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ThermalAnalysis
Thethermalanalysismoduleservesforsolvingheattransferandthermalconductionproblems.
Atypicalgoalofperformingthermalanalysisisfindingtemperaturefieldsandheatthermalflux
withinaproduct'svolume.AutoFEMsupportstwowaysofformulatingathermalanalysis
problem:
Steadystatecalculatingtemperaturefieldsandheatfluxdistributionundertheassumption
ofaninfinitelylongtimepassingafterapplyingthermalloads.Abody'stemperaturedoesnot
changewithtimeinthesteadystate,sothatanelementarybodyvolumelosesasmuch
energytotheenvironmentperthetimeunitasitgainsfromoutsideorfrominternalheat
sources.
Transientprocesstemperaturefieldscalculationoccursasafunctionoftime.The
temperaturefielddistributionpatternchangeswithtimeintheanalyzedphysicalsystem,so
thatthestudyresultsinobtainingtemperaturefieldsateachtimeinstantofacertaintime
periodsetforthbytheuser.

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Examplesofasteadystateandtransientthermodynamicalprocesses

DetailsofThermalAnalysisSteps
Thermalanalysisisperformedinseveralstages.Thesequenceoftheuser'sstepsforputting
togetherastudyandrunningathermalstudyofastructureisinmanypartssimilartoalgorithms
ofworkingwithotherstudymodulesofAutoFEM.Therefore,wewillpointoutinthischapteronly
certaindetailsspecifictothermalstudies.
1.CreatingStudy.Whencreatingastudy,specifyitstypeTermalAnalysis.Asinother
studytypes,buildingafiniteelementmeshisrequired,forapproximatingthestructure's
geometry.
2.Applyingboundaryconditions.Inthethermalanalysis,theboundaryconditionsare
representedbytheboundaryandinitialtemperatures,heatpowersources,heatflux,and
conditionsofheatexchangebetweenthemodelandenvironmentconvectionandradiation
appliedtothemodel.
Theinitialtemperatureisusedfordefiningthermalloadsattheinitialzeromomentoftimefor
thetransientthermalanalysisonly.Allthermalloadsdefinedwithouttheinitialflagare
consideredconstantinvariableinboththesteadystateandtransientthermalanalysis.
3.Solving.Beforerunningcalculations,theusercanspecifythetypeofathermalanalysis
studybeingsolvedthe[Parameters]tab,steadystateortransientheattransfer,and,if
necessary,adjustalgorithmsforsolvingsystemsofequationsonthe[Solve]tab.
4.Analysisofthermalsolutionresults.Theresultsofathermalanalysisare:
Temperaturefieldstemperaturedistributionoverthemodel'svolume.
ThermalgradientsbytheX,Y,Zaxes,andthemagnitudeofthethermalgradientreflecton
thedegreeoftemperaturechangesbytherespectiveaxesofthecoordinatesystem.
ResultingthermalfluxbytheX,Y,Zaxes,andthemagnitudeoftheresultingthermalflux
showtherateofthermalenergytransfer,determinedfromthesolutiontothethermalanalysis
study.
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Magnitudesofthethermaltemperaturegradientandtheresultingheatfluxaredeterminedas
thesquarerootofthesumofthesquaresoftherespectivecoordinateprojectedcomponents.
Besidesthementionedresults,thefollowingreferencedatacanbedisplayedinthe
postprocessorwindow:
Prescribedthermalfluxcorrespondstothespecifiedinitialparametersofthermalloads.
Prescribedtemperatureconstantthermalloadsappliedtothemodel.
Initialtemperaturetheinitialtemperaturefieldappliedtothemodelforthetransientthermal
analysis.
ThemethodsforanalyzingresultsofthermalanalysisacceptedintheAutoFEMPostprocessor,
areingeneralsimilartothemethodsofexaminingresultsinotheranalysismodules.Letus
mentionsomespecificPostprocessortools,whichcanbeusedforanalyzingresultsoftransient
heattransfer.
Solvingatransientheattransferstudyresultsinalargesetofdata,whosetotalnumberisequal
tothenumberoftimestepsspecifiedbytheuser.AutoFEMprovidestheuserwithaconvenient
visualinterfaceformanagingtheentirearrayofdataresultingfromcalculations.Forthis
purpose,aTimeprocessdialogpanelcanbecalledfromtheresultsviewingwindow'scontext
menu,thatcanbeusedbytheusertoquicklyswitchtothedesiredresultonthetimescale.

UseoftheTimeprocesswindowformanagingaccesstotheresultsofatransientthermalstudy

ThermalAnalysisProcessorSettings
Onthe[General]tab,youcandefineoreditthedescriptiveattributesofthecurrentstudy,asthe
nameoracomment.
The[Solve]tabcontainssettingsforsolvingsystemsofalgebraicequations,withtheir
meaningssimilartothesettingsoftheStaticanalysisstudyseetherespectivesection.Note
thattheCalculateusinglinearelementmodecanbeusedinmostcasesofthermalanalysis,
facilitatingmuchfastercalculations.UnlikestudiesinStatics,FrequencyanalysisandBuckling,
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resultsoftemperaturedistributionoverthemodel'svolumeachievedunderthelinear
interpolationassumptionarenotmuchdifferentfromtherespectiveresultsobtainedfromusing
aquadraticinterpolation.
Beforestartingcalculations,onthetab[Parameters]theusercanindicatethetypeofsolved
thermalanalysisproblem:stationarysteadystatemodeornonstationarythermalconduction
transientprocess.
Fornonstationarythermalconduction,itisnecessarytospecifyaprocessdurationTotal
processtime,timestepandinitialtemperature.
Inthethermalanalysis,controlsInitialtemperature|Usepresettemperatureallowtheuser
todefineasaninitialtemperature:
initialtemperatureprescribedwiththehelpofthecommand"AutoFEM|

Loads/Restraints|InitialTemperature..."
thedefaultvalueoftemperatureatthosefiniteelementnodeswherethe

initialtemperaturewasnotdefinedbytheuser.

Parameterstabofthethermalanalysisstudyparameterswindow

TheUseheattaskresultscontrolallowsdefiningtheinitialtemperaturebytheresultsofan
earlierconductedthermalanalysis.Thisdialogitembecomesaccessibletotheuser,ifthereare
earlierconductedthermalstudiespresentinthemodel.Inthedropdownlistselectthenameof
asolvedthermalanalysisstudyand,ifnecessary,thetimeinstant,towhichthesolution
pertains.Pleasenotethatcertainconditionsaretobemetforusingthermalanalysisresultsas
theinitialtemperatureconditions:
1.Identityconditionoffiniteelementmeshesinboththermalanalyses.Thesimplestwayof
achievingsuchidentityistheuseofthe"Copy"commandavailableinthecontextmenu.The
sequenceofstepscanbe,forexample,asfollows:
acreateastudyofthe"ThermalAnalysis"type,generateamesh,defineboundaryconditions,
andrun.Weassumethatthesolvedtemperatureswillbeusedfordefininginitialtemperatures
inanotherstudyofthetransientthermalanalysis
bcreateastudy'scopyusingtheCopycommand
cdefineboundaryconditionsofatransientstudyinthermalanalysis.OntheParameterstab
ofthestudy'sproperties,selectthenameofthefirststudyand,ifthat'satransientanalysis,the
desiredtimestep.
Asaresult,wehavetwostudiesofdifferenttypes,butwithidenticalfiniteelementmeshes.
2.The"Calculateusinglinearelement"propertyonthe"Solve"tabofthestudyparameters
dialogshouldusethesamesettingsinbothstudies.Forexample,ifthefirstthermalanalysisis
donebylinearelements,thenthesecondthermalanalysisbasedontheformerthermalanalysis
resultscanalsoberunonlybylinearelements.
NotealsothatsolvingatransientheattransferstudyrequiresmoreCPUtimeascomparedto
thesteadystateheattransfer,sinceintheformercasethesystemsofalgebraicequationsare
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solvedateachtimestepdefinedbytheuser.
The[Results]taballowsdefiningtheresulttypesdisplayableinthestudiestreeafterfinishing
calculations.

Resultstableftanddialogforsettingresultsdisplayablebydefaultinthestudiestreeright

ExamplesofThermalAnalysisStudies
ThermalAnalysisofaCoolingRadiator.SteadyState
Requiredisanevaluationofapassivecoolingradiatorefficiencyforthesemiconductor
electronicdevicewiththemaximumdissipatingpowerof15Watt.Thepermissibletemperature
ofthemicrochip'sbodyis75Cintheoperatingrangeofambienttemperaturesfrom25Cto
55C.Analuminumalloyradiatorisusedforcoolingthedeviceandismountedatthetopofthe
microchip'sbody.Toimproveheatdissipation,thebodyofthemicrochipisalsomadeof
aluminum.
Step1.CreatingStudy,meshing,andassigningmaterial.CreateastudyoftheTermal
AnalysistypeusingthecommandAnalysis|NewStudybasedontwobodiesthemicrochip
andtheradiator.Generateafiniteelementmesh.Youalsoneedtodefineparametersofthe
part'smaterial.Bydefault,calculationsusematerialpropertiesFromOperation,thatis,the
materialpropertiesareautomaticallyobtainedfromtheproductpart'ssolidmodel.Thisis
especiallyconvenientwhenastudyincludesbodiesfromdifferentmaterialsrepresentingparts
ofassemblymodels.Inourcase,theAluminummaterialwasdefinedatcreationofthe3D
modeloftheradiatorandthemicrochip,withitsphysicalandchemicalpropertiescontainedin
theAutoCADdatabase.
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Threedimensionalmodelofthe
microchipwithapassive
coolingradiator

Resultingfiniteelement
mesh

Step2.Applyingboundaryconditions.Letusspecifythermalloadsforthemodel.Wewill
applytheHeatpowerloadof15Watttothevolumeofthemicrochip,anddefinethe
Convectionboundaryconditionontheexternalheatsinkingradiatorsurfaceswiththe
convectionparameterof15Watt/m2.Candambienttemperatureof25C.Wecandisregard
inthisstudytheheatexchangefactorofmutualandambientradiation,sincetheirradiation
contributionisvanishinglysmallattheexpectedtemperaturestensofdegreesCelsius.Upon
completingthecommandsofbuildingthefiniteelementmeshanddefiningthermalloads,we
getacalculationsreadyfiniteelementmodel.

AutoFEMAnalysisThermalAnalysis

Defining"HeatPower"load

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Defining"Convection"load

Step3.Runningcalculationsandanalyzingresults.Wewillstartthethermalanalysisby
runningthecommandAnalysis|Solve.Intheappearingdialogofthestudy'sproperties,set
theSteadystateoptiononthe[Parameters]tab.UsetheCalculateusinglinearelement
modeonthe[Solve]tabtospeedupthecalculations.
ThelistofcalculationresultsisdisplayedintheStudieswindow,andcanbeaccessedbythe
contextmenuinthecalculationresultswindow.Themaximumtemperatureaccordingtothe
heatandanalysisresultsis39,1Cattheconvectiontemperatureequalto25C.Wewillthen
edittheconvectiontemperatureusingtheEditcommandofthestudiestreecontextmenu,
settingtheoperationalambienttemperaturetoitsupperlimit55C,andthenrerun
calculations.Wewillobtainthemaximumtemperatureofthemicrochipequalto69.1C.The
conclusionistheradiatordoesfulfilltherequiredtemperatureconditionforthedeviceinthe
entirespecifiedrangeofthedevice'soperationaltemperatures.Thestudyiscomplete.

Temperaturefieldsintheradiatorundertheconvectiontemperatureof25C
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CalculatingtheTimeofHeatinguptheCoolingRadiator.TransientMode
Letusestimatethetimerequiredforthedevicetoreachasteadythermalstate.Todothis,let's
runatransientthermalanalysisofthemicrochip+radiatorsystem.
Step1.Creatingstudy'scopy.Wewillcreateacopyoftheoriginalstudyinasteadystate
thermalanalysisusingtheCopycommandofthestudiestreecontextmenu.Onthe[General]
tabofthestudy'sproperties,changethestudynametoHeating.

Step2.Definingparametersoftransientanalysis.Onthe[Parameters]tabofthethermal
analysisproperties,settheTransientmode.Definethetimeanalysisparametersthe
modelingtimeof30minutesandthemodelingstepof0.5minutes.Wewillusetheuniform
ambienttemperature25Castheinitialmodeltemperature.

Definingcalculationparametersoftransientheatanalysistimeandinitialtemperature

Step3.Runningcalculationsandanalyzingresults.Afterthecompletionofcalculations,you
canexamineresultsateachtimestep.Toviewsuchresults,weuseafloatingTimeprocess
barthatallowstheusertoquicklyswitchtothetimeinstantofinterestusingaslider.Withthe
helpofthesetoolswedeterminethatanearlycompleteheatingoftheradiatorwilloccurafter
approximately26minutes.

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Resultofthermalanalysisattime1590sec26min.

CalculatingTimeofCoolingdowntheCoolingRadiator.TransientMode
Now,let'sevaluatethetimerequiredforthedevicecoolingradiatortocooldownafteran
extendedwork.
Step1.Creatingstudy'scopy.Adjustingboundaryconditions.Let'screateacopyofthe
originalstudyofthesteadystatethermalanalysis.Adjusttheboundaryconditionsofthisstudy:
theHeatpowerloadwillbedeleted.
Step2.Definingparametersoftransientanalysis.SettheTransientmodeonthetabofthe
thermalanalysisproperties.Definetimeanalysisparametersthemodelingtimeof30minutes,
themodelingstepof0.5minutes.Let'susetheresultfromtheprevioussteadystateradiator
evaluationastheinitialmodeltemperature.

Settingupstudyparametersforcalculatingcoolingprocess
transientheattransfer

Step3.Analyzingcalculationresults.Let'sruncalculationsandanalyzetheresults.Usingthe
Timeprocessbar,wecandeterminethatnearlycompletecoolingoftheradiatorwilloccurin
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approximately26minutesafterturningthedeviceoff.

Devicecoolingcalculation.
Temperaturesdistributionat1590secondsofthecalculationtime

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