Heat Transfer and Multiphysics

Analysis

Heat Transfer
Analysis

MAE 323 Lecture 8: Heat Transfer and

 2011 Alex Grishin 1
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 Heat Transfer and Multiphysics
Analysis

•In engineering applications, heat is generally transferred from one

location to another and between bodies. This transfer is driven by
differences in temperature (a temperature gradient) and goes from
locations of high temperature to those with low temperature.

•These temperature differences, in turn, cause mechanical stresses

and strains in bodies due to their coefficient of thermal expansion,
α (sometimes abbreviated CTE in engineering literature)

•The amount of heat transfer is directly proportional to the size of

the temperature gradient and the thermal resistance of the
material(s) involved

•In engineering applications, there are three basic mechanisms:

1. Conduction
2. Convection
3. Radiation
MAE 323 Lecture 8: Heat Transfer and
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Conduction

•For a thermally orthotropic material*, the heat transfer per unit

volume per unit time can be stated (in SI units of Joules per cu.
meter per second, or simply Watts per cu. meter):

∂  ∂T  ∂  ∂T  ∂  ∂T  ∂T
 x
k  +  k  +  z
k  = ρ C −λ (1)
∂x  ∂x  ∂y  ∂y  ∂z  ∂z  ∂t
y p

where:
ki = thermal conduction in direction i (Watts/m/ 0C )
ρ = physical mass (kg)
λ = volumetric heat generation (W/m3 )
C p = specific heat capacity (J/kg/ 0C )
T = temperature (0C )

*see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orthotropic_material
MAE 323 Lecture 8: Heat Transfer and
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Conduction

•All the terms on the LHS of (1) represent conduction of heat

through material (usually solid bodies)

•The physical mechanism of this conduction is usually

molecular (or electronic) vibration.

•For steady-state problems with no heat generation in one-

dimension, we have:

∂ 2T
kx = 0
∂x 2 (2)
∂T
kx = −q
∂x

where q is an applied heat flux (heat flow per

unit area. SI units are W/m2)
MAE 323 Lecture 8: Heat Transfer and
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Conduction

•Equation (2) states that the temperature distribution along a

length of material conducting heat along that length is linear
and proportional to the heat flow, q

MAE 323 Lecture 8: Heat Transfer and

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Analysis
Convection

•Convection is a mechanism of heat transfer that occurs due to the

observable (and measurable) motion of fluids

•As fluid moves, it carries heat with it. In engineering applications, this
phenomenon can be characterized by:
q = heat flow per unit area (W/m 2 )
q = h (Ts − T∞ ) (3) where
Ts = surface temperature (0C )
T∞ = fluid temperature far from surface (0C )

T∞
Ts qo

qi

MAE 323 Lecture 8: Heat Transfer and

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 Heat Transfer and Multiphysics
Analysis
Radiation

•Thermal radiation is electromagnetic radiation generated by the

thermal motion of charged particles in matter

•Two different bodies at different temperatures separated by some

neutral medium (space or air) will exchange heat through this
mechanism according to:

q = ε1− 2 F1− 2σ (T14 − T24 ) (4)

where ε1−2 = emissivity between body 1 and 2 (dimensionless)

F1− 2 = view factor (dimensionless)
σ =Stefan Boltzmann constant (W/m 2 / 0 K 4 )

•Equation (4) is generally nonlinear because and special solver utilities

are used to solve these problems (beyond the scope of this course)
MAE 323 Lecture 8: Heat Transfer and
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 Heat Transfer and Multiphysics
Analysis

•In this course, we will only deal with steady-state thermal analyses
with heat sources, conduction, and convection. Element formulations
for such phenomena are straightforward and have direct analogies
with static structural problems. To see this, let’s start with the case of
bar/truss and a conduction in 1 dimension

•From Chapter 4, we have static equilibrium in one direction:

∂σ xx (5)
+ bx = 0
∂x
•If no body load is present, then:
∂σ xx (6)
=0
∂x
•Then we use the isotropic constitutive law (Chapter 4 again)
for a unilateral stress:
∂u
E =σx (7)
∂x
MAE 323 Lecture 8: Heat Transfer and
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 Heat Transfer and Multiphysics
Analysis

•Plugging (7) into (6) gets the equation in terms of the

primary variable (displacement)
∂ 2u (8)
E 2 = 0 Units: Force/length2
∂x

•We can do the same thing with the conductivity equation (1).
Assuming steady state conduction with no volumetric heat
generation in x-direction only, equation (1) becomes:

∂ 2T
k x 2 = 0 Units: Energy/time*Temperature/length3 (9)
∂x

MAE 323 Lecture 8: Heat Transfer and

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 Heat Transfer and Multiphysics
Analysis

•We saw in chapter 2 that we can integrate equation (8) twice and
apply boundary conditions to solve it.

•This leads to the canonical truss element:

EA  1 −1  u1   F1 
   =  (10)
L  −1 1  u2   F2 
•Equation (9) has the same form, so we should expect to be able to
create an analogous 1D (thermal link) element

•Integrating (9) once leads to Fourier’s Law of Conduction in one

dimension (the sign comes from the necessary direction of heat flow
from hot to cold over an increasing distance):
dT
k = −q (11)
dx
MAE 323 Lecture 8: Heat Transfer and
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 Heat Transfer and Multiphysics
Analysis

•Solving (11) for T in terms of q yields an equation very

similar to (10). This is a thermal link element:

kA  1 −1 T1   Q1 
 = 
L  −1 1  T2  Q2 
(12)

•Similarly, a convection link element can be constructed from

(3) as:
 1 −1  Ts   Q1  (13)
hA    = 
 −1 1  T∞  Q2 

•The elements in (13) connect nodes on the surface of a

body at Ts to a common ground node at T∞. Here the area A
is area over which the convection elements acts

MAE 323 Lecture 8: Heat Transfer and

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 Heat Transfer and Multiphysics
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•Equations (12) and (13) demonstrate that the thermal link elements in
a steady-state thermal analysis are analogous to structural spring
elements. Thus the heat flow, Q is the analog of the structural force F
and T is the analog of the structural displacement. These analogies
lead directly to the notion of thermal resistance, R:
Structural Displacement Force
stiffness

K ⋅x = F Static Structural problem

R ⋅T = Q Steady-State thermal problem

Thermal
resistance Temperature Heat flow

MAE 323 Lecture 8: Heat Transfer and

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 Heat Transfer and Multiphysics
Analysis

•Without going through the details, we will simply mention that the
equations (1) and (3) can be combined to yield the governing
equations for a system experiencing both conduction and convection.
This combined system may be expressed as:

( R + H ) ⋅ T = Q + Qh (14)
κ = conductivity matrix
where: h = convection coefficient
N = vector of shape functions
R = ∫ BT ⋅ κ ⋅ BdV
 ∂N 
V
 ∂x 0 0 
 
H = ∫ NT hNdS ∂N
B= 0 0 
S  ∂y 
 
Q h = ∫ NT hTdS  0 0
∂N 
S
 ∂z 

MAE 323 Lecture 8: Heat Transfer and

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 Heat Transfer and Multiphysics
Analysis
Performing a Steady-State Thermal Analysis in ANSYS
Workbench
Some Assumptions:

•Shell and line body assumptions:

Shells: no through-thickness temperature gradients.
Line bodies: no through thickness variation. Assumes a
constant temperature across the cross-section.
Temperature variation will still be considered along the
line body

•As with structural analyses, contact regions are automatically

created to enable heat transfer between parts of assemblies.

MAE 323 Lecture 8: Heat Transfer and

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 Heat Transfer and Multiphysics
Analysis
Performing a Steady-State Thermal Analysis in ANSYS
Workbench
•If parts are initially in contact heat transfer can occur between them.
•If parts are initially out of contact no heat transfer takes place (see
pinball explanation below).
•Summary:
Heat Transfer Between Parts in Contact Region?
Contact Type
Initially Touching Inside Pinball Region Outside Pinball Region
Bonded Yes Yes No
No Separation Yes Yes No
Rough Yes No No
Frictionless Yes No No
Frictional Yes No No

•The pinball region determines when contact occurs and is automatically

defined and set to a relatively small value to accommodate small gaps in
the model

MAE 323 Lecture 8: Heat Transfer and

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 Heat Transfer and Multiphysics
Analysis
Performing a Steady-State Thermal Analysis in ANSYS
Workbench
By default, perfect thermal contact
conductance between parts is assumed,
meaning no temperature drop occurs at the
interface.
Numerous conditions can contribute to less
than perfect contact conductance: ∆T
surface flatness
surface finish
oxides T
entrapped fluids
contact pressure x
surface temperature
use of conductive grease
....

Continued . . .
MAE 323 Lecture 8: Heat Transfer and
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Analysis
Performing a Steady-State Thermal Analysis in ANSYS
Workbench
The amount of heat flow across a contact interface is defined by the
contact heat flux q:

where Tcontact is the temperature of a contact “node” and Ttarget is the

temperature of the corresponding target “node”.
By default, TCC is set to a relatively ‘high’ value based on the largest
material conductivity defined in the model KXX and the diagonal of the
overall geometry bounding box ASMDIAG.

This essentially provides ‘perfect’ conductance between parts.

MAE 323 Lecture 8: Heat Transfer and

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 Heat Transfer and Multiphysics
Analysis
Performing a Steady-State Thermal Analysis in ANSYS
Workbench
• Heat Flow:
– A heat flow rate can be applied to a vertex, edge, or surface. The load is distributed for
multiple selections.
– Heat flow has units of energy/time.
• Perfectly insulated (heat flow = 0):
– Available to remove surfaces from previously applied boundary conditions.
• Heat Flux:
– Heat flux can be applied to surfaces only (edges in 2D).
– Heat flux has units of energy/time/area.
• Internal Heat Generation:
– An internal heat generation rate can be applied to bodies only.
– Heat generation has units of energy/time/volume.

A positive value for heat load will add energy to the system.
MAE 323 Lecture 8: Heat Transfer and
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 Heat Transfer and Multiphysics
Analysis
Performing a Steady-State Thermal Analysis in ANSYS
Workbench

Temperature, Convection and Radiation:

• At least one type of thermal boundary condition must be present to
prevent the thermal equivalent of rigid body motion.
• Given Temperature or Convection load should not be applied on
surfaces that already have another heat load or thermal boundary
condition applied to it.
• Perfect insulation will override thermal boundary conditions.

• Given Temperature:
– Imposes a temperature on vertices, edges, surfaces or bodies
– Temperature is the degree of freedom solved for
MAE 323 Lecture 8: Heat Transfer and
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 Heat Transfer and Multiphysics
Analysis
Performing a Steady-State Thermal Analysis in ANSYS
Workbench
• Convection:
– Applied to surfaces only (edges in 2D analyses).
– Convection q is defined by a film coefficient h, the surface area A, and the difference in the surface
temperature Tsurface & ambient temperature Tambient

– “h” and “Tambient” are user input values.

– The film coefficient h can be constant or temperature dependent

MAE 323 Lecture 8: Heat Transfer and

 2011 Alex Grishin 20
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 Heat Transfer and Multiphysics
Analysis

Static Structural
Analysis with
Thermal Loads

MAE 323 Lecture 8: Heat Transfer and

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 Heat Transfer and Multiphysics
Analysis

•The governing equations of static structural continua (such as

equation (2) of Chapter 5) always contain a body load term. Thermal
loads may be considered body loads. Body temperatures are
converted to structural body loads via the coefficient of thermal
expansion, α (often referred to in industry by the acronym CTE):

α CTE (units: Temperature-1)

α∆T Thermal strain (15)
α E ∆T Thermal stress (16)
•Thus, (16) would be implemented in equation (2) of Chapter
5 as:
∫ δ εdV = ∫ α E∆Tw + ∫ FwdS
T
σ
V V S

MAE 323 Lecture 8: Heat Transfer and

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 Heat Transfer and Multiphysics
Analysis

•In an element, the discrete form of the thermal becomes:

∫ N e
α E ∆TdV e

Ve

•It is thus characterized by a load vector obtained by integrating every

element with a temperature other than the reference temperature.
This load vector is then added to the global applied load vector

•∆T is thus the difference between the temperature of the body and
the reference temperature at which the CTE was measured.

•It is easy to see that if two bodies with differing CTE’s (calculated at
the same reference temperature) are raised to the same temperature,
they will experience differing thermal-structural loads. If the two
bodies are connected, they may experience stresses due to this
“thermal mismatch”*
http://www.ami.ac.uk/courses/topics/0162_sctm/index.html
MAE 323 Lecture 8: Heat Transfer and
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Performing a Single-Phase Structural analysis with thermal
loads in ANSYS Workbench

•Workbench has the capability of adding a constant thermal body

load to bodies (parts) in Mechanical interface. One can add different
uniform temperatures to different bodies. This is done in the “Static
Structural” branch in the tree outline by selecting “thermal
Condition”

•if a temperature distribution is to be applied, this can only be done

via an imported load object (either through the “External Data” tool
in the toolbox of the project page, or via a linked thermal analysis)

Note that a global reference temperature (for all defined

CTE’s) can be set in the Details view of the “Static Structural”
branch
MAE 323 Lecture 8: Heat Transfer and
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Coupled-Field
(Multiphysics)
Problems

MAE 323 Lecture 8: Heat Transfer and

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Analysis
•A static structural analysis which incorporates thermal loads via a
temperature distribution obtained from a thermal analysis is one of the
earliest types of coupled-field analysis

•Most commercial codes offer the capability to perform such an analysis

in a sequential manner (sometimes referred to as a 2-phase analysis). The
primary assumption behind this approach is that the two fields are weakly
coupled in a single direction (from thermal-to-structural– that is to say
that thermal structural loads are obtained from temperature
distributions, instead of thermal heat flows being obtained from
displacements, stresses, or strains). This makes the thermal-structural
sequence linear

Phase 1: Thermal Phase 2: Structural

Calculate Calculate
temperature displacements,
distribution stresses, strains
MAE 323 Lecture 8: Heat Transfer and
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•However, solving coupled physical fields can be significantly more

complicated (and general).

•ANSYS has the following coupled field capability

Heat
Electricity
Transfer

Solid
Mechanics

Fluid
Magnetism
Mechanics

MAE 323 Lecture 8: Heat Transfer and

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• Two basic types of multiphysics coupling
– direct
– sequential

• Each method has several common names

– Direct versus Sequential
] most common
– Matrix versus Load Vector
– Direct versus Indirect
– Strongly versus Weakly
– Tightly versus Loosely
– Fully versus Partly

MAE 323 Lecture 8: Heat Transfer and

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Analysis
• Direct Method is
– used to simultaneously calculate the DOFs from multiple fields
– only necessary when the individual field responses of the model are dependent
upon each other
• Directly coupled analyses are usually
– nonlinear since equilibrium must satisfied based on multiple criteria
– more costly than comparably sized single-field models, because more DOFs are
active per node

Direct Method:

•
[ [K11] [K12]
[K21] [K22] ] { } ={ }
Subscript 1 represents one physics
[X1]
[X2]
[F1]
[F2]

• Subscript 2 represents the other physics

• Coupled effects are accounted for by the off-diagonal coefficient terms K12 and K21
• Provides for coupled response in solution after one iteration
MAE 323 Lecture 8: Heat Transfer and
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Analysis

Sequential Method:

[ [K11] [ 0 ]
[ 0 ] [K22] ] { } ={ } [X1]
[X2]
[F1]
[F2]
• Subscript 1 represents one physics
• Subscript 2 represents the other physics
• Coupled effects are accounted for by the load terms F1 and F2
• At least two iterations, one for each physics, in sequence, are needed
to achieve a converged coupled response
• Separate results files for each physics
– jobname.rst (structural)
– jobname.rth (thermal, electrostatics)

MAE 323 Lecture 8: Heat Transfer and

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 Heat Transfer and Multiphysics
Analysis
Performing a Two-Phase Coupled Thermal-Structural
Analysis in Workbench
•In this course, we will only ever deal with sequential weakly
coupled analyses. For thermal/structural analyses, this can be
achieved by:
• Inserting the “Steady-State Thermal” from the Workbench toolbox will set
up a SS Thermal system in the project schematic.
• In Mechanical the “Analysis Settings” can be used to set solution options
for the thermal analysis.

Step 1:
Solve the
Thermal
Analysis

MAE 323 Lecture 8: Heat Transfer and

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Analysis
Performing a Two-Phase Coupled Thermal-Structural
Analysis in Workbench

•link a structural analysis to the thermal model at the Solution level.

Step 2:
Solve the
structural
model

MAE 323 Lecture 8: Heat Transfer and

 2011 Alex Grishin 32
Multiphysics