Training Material

Example 1: the heating coil experiences joule

heating as power is cycled on and off at 1
second intervals:
Notice in the table a small time increment is
used to ramp the load on and off quickly,
simulating a step function.
Each new time point must increase in value
value.

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. . . Transient Loading

Customer Training Material

Example 2: the same heating coil

undergoes sinusoidal loading according
to the function (0.1+(0.1*sin(180*time))):
Notice the table is populated by evaluating
the function at 200 equally spaced time
points.

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D. Transient Post Processing

Customer Training Material

Post processing transient results is done by requesting results from

particular time points:
RMB on the graph or table at the desired time point and choose Retrieve
This Result
Result.
OR
Enter the desired time in the details for a result and RMB Retrieve This
Result.

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. . . Transient Post Processing

Customer Training Material

Often the desired quantity is the result

variation over time at a point rather
than a contour of the overall model.
A graph is useful in displaying results
vs. time.
Here a temperature probe is scoped to
a local coordinate system
y
and the
temperature variation is plotted in the
graph area.

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Customer Training Material

W k h 7
Workshop
Soldering Iron

ANSYS Mechanical
Heat Transfer
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2010 ANSYS, Inc. All rights reserved.

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