100% found this document useful (1 vote)

1K views

Thermal Analysis Using MSC SimXpert R3.2 Course Notes

This document describes how to perform thermal analysis using SimXpert R3.2

Uploaded by

billbw

Available Formats

Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

100% found this document useful (1 vote)

1K views

Thermal Analysis Using MSC SimXpert R3.2 Course Notes

This document describes how to perform thermal analysis using SimXpert R3.2

Uploaded by

billbw

Available Formats

Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

You are on page 1/ 330

MSC.

Software Corporation
Europe Corporate Asia Pacific
MSC.Software GmbH MSC.Software Corporation MSC.Software Japan Ltd.
Am Moosfeld 13 2 MacArthur Place Shinjuku First West 8F
81829 Munich, Germany Santa Ana, CA 92707 USA 23-7 Nishi Shinjuku
Telephone: (49) (89) 43 19 87 0 Telephone: (800) 345-2078 1-Chome, Shinjuku-Ku
Fax: (49) (89) 43 61 71 6 Fax: (714) 784-4056 Tokyo 160-0023, JAPAN
Telephone: (81) (3)-6911-1200
Fax: (81) (3)-6911-1201

Thermal Analysis Using MSC SimXpert

SMX124 Course Notes

Part Number: SIMXR3.2Z*ZZSM-SMX124-NT January 2009 Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation

Legal Information

MSC.Software Corporation reserves the right to make changes in specifications and other information contained in this
document without prior notice. The concepts, methods, and examples presented in this text are for illustrative and
educational purposes only, and are not intended to be exhaustive or to apply to any particular engineering problem or
design. MSC.Software Corporation assumes no liability or responsibility to any person or company for direct or indirect
damages resulting from the use of any information contained herein.
Copyright © 2007 MSC.Software Corporation. All Rights Reserved. This notice shall be marked on any reproduction of
this documentation, in whole or in part. Any reproduction or distribution of this document, in whole or in part, without the
prior written consent of MSC.Software Corporation is prohibited.
The MSC.Software corporate logo, Adams, Dytran, Easy5, Fatigue, Laminate Modeler, Marc, Mentat, MD Nastran, MD
Patran, MSC, MSC Nastran, Mvision, Patran, SimDesigner, SimEnterprise, SimManager, SimXpert and Sofy are
trademarks or registered trademarks of the MSC.Software Corporation in the United States and/or other
countries. NASTRAN is a registered trademark of NASA. All other trademarks belong to their respective owners.

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation

2
CONTENTS

Section Pages

1.0 Introduction to MSC SimXpert Thermal Analysis……………………………………………….. 1-1

2.0 Conduction………………………………………………………………………………………………. 2-1
3.0 Convection………………………………………………………………………………………………. 3-1
4.0 Transient Thermal Analysis……………………………………………..…………………………… 4-1
5.0 Radiation…………………………………………………………………………………………………. 5-1
6.0 SOL 400 Thermal Capability………………………………………………………………………….. 6-1
7.0 Thermal Analysis Theory……………………………………………………………………………… 7-1

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation

3
Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation

4
SECTION 1
INTRODUCTION TO
MSC SimXpert THERMAL
ANALYSIS

SMX124, Section 1, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S1-1
SMX124, Section 1, January 2009
Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S1-2
HEAT TRANSFER
● Should a Heat Transfer analysis be performed ?
● When the solution for the temperature field in a solid (or fluid) is
desired, and the temperature is not influenced by other fields, a heat
transfer analysis is appropriate.

Coupled Fields

SMX124, Section 1, January 2009

Thermal Field
Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S1-3
MODES OF HEAT TRANSFER
● Mechanisms of Heat Transfer
● Conduction (through a material)
● Advection (energy carried in a fluid)
● Convection (to a fluid)
● Radiation (energy transfer through
● Natural (free) free space (no intervening medium)
● Forced from one surface to another)
● Ambient (to space)
● Enclosure (enclosed radiation
T2
system)
q q
12

T1 T1 q T2 T1 T2

Moving Fluid Removes Heat Moves IN q

2 
1
Heat From Solid Moving Fluid
T 1>T2 T 1>T2 T1>T2
qhAT qm
C p (T1 T2 ) qFA(T14 T24 )
Convection Advection Radiation
SMX124, Section 1, January 2009
Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S1-4
ANALYSIS TYPES
● Thermal problems can be categorized as
● Steady-state
● Steady-state analyses are concerned with state point solutions with
fixed boundary conditions
● Transient
● Transient analyses are characterized by solution evolution over time,
and in addition to energy exchange with the environment, involves
thermal energy storage
● Linear
● Properties; i.e. conductivity, convection coefficient.; do not change
with
● Temperature
● The boundary conditions do not involve
● Radiation

SMX124, Section 1, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S1-5
ANALYSIS TYPES (Cont.)
● Thermal problems can be categorized as (continued)
● Nonlinear
● Temperature dependent material properties.
● Conduction
● Convection
● Natural
● Forced
● Radiation boundary conditions.
● Ambient
● Enclosure
● Steady-state or transient solution.
● All nonlinear analyses necessarily involve solution iteration, error
estimation, and convergence criteria.

SMX124, Section 1, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S1-6
THERMAL MODEL ELEMENTS
● MSC SimXpert thermal elements
● 1D – conduction only in the direction of the centerline of the element
● 2D – conduction only through the mid-plane of the element
● 3D – conduction in all three directions
● Axi-symmetry
● Non-zero thermal gradient in the radial and axial directions
● Zero thermal gradient in the circumferential direction
● Special elements for conduction
● Special element for lumped thermal capacitance

SMX124, Section 1, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S1-7
THERMAL MODEL MATERIAL PROPERTIES
● Thermal materials
● Conduction
● Thermal conductivity
● Can be a function of temperature
● Transient model
● Specific heat (heat capacity per unit mass)
● Can be a function of temperature
● Density
● Cannot be a function of temperature

SMX124, Section 1, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S1-8
THERMAL MODEL MATERIAL PROPERTIES
● Thermal materials
● Convection
● Natural (free)
● Heat transfer coefficient
● Can be a function of temperature
● Can be a function of time
● h = function(Gr, Pr)
● Forced
● Constant coefficient
● h = function(Re, Pr)
● Radiation
● Surface absorptivity
● Can be a function of temperature
● Surface emissivity
● Can be a function of temperature
SMX124, Section 1, January 2009
Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S1-9
THERMAL MODEL BOUNDARY CONDITIONS
● Thermal boundary conditions
● Convection
● Natural (free)
● Forced (SimXpert R4.0)
● Radiation
● Ambient (to space)
● Enclosure
● Temperature
● Temperature - constant or time varying temperature for set of nodes
● “Initial conditions” for set of nodes
● Steady-state – initialization/starting temperature
● Transient – initial temperature
● MPC – multipoint constraint (constraint for set of nodal
temperatures)
SMX124, Section 1, January 2009
Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S1-10
THERMAL MODEL LOADS
● Thermal loads
● Heat flux
● Applied to surface, Normal Flux
● From a distant radiation source, Radiant Flux
● Can specify direction not normal to the surface
● Nodal heat
● Power input to a node
● Volumetric load
● Internal (to element) heat generation

SMX124, Section 1, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S1-11
STEADY-STATE EQUATION
● The familiar conduction heat transfer equation is
q 1 
T
T  
2

k  t
● The MD Nastran Thermal steady-state equation derived from this equation is

[ K ]{T } R
[ ]{T Tabs }4 {P} { N }
● This is a nonlinear matrix equation. It is solved using the Newton-Raphson
iteration scheme. In concert with the Newton-Raphson method, the following
options are provided to improve the efficiency of the iteration process.
● Tangential matrix update strategy
● Line search method
● Bisection of loads
● Quasi-Newton (BFGS) updates
● This equation, and its solution, are described in Section 7.

SMX124, Section 1, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S1-12
TRANSIENT EQUATION
● The familiar conduction heat transfer equation is
q 1 
T
T  
2

k  t
● The MD Nastran Thermal transient equation derived from this equation is

[ B ]{T
} [ K ]{T } [ R]{T Tabs }4 {P} { N }
● This is a nonlinear matrix equation. It is solved using the Newton-Raphson
iteration scheme. In concert with the Newton-Raphson method, the
following options are provided to improve the efficiency of the iteration
process.
● Tangential matrix update strategy
● Line search method
● Bisection of loads
● Quasi-Newton (BFGS) updates
● This equation, and its solution, are described in Section 7.
SMX124, Section 1, January 2009
Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S1-13
SMX124, Section 1, January 2009
Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S1-14
SECTION 2
CONDUCTION
WITH
ELEMENTS, MATERIALS,
CONSTRAINTS, LOADING

SMX124, Section 2, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S2-1
SMX124, Section 2, January 2009
Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S2-2
TOPICS ON CONDUCTION
● Laws affecting conduction
● Supported element topologies
● 1D, 2D, 3D, Axisymmetric
● Assemble element conduction matrices to form system matrix
● Create elements
● Material for conduction
● Isotropic (K)
● Orthotropic (Kxx, Kyy, Kzz)
● Anisotropic (Kxx, Kxy, Kxz, Kyy, Kyz, Kzz)
● Temperature independent or dependent
● Constraints and loads that can be applied to conduction elements
● Temperature (constant, spatial dependent, or time dependent)
● Heat flux to a surface: normal flux, radiant (vector) flux
● Nodal heat input
● Heat generation within conduction element
SMX124, Section 2, January 2009
Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S2-3
LAWS AFFECTING CONDUCTION
● Second law of thermodynamics
● Heat only flows from regions of high temperature to regions of low
temperature.
● Fourier’s Law (empirical)
● One dimension qkA( dT / dx)

T
● General k  
{q}

xi 
● First law of thermodynamics - conservation of energy
q 1 
T
T  
2

k  t
SMX124, Section 2, January 2009
Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S2-4
SUPPORTED ELEMENT TOPOLOGIES
● Element types
● The MD Nastran SOL 153 and SOL 159 elements are
isoparametric

1D 2D 3D Axisym
CBAR CQUAD4 CHEXA CTRIAX6
CBEAM CQUAD8 CPENTA
CBEND CTRIA3 CTETRA
CONROD CTRIA6
CROD
CTUBE

SMX124, Section 2, January 2009

34
● Isoparametric element with 1 dimension, (r) 12

1 2 35
r 13
r = -1 0 r=1

● Interpolation within element

2
T hi (r )Ti
i 1

h1 (1 r ) / 2 , h2 (1 r ) / 2
● Element conduction matrix

[k ](e j )  [ B]( j )T [ k ]( j ) [ B]( j ) dV ( j )

V( j)
SMX124, Section 2, January 2009
Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S2-6
SUPPORTED ELEMENT TOPOLOGIES (Cont.)
● 1D element 12 11
33

● where
( j) 34
● [ k ]e = element j conduction matrix 12
( j)
● [ B ] = element j temperature gradient
35
interpolation matrix 13
( j)
● [k ] = element j thermal conductivities
● The integration is over the volume of element j
● An example is


[0] 




[0] 

  
[0] 


 ( j) 
 Ak 1 1 
[k ](e j ) 

[0] 
   
[0] 


1
L  1
 
SMX124, Section 2, January 2009



[0] 




[0] 

  
[0] 



Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S2-7
SUPPORTED ELEMENT TOPOLOGIES (Cont.)
● 2D element 55
34 33
56
11 34
57
● Isoparametric element with 2 dimensions, (r,s) 12 35

2 s 13
1
s=1

0 r
3
s = -1 4
r = -1 r=1

● Interpolation within element

4
T hi ( r , s)Ti
i
1

h1 (1 r )(1 s ) / 4 , h2 (1 r )(1 s) / 4

h3 (1 r )(1 s ) / 4 , h4 (1 r )(1 s) / 4
SMX124, Section 2, January 2009
Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S2-8
SUPPORTED ELEMENT TOPOLOGIES (Cont.)
● 2D element 55
34 33
56
11 34
57
● Element conduction matrix 12 35
13

[k ](e j )  [ B]( j )T [k ]( j ) [ B ]( j ) dV ( j )
V ( j)

SMX124, Section 2, January 2009

● Isoparametric element with 3 dimensions, (r,s,t)

● Interpolation within element
8
T hi ( r , s, t )Ti
i 1

● Element conduction matrix

[k ](e j )  [ B]( j )T [k ]( j ) [ B ]( j ) dV ( j )
V ( j)

SMX124, Section 2, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S2-10
SUPPORTED ELEMENT TOPOLOGIES (Cont.)
● Recommendations
● Use linear elements, unless have substantial curvature and desire to
minimize the number of elements
● If doing thermal analysis (calculate temperatures) to structural analysis
(stress analysis) mapping (loads are temperatures from thermal
analysis), it is best to use the same type of element that is to be used
for the structural analysis, e.g. Tet10, and not Tet4.
● Loads and boundary conditions do not affect which type of element
should be used
● Special Elements
● This category is for elements that are not finite elements, but of course
they can be used in modeling a thermal process. There are two types
of special elements. They are
● CELASi (scalar spring)
● Simple conduction element

SMX124, Section 2, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S2-11
SUPPORTED ELEMENT TOPOLOGIES (Cont.)
● Special Elements (continued)
● CELASi (scalar spring) (continued)
● Used to model a one-dimensional conduction element with a thermal resistance.
● R= L/kA, where CELAS2 used inverse of R
● G=1/R = kA/L (Watt/ 0C, type of unit)
● DMI or DMIG (direct matrix input) -- complex component
● DMI
● For defining matrix data blocks.

[name ] [ X ij ]
● where the elements Xij may be real or complex (real and imaginary part). The
matrix is defined by a single header entry and one or more column entries. Only
one header is required. A column entry is required for each column with nonzero
elements.
● For more information see the MD Nastran Quick Reference Guide.

SMX124, Section 2, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S2-12
ASSEMBLE ELEMENT MATRICES
● Assemble all element conduction and other system
matrices
● Derive element conduction matrices

[k ]e
( j)
 [ B ] ( j )T
[ k ]( j ) [ B ]( j ) dV ( j )
V( j)
● Sum the element conduction matrices

[ K ] [ k ](e j )
j

● Create other necessary system matrices, and create the

conduction system matrix equation

[ K ]{T } {P}

SMX124, Section 2, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S2-13
ASSEMBLE ELEMENT MATRICES (Cont.)
● Summary of the steady-state finite element method

Represent continuous structure as a collection of

discrete elements connected by nodes Assemble loads into a global load vector {P}

Derive element conduction matrices from Apply boundary conditions to constrain the
material properties, element properties, and geometry model

Assemble all element conduction matrices into a Solve the matrix equation [K] {T} = {P} for
global conduction matrix [K] nodal temperature

Compute thermal flux from temperature results

SMX124, Section 2, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S2-14
CREATING 1D ELEMENTS
● 1D elements
● Create by meshing curve or edge
● Create a material property set
● Create an element property set
● Mesh a geometric curve with 1D
elements
● Select the curve for Curve to mesh,
CURVE/1
● Specify the element size, 1
● From the Model Browser tree select the
element property, PBAR_1

SMX124, Section 2, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S2-15
CREATING 1D ELEMENTS (Cont.)
● 1D elements (continued) ● 1D elements
● Create manually
● Create manually
● Specify the coordinates for the
two ends of the 1D element

● Select the Element Property under PID

● Specify (X1,X2,X3) for the cross-section
orientation vector

SMX124, Section 2, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S2-16 1
CREATING 2D ELEMENTS
● 2D elements
● Create by meshing surface or face, method l
● Create a material property set
● Create an element property set
● Mesh a geometric surface with 2D elements
● Screen select the surface for Surface to mesh
● Specify the element size
● Specify Mapped for Mesh method
● From the Model Browser tree select the element
property PSHELL_1

SMX124, Section 2, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S2-17
CREATING 2D ELEMENTS (Cont.)
● 2D elements (continued) ● 2D elements
● Create manually
● Create manually
● The four sets of coordinates
are (0,0,0), (1,0,0), (1,1,0),
and (0,1,0)

● Use the pick panel to define four

corner nodes
● The image of the CQUAD4
element created is

SMX124, Section 2, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S2-18
CREATING 3D ELEMENTS
● 3D elements
● Create by meshing solid, method I
● Create a material property set
● Create an element property set
● Mesh a geometric solid with 3D elements
● Select the solid for Solid To mesh
● Specify the element size
● From the Model Browser tree select the
element property PSOLID_1

SMX124, Section 2, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S2-19
CREATING 3D ELEMENTS (Cont.)
● 3D elements (continued) ● 3D elements
● Create manually
● Create manually
● The eight sets of coordinates
are (0,0,0), (1,0,0), (1,1,0),
(0,1,0), (0,0,1),…,(0,1,1)

● Use the pick panel to define

eight corner nodes ● The image of the CHEXA8
element created is

SMX124, Section 2, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S2-20
MATERIAL FOR CONDUCTION
● Thermal conductivity of solid material
● Isotropic
●K
● Temperature independent
● Temperature dependent
● Orthotropic
● Kxx, Kyy, Kzz
● Temperature independent
● Temperature dependent
● Anisotropic
● Kxx, Kxy, Kxz, Kyy, Kyz, Kzz
● Temperature independent
● Temperature dependent
● These material properties are for modeling conduction
● Steady-state
● Transient
SMX124, Section 2, January 2009
Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S2-21
MATERIAL FOR CONDUCTION (Cont.)
● In addition the following topics are covered for materials
● Required material properties to define a model
● Units
● Method of creation of materials
● Use of fields for material definition

● In the section on transient analysis the following topics are covered,

in addition to those for steady-state analysis
● Density
● Specific heat at constant pressure
● Lumped thermal capacitance

SMX124, Section 2, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S2-22
MATERIAL FOR CONDUCTION (Cont.)
● Isotropic material
● Temperature independent
Isotropic material property.
● Access the material
property forms using the
Materials and Properties
tab, then the Material group.
● Select Isotropic.
● Enter the name, ID, and
description.
● Select Solid to define
thermal properties of solid
material.
● Enter the value for the
thermal conductivity.
● Click OK.
SMX124, Section 2, January 2009
Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S2-23
MATERIAL FOR CONDUCTION
(Cont.)
● Isotropic material (continued)
● Temperature dependent Isotropic material property
● For the Thermal Conductivity entry box click on the Pick… icon
● Select a temperature dependent table in the Model Browser tree
● Click OK

SMX124, Section 2, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S2-24
MATERIAL FOR CONDUCTION (Cont.)
● Orthotropic and Anisotropic material
● Temperature independent or dependent.
● Access the material property forms using the Materials and Properties
tab, then the Material group.
● Select an Orthotropic or Anisotropic material, similar to that for Isotropic
material.

SMX124, Section 2, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S2-25
MATERIAL FOR CONDUCTION (Cont.)
● Units
● The following table lists the units that correspond to the fields of the
Materials – Thermal (High Level Editor), or the fields of the
MatIsotropic and RadMat entries (Single Card Image ).

SMX124, Section 2, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S2-26
TEMPERATURE CONSTRAINTS
● Temperature constraints at node points
● Access the temperature constraint form using the LBCs tab, then the
LBC group
● The form Defaults For Temperature BC appears
● Its default setting is for a constant temperature at node points.
Enter the value for the temperature.
● Click Store, then click Exit

SMX124, Section 2, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S2-27
TEMPERATURE CONSTRAINTS (Cont.)
● Temperature constraints at node points
● Specify the application region using the Create Temperature pick
panel
● Select an entity type to screen pick, e.g. Nodes
● Screen pick the nodes to constrain their temperature
● Click Done, then click Exit

SMX124, Section 2, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S2-28
TEMPERATURE CONSTRAINTS (Cont.)
● MPC temperature constraints
Ak Tk 0
k
● Access the constraint form
using the LBCs tab, then the LBC
group
● The form Defaults For
MPC BC appears
● Change to the form
Defaults For MPC BC by
using an Entity Type pick
● DOF0 is for the DOF of the
dependent node
● WT0 is for the weighting
factor for DOF0
SMX124, Section 2, January 2009
Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S2-29
TEMPERATURE CONSTRAINTS (Cont.)
● MPC temperature constraints
● DOFi is for the DOF of the i-th
independent node
● WTi is for the weighting factor
for DOFi
● Click Store, then click
Exit

SMX124, Section 2, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S2-30
TEMPERATURE CONSTRAINTS (Cont.)
● MPC temperature constraints
● Specify the application region
using the Create MPC pick
panel
● Select an entity type to screen
pick, e.g. Nodes
● Screen pick the nodes
● First node picked is dependent
node (example, Node 25)
● Subsequent nodes picked are
independent nodes (example,
Node 50, 49, 24)
● Click Done
● In Multi-Point Constraint form
that appears click Create
SMX124, Section 2, January 2009
Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S2-31
INITIALIZATION TEMPERATURE
● Temperature initialization
● To perform nonlinear steady-state or transient analysis it is
necessary to specify initialization temperatures.
● Steady-state, must specify starting temperature (as opposed to
“initial temperature” that is needed for transient analysis) at all
the nodes.
● Transient, must specify the initial temperature at all the nodes.

SMX124, Section 2, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S2-32
INITIALIZATION TEMPERATURE (Cont.)
● Temperature initialization
● Access the initialization temperature form using
the LBCs tab, then the LBC group.
● The form Defaults For TEMP_INIT BC
appears.
● Enter the value for the initial temperature.
● Click Store, then click Exit.

SMX124, Section 2, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S2-33
INITIALIZATION TEMPERATURE (Cont.)
● Temperature initialization
● Specify the application region using the Create
TEMP_INIT pick panel.
● Select an entity type to screen pick, e.g.
Nodes.
● Screen pick the nodes to specify their
initialization temperature.
● Click Done, then click Exit.

SMX124, Section 2, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S2-34
INITIALIZATION TEMPERATURE (Cont.)
● Temperature initialization
● For the nodes not included in the
specified application regions, their
temperatures are specified using
Analysis: Solver Control / General
Parameters / Properties / General
Solution Parameters / Default Init
Temperature

SMX124, Section 2, January 2009

● Create a surface using the curves

SMX124, Section 2, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S2-40
CASE STUDY: CONDUCTION THRU PLATE
● Create surface
● Create a surface using the curves

SMX124, Section 2, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S2-48
CASE STUDY: CONDUCTION THRU PLATE
● Run MD Nastran Thermal
● Display thermal results
● Attach .xdb file

SMX124, Section 2, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S2-49
CASE STUDY: CONDUCTION THRU PLATE
● Display thermal results
● Display thermal fringe

SMX124, Section 2, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S2-50
LOADING
● Loads that can be applied to conduction elements
● Heat flux to a surface
● Normal flux (Nastran QHBDY or QBDYi)
● Heat Flux (power/area)
● Time scaling function
● Application region
● Heat into a node
● Nodal heat
● Heat generation in conduction elements
● Volumetric heat (Nastran QVOL)
● Power input per unit volume
● Power produced by heat conduction elements
● Time scaling function
● Application region

SMX124, Section 2, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S2-51
LOADING (Cont.)
● Heat flux to a surface
● Normal Flux
● Access the normal flux form using the LBCs tab, then the LBC group.
● The form Defaults For Normal Flux appears.
● Enter the value for the heat flux (power/area).
● Click Store, then click Exit.

SMX124, Section 2, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S2-52
LOADING (Cont.)
● Heat flux to a surface
● Normal Flux
● Specify the application region
using the Create Normal Flux
pick panel
● Select an entity type to screen
pick, e.g. Nodes
● Screen pick the nodes to apply
the heat flux to
● Click Done, then click Exit

SMX124, Section 2, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S2-53
LOADING (Cont.)
● Heat generation
● Volumetric Heat
● Access the volumetric heat form using the LBCs tab, then the LBC
group.
● The form Defaults For Volumetric Heat BC appears.
● Enter the value for the power input per unit volume (power/volume)
● Click Store, then click Exit

SMX124, Section 2, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S2-54
LOADING (Cont.)
● Heat generation
● Volumetric Heat
● Specify the application region using the
Create Volumetric Heat pick panel
● Select an entity type to screen pick, e.g.
Elements
● Screen pick the elements to apply the
internal heat generation to
● Click Done, then click Exit

SMX124, Section 2, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S2-55
NOTE ON GEOMETRIC SURFACE ELEMENTS
● Heat flux or boundary condition surface elements
● To apply heat flux, convection, or radiation to a
conducting surface (2D element, e.g. CQUAD4)
or face (3D element, e.g. CHEXA) it is necessary
to apply them to a geometric surface, which in
turn is connected to conducting elements. The
geometric surface elements are named CHBDYE,
CHBDYG, or CHBDYP, or simply CHBDYi. This
is shown conceptually.
● The user does not explicitly create the CHBDYi
elements. They are created automatically by
(from within) SimXpert as a result of creating the
loads and boundary conditions.

SMX124, Section 2, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S2-56
LOADING (Cont.)
● The heat flow through the isoparametric elements is in the parametric
directions of the elements.
● 1D element
● Heat flow is only along the centerline of the element, not normal to the centerline
of the element
● 2D element
● Heat flow is only in the plane of the element, not normal to the plane of the
element
● 3D element
● Heat flow is in all three directions of the element
● Axisymmetric element
● Heat flow is only in the radial or centerline direction of the element, not in the
circumferential direction
● So, do not use an isoparametric element that does not have a parametric
coordinate in a direction that heat flow must be modeled
● The performance of linear finite elements, e.g. CQUAD4 element, is as good
as that of parabolic finite elements, e.g. CQUAD8 element, for 2D or 3D.
SMX124, Section 2, January 2009
Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S2-57
LBC Set
● Create an LBC set that combines the needed LBCs
● Access the loads and boundary condition set form using the
LBCs tab, then the LBC Set group.
● The form LBC Set appears.
● Select the two loads and boundary conditions
● Click OK

SMX124, Section 2, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S2-58
ANALYSIS SETUP
● The Analysis forms in the Model
tree browser are used to specify
the parameters for an analysis
● Model: Analysis

● Model: Analysis / Nastran Jobs

● Nastran Jobs : Create New Job

● Job Properties form

SMX124, Section 2, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S2-59
ANALYSIS SETUP (Cont.)
● The Analysis forms in the Model
● General Parameters, etc.

● General Parameters: Properties

● General Solution Parameters
form

SMX124, Section 2, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S2-60
ANALYSIS SETUP (Cont.)
● The Analysis forms in the Model
● Radiation Parameters: Properties

● Radiation Parameters form

SMX124, Section 2, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S2-61
ANALYSIS SETUP (Cont.)
● The Analysis forms in the Model
● Cases: Add Common Case

● Common Case, Case Control

● Specify titles to be
above all subcases

SMX124, Section 2, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S2-62
ANALYSIS SETUP (Cont.)
● The Analysis forms in the Model
● Common Case, Add Output
Requests

SMX124, Section 2, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S2-63
ANALYSIS SETUP (Cont.)
● The Analysis forms in the Model
● Cases: Add Subcase
● Select the desired LBC Set

SMX124, Section 2, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S2-64
ANALYSIS SETUP (Cont.)
● The Analysis forms in the Model
● Subcase Parameters: Properties

● NINC = number of equal

subdivisions of the load change
defined for the subcase for
Newton-Raphson methods.

SMX124, Section 2, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S2-65
ANALYSIS SETUP (Cont.)
● The Analysis forms in the Model
● Matrix Update Method
● Automatic => the program
automatically selects the most
efficient strategy based on
convergence rates. At each step
the number of iterations required
for convergence is estimated.
The conduction matrix is updated
if 1) the estimated number of
iterations to converge exceeds
MAXITER, 2) the estimated time
required for convergence with the
current conduction matrix
exceeds the estimated time
required for convergence with
updated conduction, and 3) the
solution diverges.
SMX124, Section 2, January 2009
Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S2-66
ANALYSIS SETUP (Cont.)
● The Analysis forms in the Model
● Matrix Update Method
● Semi-Automatic => the program
for each load increment 1)
performs a single iteration based
on the new load, 2) updates the
conduction matrix, and 3) follows
the normal Automatic approach.
● Controlled Iters => the program
updates the conduction matrix at
every KSTEPth iteration and on
convergence if KSTEP <=
MAXITER. However, if KSTEP >
MAXITER the conduction matrix
is never updated.

SMX124, Section 2, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S2-67
ANALYSIS SETUP (Cont.)
● The Analysis forms in the Model
● Matrix Update Method
● Controlled Iters => note that the
Newton-Raphson iteration
strategy is used by selecting this
approach (Controlled Iters) and
KSTEP = 1, while the Modified
Newton-Raphson iteration
strategy is used by selecting this
approach (Controlled Iters) and
KSTEP = MAXITER.
● KSTEP => for Automatic and
Semi-Automatic methods the
conduction matrix is updated at
convergence if KSTEP is < the
number of iterations that were
required for convergence with the
current conduction.
SMX124, Section 2, January 2009
Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S2-68
ANALYSIS SETUP (Cont.)
● The Analysis forms in the Model
● MAXITER => the number of
iterations for a load increment is
limited to MAXITER. If the solution
process does not converge in
MAXITER iterations the load
increment is bisected and the
analysis is repeated.
● Temperature Error, Yes or No
● EPSU = error tolerance for
temperature criterion
● Load Error, Yes or No
● EPSP = error tolerance for load
criterion
● Work Error, Yes or No
● EPSW = error tolerance for work
criterion
SMX124, Section 2, January 2009
Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S2-69
ANALYSIS SETUP (Cont.)
● The Analysis forms in the Model
● Output File: Properties
● Output File Properties form

SMX124, Section 2, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S2-70
ANALYSIS SETUP (Cont.)
● The Analysis forms in the Model
● Submit an analysis file to the solver
● ss_sample_problem: Run
● File name

SMX124, Section 2, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S2-71
ANALYSIS SETUP (Cont.)
● The Analysis forms in the Model
● Choices for SOL type for steady-
state analysis.
● SOL153
● SOL600, 153

SMX124, Section 2, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S2-72
DISPLAY RESULTS
● Display thermal analysis results
● Attach an .XDB result file

SMX124, Section 2, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S2-73
DISPLAY RESULTS (Cont.)
● Display thermal analysis results
● Access the results form using the
Results tab, then the Results group.
● Select the following
● Fringe
● Result Cases -- SC1: Non-linear: 100 % of L
● Result Type -- Temperatures
● Click Update Plot

SMX124, Section 2, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S2-74
DISPLAY RESULTS (Cont.)
● Display thermal analysis results
● Display the temperature results as a fringe plot

SMX124, Section 2, January 2009

Perform Workshop 1 “PCB With Heat Flux and

Constant Temperature at Boundary” in your exercise
workbook.

SMX124, Section 2, January 2009

SMX124, Section 3, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S3-1
SMX124, Section 3, January 2009
Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S3-2
HEAT TRANSFER VIA CONVECTION
● The transfer of energy (heat) between a solid boundary and a fluid
takes place by a combination of conduction and mass transport
● The fluid motion can be induced by two different processes.
● The fluid may be moved as a result of density differences due to a
temperature variation within the fluid. This type of heat transfer is called
free (or natural) convection.
● The fluid motion may be caused by an external source, such as a pump
or blower. This type of heat transfer is called forced convection.
● A simple representation of convection heat transfer is given by

surface to fluid hc A(Ts 

q T0 )
● where
.
● qsurface to fluid = rate of heat transfer by convection
● hc = convective heat transfer coefficient, or average unit thermal convective
conductance
SMX124, Section 3, January 2009
Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S3-3
HEAT TRANSFER VIA CONVECTION (Cont.)
● where
● A = heat transfer area
● Ts = surface temperature
● T0 = fluid temperature
● The convective heat transfer coefficient is actually a complicated
function
● Fluid flow
● Thermal properties of the fluid medium
● Geometry of the thermal system
● Its numerical value is in general not uniform over a surface
● Depends on the location where the fluid temperature T0 is specified
● Convective heat transfer is modeled with SimXpert using
empirically derived functions

SMX124, Section 3, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S3-4
HEAT TRANSFER VIA CONVECTION (Cont.)
● Free convection
hc L kf
Nu  hc Nu
kf L
A
surface to fluid Nu 
q k f (Ts T0 )
L
Nu f (Gr ) g (Pr)
● where
● Nu = Nusselt number (ratio of the temperature gradient in the fluid
at the surface to a reference temperature gradient)
● Gr = Grashof number (ratio of buoyant to viscous forces)
● Pr = Prandtl number
● The Reynolds number (Re) is not needed for free convection
SMX124, Section 3, January 2009
Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S3-5
HEAT TRANSFER VIA CONVECTION (Cont.)
● Forced convection
hc L kf
Nu  hc Nu
kf L
A
surface to fluid Nu 
q k f (Ts T0 )
L
Nu f (Re) g (Pr)
● where
● Nu = Nusselt number (ratio of the temperature gradient in the fluid
at the surface to a reference temperature gradient)
● Re = Reynolds number (ratio of inertia to viscous forces)
● Pr = Prandtl number

SMX124, Section 3, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S3-6
FREE CONVECTION
● Free convection
● Access the free convection form using the LBCs tab, then the LBC
group.
● The Defaults For Free Convection form appears
● Enter the value for the ambient temperature.

SMX124, Section 3, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S3-7
FREE CONVECTION (Cont.)
● Free convection
● Convection coefficient – constant coefficient
● ConvCoeff vs Time scaling function (for transient analysis click in
checkbox, and specify a time function using a table)
● Formula type – type of formula for free convection (more on
subsequent page)
● Reference temp location – location used to calculate the convection
film coefficient (more on subsequent page)
● Conv coeff exponent – free convection exponent

SMX124, Section 3, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S3-8
FREE CONVECTION (Cont.)
● Free convection
● ConvCoeff vs Temperature scaling function – free convection heat
transfer coefficient as a function of temperature

● Click Store, then click Exit

SMX124, Section 3, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S3-9
FREE CONVECTION (Cont.)
● Free convection
● Formula type – choices for type of formula
for free convection:
qH 
TCNTRLND 
(T TAMB ) EXPF (T TAMB )
qH 
TCNTRLND 
(T EXPF TAMB
EXPF
)
● The reference temperature is the average of element node point
temperatures (average) and the ambient point temperatures (average)
● The reference temperature is the surface temperature (average of
element node point temperatures)
● The reference temperature is the ambient temperature (average of
ambient point temperatures)

SMX124, Section 3, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S3-10
FREE CONVECTION (Cont.)
● Free convection
● Specify the application region using
the Create Free Convection pick
panel
● Select an entity type to screen pick,
e.g. Nodes
● Screen pick the nodes to apply the
free convection to
● Click Done, then click Exit

SMX124, Section 3, January 2009

● Create a surface using the curves

SMX124, Section 3, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S3-16
CASE STUDY: CONVECTION OFF PLATE
● Create surface
● Create a surface using the curves

SMX124, Section 3, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S3-19
CASE STUDY: CONVECTION OFF PLATE
● Apply free convection boundary condition

SMX124, Section 3, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S3-24
CASE STUDY: CONVECTION OFF PLATE
● Run MD Nastran Thermal
● Display thermal results
● Attach .xdb file

SMX124, Section 3, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S3-25
CASE STUDY: CONVECTION OFF PLATE
● Display thermal results
● Display thermal fringe

SMX124, Section 3, January 2009

Perform Workshop 2 “Steady-state Analysis of Hex

Mesh with Free Convection and Internal Heat” in your
exercise workbook.

SMX124, Section 3, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S3-27
SMX124, Section 3, January 2009
Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S3-28
SECTION 4
TRANSIENT THERMAL ANALYSIS

SMX124, Section 4, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S4-1
SMX124, Section 4, January 2009
Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S4-2
TRANSIENT THERMAL MODELS
● The preceding sections (conduction and convection)
dealt with steady-state thermal models
● Before steady-state conditions can occur some time
must elapse after the heat transfer process is initiated
for the transient conditions to decay to zero

SMX124, Section 4, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S4-3
TRANSIENT THERMAL MODELS (Cont.)
● For some models steady-state
conditions will never be reached, e.g.
heating a brick

SMX124, Section 4, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S4-4
TRANSIENT EQUATION
● The familiar conduction heat transfer equation is
q 1 
T
T  
2

k  t
● The MD Nastran Thermal transient equation derived from this equation is

[ B ]{T
} [ K ]{T } [ R]{T Tabs }4 {P} { N }
● This is a nonlinear matrix equation. It is solved using the Newton-Raphson
iteration scheme. In concert with the Newton-Raphson method, the
following options are provided to improve the efficiency of the iteration
process.
● Tangential matrix update strategy
● Line search method
● Bisection of loads
● Quasi-Newton (BFGS) updates
● This equation, and its solution, are described in Section 7.
SMX124, Section 4, January 2009
Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S4-5
TRANSIENT TEMPERATURE CONSTRAINTS
● The Defaults For Temperature
BC form was shown for the
section on conduction
● The material given in the section
on conduction is repeated here
● The Temperature entry was used
to specify a constant
temperature
● The Temp vs Time scaling
function entry is discussed now

SMX124, Section 4, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S4-6
TEMPERATURE CONSTRAINTS (Cont.)
● Temperature at node point
constraints
● The constraints can be made
time dependent by clicking in
the Temp vs Time scaling
function check box
● Click on the box with the “…” to
the right
● Can select Select or Create to
specify the time dependent table
● Select the entry TABLED1_1
(this is a time dependent table
that must have been previously
created)
● Click OK
SMX124, Section 4, January 2009
Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S4-7
TEMPERATURE CONSTRAINTS (Cont.)
● Temperature at node point constraints
● Click Store, then click Exit
● Specify the application region using the Create Temperature
pick panel
● Select an entity type to screen pick, e.g. Nodes
● Screen pick the nodes to constrain their temperature
● Click Done, then click Exit

SMX124, Section 4, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S4-8
LOADING
● Loads that can be applied to conduction elements
● Heat flux to a surface
● Normal Flux (Nastran QHBDY or QBDYi)
● Heat Flux (power/area)
● Time scaling function
● Application region
● Heat generation in conduction elements
● Volumetric Heat (Nastran QVOL)
● Power input per unit volume
● Power produced by heat conduction elements
● Time scaling function
● Application region

SMX124, Section 4, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S4-9
LOADING (Cont.)
● Normal Flux
● Access the normal flux form
using the LBCs tab, then the
LBC group.
● The form Defaults For Normal
Flux appears
● Enter a value for the heat flux
(power/area)
● The loading can be made time
dependent by clicking in the Flux
vs Time scaling function
checkbox
● Click on the box with the “…” to
the right

SMX124, Section 4, January 2009

● Normal Flux
● Can select Select or Create
● Select TABLED1_1
● Click OK
● Click Store, then click Exit

SMX124, Section 4, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S4-11
LOADING (Cont.)
● Normal Flux
● Specify the application region
using the Create Normal Flux pick
panel
● Select an entity type to screen
pick, e.g. Nodes
● Screen pick the nodes to apply the
heat flux to
● Click Done, then click Exit

SMX124, Section 4, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S4-12
LOADING (Cont.)
● Volumetric Heat
● Access the volumetric heat form
using the LBCs tab, then the
LBC group.
● The form Defaults For Volumetric
Heat BC appears
● Enter the value for power input per
unit volume (power/volume)
● The loading can be made time
dependent by clicking in the
HeatGen vs Time scaling function
checkbox
● Click on the box with the “…” to
the right

SMX124, Section 4, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S4-13
LOADING (Cont.)
● Volumetric Heat
● Can select Select or Create
● Select TABLED1_1
● Click OK
● Click Store, then click Exit

SMX124, Section 4, January 2009

● Volumetric Heat
● Specify the application region using the
Create Volumetric Heat pick panel
● Select an entity type to screen pick, e.g.
Elements
● Screen pick the elements to apply the
internal heat generation to
● Click Done, then click Exit

SMX124, Section 4, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S4-15
TRANSIENT CONVECTION CAPABILITY
● The Defaults For Free
Convection form was
shown for the section on
free convection
● There are two time
dependent function entries
● AmbTemp vs Time scaling
function – table used to define
the ambient temperature as a
function of time
● ConvCoeff vs Time scaling
function – table used to define
the convection coefficient as a
function of time

SMX124, Section 4, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S4-16
TRANSIENT CONVECTION CAPABILITY (Cont.)
● To use either of these
functions do the following
● Click in the check box for
one of the functions, e.g.
AmbTemp vs Time
● Click in the box with the
“…” to the right of the
function entry box
● Can select Select or Create
● Select Select
● If a table corresponding to
the function has not been
created prior to doing this a
message will be displayed.
SMX124, Section 4, January 2009
Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S4-17
TRANSIENT CONVECTION CAPABILITY (Cont.)
● To use either of these functions do the following
● It is necessary to create the time dependent table first
● Access the time dependent table form using the Tables tab, then
the Tables group.

SMX124, Section 4, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S4-18
TRANSIENT CONVECTION CAPABILITY (Cont.)
● To use either of these functions
do the following
● Now, AmbTemp vs Time has “1”
in its entry box
● Click Store, then click Exit

SMX124, Section 4, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S4-19
TRANSIENT CONVECTION CAPABILITY (Cont.)
● To use either of these functions
do the following
● Specify the application region
using the Create Free Convection
pick panel
● Select an entity type to screen
pick, e.g. Nodes
● Screen pick the nodes to apply
the free convection to
● Click Done, then click Exit

SMX124, Section 4, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S4-20
INITIALIZATION TEMPERATURE
● Temperature initialization
● To perform nonlinear steady-state or transient analysis it is
necessary to specify initialization temperatures
● Steady-state – must specify starting temperature (as opposed to
“initial temperature” that is needed for transient analysis) at all
the nodes
● Transient – must specify the initial temperature at all the nodes

SMX124, Section 4, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S4-21
INITIALIZATION TEMPERATURE (Cont.)
● Temperature initialization
● Access the initialization temperature form using
the LBCs tab, then the LBC group.
● The form Defaults For TEMP_INIT BC
appears.
● Enter the value for the initial temperature.
● Click Store, then click Exit.

SMX124, Section 4, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S4-22
INITIALIZATION TEMPERATURE (Cont.)
● Temperature initialization
● Specify the application region using the Create
TEMP_INIT pick panel.
● Select an entity type to screen pick, e.g.
Nodes.
● Screen pick the nodes to specify their
initialization temperature.
● Click Done, then click Exit.

SMX124, Section 4, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S4-23
INITIALIZATION TEMPERATURE (Cont.)
● Temperature initialization
● For the nodes not included in the
specified application regions, their
temperatures are specified using
Analysis: Solver Control / General
Parameters / Properties / General
Solution Parameters / Default Init
Temperature

SMX124, Section 4, January 2009

● Create a surface using the curves

SMX124, Section 4, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S4-29
CASE STUDY: CONDUCTION THRU PLATE
● Create surface
● Create a surface using the curves

SMX124, Section 4, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S4-32
CASE STUDY: TRAN CONV OFF PLATE
● Apply free convection
boundary condition
● See the next page for the
creation of the table

SMX124, Section 4, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S4-39
CASE STUDY: TRAN CONV OFF PLATE
● Run MD Nastran Thermal
● Display thermal results
● Attach .xdb file

SMX124, Section 4, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S4-40
CASE STUDY: TRAN CONV OFF PLATE
● Display thermal results
● Display thermal fringe

Time = 0.0 Time = 501.4 Time = 1000.6

SMX124, Section 4, January 2009
Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S4-41
CASE STUDY: TRAN CONV OFF PLATE
● Display thermal results
● Display thermal chart

SMX124, Section 4, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S4-42
CASE STUDY: TRAN CONV OFF PLATE
● Display thermal results
● Display thermal chart

SMX124, Section 4, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S4-43
ANALYSIS SETUP
● The Analysis forms in the Model
Browser tree are used to specify
the parameters for an analysis
● Model: Analysis

● Model: Analysis / Nastran Jobs

● Nastran Jobs : Create New Job

● Job Properties form

SMX124, Section 4, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S4-44
ANALYSIS SETUP (Cont.)
● The Analysis forms in the Model
● General Parameters, etc.

● General Parameters: Properties

● General Solution Parameters
form

SMX124, Section 4, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S4-45
ANALYSIS SETUP (Cont.)
● The Analysis forms in the Model
● Radiation Parameters: Properties

● Radiation Parameters form

SMX124, Section 4, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S4-46
ANALYSIS SETUP (Cont.)
● The Analysis forms in the Model
● Cases: Add Common Case

● Common Case, Case Control

● Specify titles to be
above all subcases

SMX124, Section 4, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S4-47
ANALYSIS SETUP (Cont.)
● The Analysis forms in the Model
● Common Case, Add Output
Requests

SMX124, Section 4, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S4-48
ANALYSIS SETUP (Cont.)
● The Analysis forms in the Model
● Cases: Add Subcase
● Select the desired LBC Set

SMX124, Section 4, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S4-49
ANALYSIS SETUP (Cont.)
● The Analysis forms in the Model
● Subcase Parameters: Properties

● DT = initial time step size

● NDT = approximate number of
time steps
SMX124, Section 4, January 2009
Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S4-50
ANALYSIS SETUP (Cont.)
● The Analysis forms in the Model
● Matrix Update Method
● Automatic => (ADAPT) the
program automatically adjusts
the incremental time and uses
bisection. During the bisection
process the conduction matrix
is updated every KSTEP
converged bisection solution.

SMX124, Section 4, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S4-51
ANALYSIS SETUP (Cont.)
● The Analysis forms in the Model
● Matrix Update Method
● Semi-Automatic => same as
Automatic => (ADAPT)
● Controlled Iters => same as
Automatic => (ADAPT)
● KSTEP => the number of
converged bisection solutions from
a conduction matrix update to the
next conduction matrix update

SMX124, Section 4, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S4-52
ANALYSIS SETUP (Cont.)
● The Analysis forms in the Model
● MAXITER => the number of
iterations for a time step is limited
to MAXITER. If MAXITER is
negative the analysis is terminated
when the divergence condition
occurs twice during the same time
step or the solution process
diverges for five consecutive time
steps. If MAXITER is positive the
program computes the best
solution and continues the analysis
until divergence occurs. If the
solution process does not
converge in MAXITER iterations it
is treated as divergent.
SMX124, Section 4, January 2009
Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S4-53
ANALYSIS SETUP (Cont.)
● The Analysis forms in the Model
● Temperature Error, Yes or No
● EPSU = error tolerance for
temperature criterion
● Load Error, Yes or No
● EPSP = error tolerance for load
criterion
● Work Error, Yes or No
● EPSW = error tolerance for work
criterion

SMX124, Section 4, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S4-54
ANALYSIS SETUP (Cont.)
● The Analysis forms in the Model
● Output File: Properties
● Output File Properties form

SMX124, Section 4, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S4-55
ANALYSIS SETUP (Cont.)
● The Analysis forms in the Model
● Submit an analysis file to the solver
● transient_sample_prob: Run
● File name

SMX124, Section 4, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S4-56
ANALYSIS SETUP (Cont.)
● The Analysis forms in the Model
● Choices for SOL type for transient
analysis.
● SOL159
● SOL600, 159

SMX124, Section 4, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S4-57
DISPLAY RESULTS
● Display thermal analysis results
● Attach an .XDB result file

SMX124, Section 4, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S4-58
DISPLAY RESULTS (Cont.)
● Display thermal analysis results
● Access the results form using the
Results tab, then the Results group.
● Set the following
● Fringe
● Result Cases, SC1: Time = 5.7
● Result Type, Temperatures
● Click Update Plot

SMX124, Section 4, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S4-59
DISPLAY RESULTS (Cont.)
● Display thermal analysis results
● Display the temperature results as a fringe plot

SMX124, Section 4, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S4-60
DISPLAY RESULTS (Cont.)
● Display thermal analysis results
● Access the results form using the Results tab, then
the Results group.
● Set the following
● Chart
● Result Cases, SC1: Time = 0. (thru) Time = 5.7
● Result Type, Temperatures
● Target Entities, Node 6431 (screen pick a node)
● Click Add Curves

SMX124, Section 4, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S4-61
DISPLAY RESULTS (Cont.)
● Display thermal analysis results
● Display the temperature results
for a node (e.g. Node 6431) as
a function of time

SMX124, Section 4, January 2009

Perform Workshop 3 “Transient Analysis of Heating of

an Ice-Cream Block” in your exercise workbook.

SMX124, Section 4, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S4-63
SMX124, Section 4, January 2009
Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S4-64
SECTION 5
RADIATION

SMX124, Section 5, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S5-1
SMX124, Section 5, January 2009
Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S5-2
RADIATION CONCEPTS
● Thermal radiation
● Radiation at wavelengths () in the domain 0.1 m < < 100 m
● This domain includes all visible light (0.35 m < < 0.75 m),
portions of the ultraviolet light sub-domain (short wavelength),
and infrared light sub-domain (long wavelength)
● Total emissive power, E
● The total amount of radiation emitted by a body per unit area
and unit time
● Black body
● Body absorbs all radiation for all wavelengths
● Grey body
● Real bodies (grey bodies) emit radiation at a lower rate than
black bodies
SMX124, Section 5, January 2009
Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S5-3
RADIATION CONCEPTS (Cont.)
● Absorption, reflection, and transmission

● When radiation impinges on a body it is partially absorbed,

partially reflected, and partially transmitted.
1
● = absorptivity
● = reflectivity
● = transmissivity
SMX124, Section 5, January 2009
Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S5-4
RADIATION CONCEPTS (Cont.)
● Kirchhoff’s law
● Body Bi G
● Bi, Ai, i, Ei
E E E B1
G 1 2  G
1 2  B2

● Emissivity (in general is a function

of T and )
E

Eb
● Grey body at thermal equilibrium

● Black body at thermal equilibrium
b b 1
SMX124, Section 5, January 2009
Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S5-5
RADIATION CONCEPTS (Cont.)
● Planck’s law
Eb (8.0hc5 ) /( e ( hc ) /( kT ) 1)
● where
● h = Planck’s constant
● k = Boltzmann’s constant

● Stefan-Boltzmann equation

EbdT 4
Eb 
0
● where
● = Stefan-Boltzmann constant

SMX124, Section 5, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S5-6
RADIATION CONCEPTS (Cont.)
● Net rate of radiant heat transfer between a surface and
its surroundings
qA (Tsurface
4
Tambient
4
)

● Net rate of radiant heat flow between two grey bodies

(surfaces)
qFG A (T14 T24 )
● where
● FG is the geometric view factor

SMX124, Section 5, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S5-7
RADIATION CONCEPTS (Cont.)
● Net rate of heat flow by A2
dA2
radiation between two grey
bodies (surfaces) A1 and A2
nˆ r  nˆ
2
1


A1 dA1

4 4 cos  cos 2
q ( T T )   1 dA dA
12 1 2 2 1 2
A1 A2  r

SMX124, Section 5, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S5-8
RADIATION CONCEPTS (Cont.)
● Viewfactor 1 cos i cos j
F 
Ai 
 dA dA
ij
Ai A j rij2 i j

● Reciprocity theorem AF A F
i ij j ji

● In general F F
ij ji


n
● Net radiation from Ai to other q
i , net Ai Fik ( Ebi Ebk )
k 1, k i
surfaces in enclosure n
● Sum of Fik for enclosure  Fik 
1
k 1, k i

SMX124, Section 5, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S5-9
RADIATION CAPABILITIES
● Ambient exchange
● Emissivity, 
● Constant, 0 <= <= 1
● Temperature dependent
● Absorptivity, 
● Constant, 0 <= <= 1
● Temperature dependent
● Time dependent viewfactor

SMX124, Section 5, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S5-10
RADIATION CAPABILITIES (Cont.)
● Applied heat flux from a distant source
● Heat Flux (Q0) (e.g. W/m2)
● Constant or time dependent
● Absorptivity
● Constant, time and/or temperature dependent
● Emissivity
● Constant or temperature dependent

● Radiation enclosures
● Temperature dependent emissivity (= 
)
● Diffuse surface view factor calculations with self and
3rd-body shadowing

SMX124, Section 5, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S5-11
RADIATION CAPABILITIES (Cont.)
● Radiation enclosures
● Adaptive view factor calculations with error estimation
● Net effective view factors
● Radiation matrix control
● Radiation enclosure control
● Multiple radiation enclosures

SMX124, Section 5, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S5-12
RADIATION TO SPACE (AMBIENT)
● Radiation to space (ambient)
● Access the rad to space form using the LBCs tab, then the LBC group.
● The Defaults For Rad to Space form appears
● Ambient temperature - constant ambient temperature
● AmbTemp vs Time scaling function – function used to define the ambient
temperature as a function of time

SMX124, Section 5, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S5-13
RADIATION TO SPACE (AMBIENT) (Cont.)
● Radiation to space
(ambient)
● View factor – view factor
between face and ambient
● ViewFact vs Time scaling
function – function used to
define the view factor as a
function of time
● Absorptivity – absorptivity,
0 <= <= 1
● Emissivity – emissivity,
0 <= <= 1
● Shell surface option
● FRONT
● BACK
SMX124, Section 5, January 2009
Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S5-14
RADIATION TO SPACE (AMBIENT) (Cont.)
● Radiation to space
(ambient)
● Detailed surface prop
definition – wavelength
and/or temperature
dependent surface
properties
● Can select Select or
Create
● First, create a
radiation material
property. Use the
Solver Card option.
● In the form Defaults
For Rad to Space
click on box with “…”.
● Select Select, then
select RadMat_1
SMX124, Section 5, January 2009
Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S5-15
RADIATION TO SPACE (AMBIENT) (Cont.)
● Radiation to space (ambient)
● Click Store, then click Exit
● Specify the application region using
the Create Rad to Space pick panel
● Select an entity type to screen pick,
e.g. Nodes
● Screen pick the nodes to apply the
radiation to space them
● Click Done, then click Exit

SMX124, Section 5, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S5-16
RADIATION TO SPACE (AMBIENT) (Cont.)
● Radiation to space (ambient)
● Rate of heat flow by radiation to space (ambient)

q e (Te4 Tamb

FAMB  4
)

SMX124, Section 5, January 2009

● Create a surface using the curves

SMX124, Section 5, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S5-22
CASE STUDY: NONDIRECTION SOLAR LOAD
● Create surface
● Create a surface using the curves

SMX124, Section 5, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S5-28
CASE STUDY: NONDIRECTION SOLAR LOAD
● Specify General Solution Parameters values

SMX124, Section 5, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S5-32
CASE STUDY: NONDIRECTION SOLAR LOAD
● Specify Static Nonlinear Iterations parameter values

SMX124, Section 5, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S5-33
CASE STUDY: NONDIRECTION SOLAR LOAD
● Specify information and file type to be output

SMX124, Section 5, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S5-34
CASE STUDY: NONDIRECTION SOLAR LOAD
● Write SimXpert analysis file and run analysis

SMX124, Section 5, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S5-35
CASE STUDY: NONDIRECTION SOLAR LOAD
● Attach SimXpert analysis result file

SMX124, Section 5, January 2009

Perform Workshop 4 “Hex8 Mesh With Heat Flux,

Ambient Convection, and Ambient Radiation” in your
exercise workbook.

SMX124, Section 5, January 2009

● Radiation in enclosures
● Access the enclosure radiation face
form using the LBCs tab, then the LBC
group.
● The Defaults For Encl Rad Face form
appears
● Shell surface option -- for specifying
what face the radiation is emitted from.
● Front
● Back
SMX124, Section 5, January 2009
Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S5-40
RADIATION IN ENCLOSURES (Cont.)
● Radiation in enclosures
● Shading option -- for specifying
what is to be shaded or what is
to shade.
● None
● The face cannot shade or
be shaded by other faces
● Can shade
● The face can shade other
faces
● Can be shaded
● The face can be shaded by
other faces
● Both
● The face can shade and be
shaded by other faces

SMX124, Section 5, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S5-41
RADIATION IN ENCLOSURES (Cont.)
● Radiation in enclosures
● Subelem mesh size (b-dir (beta
direction)) and (g-dir (gamma
direction)).
● Used for the calculation of view
factors by a finite difference or
contour integration technique.
They are used to specify how
fine a “grid” (not finite element
grids) for surface elements
(CHBDYi) for integration there
are to be in the b-dir and g-dir
direction.

Subelem (b-dir) = 2
Subelem (g-dir) = 4

SMX124, Section 5, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S5-42
RADIATION IN ENCLOSURES (Cont.)
● Radiation in enclosures
● Absorptivity
● Constant, 0 <= <= 1
● Emissivity
● Constant, 0 <= <= 1
● Detailed surface prop definition
● Create a temperature dependent
table for Absorptivity and
Emissivity

SMX124, Section 5, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S5-43
RADIATION IN ENCLOSURES (Cont.)
● Radiation in enclosures
● Click Modify
● Click Store, then click Exit
● Specify the application region
using the Create Encl Rad Face
pick panel
● Select an entity type to screen
pick, e.g. Elements
● Screen pick the elements to
define the face
● Click Done, then click Exit

SMX124, Section 5, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S5-44
RADIATION IN ENCLOSURES (Cont.)
● Radiation in enclosures
● Now, that the face(s) have been
defined, it is necessary to define
an enclosure(s) using the faces.
● Access the create radiation
enclosure form using the LBC
tab, then the LBC group.
● SHADOW -- control third-body
shading calculation during view
factor calculation.
● Yes
● No
● TAMB
● Temperature of ambient
environment that radiation is
lost to
SMX124, Section 5, January 2009
Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S5-45
RADIATION IN ENCLOSURES (Cont.)
● Radiation in enclosures
● SCALE
● Enclosure view factor sum is
set equal to this if the sum >
1
● PRTPCH
● Control printing and punching
view factor to RADLST and
RADMTX entries.
● NFECI. Controls whether a
finite difference method or
contour integration is to be
used for calculating view
factors.
● Finite difference
● Contour integration
● Mixed method
SMX124, Section 5, January 2009
Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S5-46
RADIATION IN ENCLOSURES (Cont.)
● Radiation in enclosures
● RMAX
● Subelement area factor.
When NFECI is set to “Mixed
method” the contour
integration method is used
only if As / drs RMAX
2

where As = area of
subelement s, and drs =
distance between subelement
r and subelement s.
● GITB
● Gaussian integration order to
be used for calculating net
effective view factors with
third –body shadowing.

SMX124, Section 5, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S5-47
RADIATION IN ENCLOSURES (Cont.)
● Radiation in enclosures
● GIPS
● Gaussian integration order to
be used for calculating net
effective view factors with self
shadowing.
● ETOL
● Error estimate above which a
corrected view factor is
calculated using the semi-
analytic contour integration
method.
● ZTOL
● If calculated view factor is <
ZTOL it is set to zero.

SMX124, Section 5, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S5-48
RADIATION IN ENCLOSURES (Cont.)
● Radiation in enclosures
● WTOL
● If amount of warpage of
surface element, CHBDYi, is
> WTOL the view factor Fii is
calculated using exact
method.
● NUMBCS
● Number of enclosure
radiation faces. After entering
the value, and clicking in the
cell just to the right of the
value, the form updates so
there are NUMBCS ERFace
cells.

SMX124, Section 5, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S5-49
RADIATION IN ENCLOSURES (Cont.)
● Radiation in enclosures
● NUMBCS
● Double click in first ERFace
cell.
● Entity Selection form appears.
● Select an Encl Rad Face entity.
● Click OK.
● Repeat, by selecting the next
ERFace.
●…
● Click OK.
●…
● Click Create, then click Exit.

SMX124, Section 5, January 2009

● Select file
multiple_enclosures.bdf
SMX124, Section 5, January 2009
Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S5-52
CASE STUDY: THREE RAD ENCLOSURES
● Display the four 2D elements showing their node numbers

SMX124, Section 5, January 2009

1 2 3

● Create three enclosures

SMX124, Section 5, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S5-54
CASE STUDY: THREE RAD ENCLOSURES
● Create first enclosure
● Two faces for this enclosure

SMX124, Section 5, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S5-55
CASE STUDY: THREE RAD ENCLOSURES
● Create first enclosure
● Two faces for this enclosure

SMX124, Section 5, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S5-56
CASE STUDY: THREE RAD ENCLOSURES
● Create first enclosure
● Two faces for this enclosure

SMX124, Section 5, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S5-58
CASE STUDY: THREE RAD ENCLOSURES
● Create second enclosure
● Two faces for this enclosure

SMX124, Section 5, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S5-59
CASE STUDY: THREE RAD ENCLOSURES
● Create second enclosure
● Two faces for this enclosure

SMX124, Section 5, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S5-60
CASE STUDY: THREE RAD ENCLOSURES
● Create second enclosure
● Two faces for this enclosure

SMX124, Section 5, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S5-62
CASE STUDY: THREE RAD ENCLOSURES
● Create third enclosure
● Two faces for this enclosure

SMX124, Section 5, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S5-63
CASE STUDY: THREE RAD ENCLOSURES
● Create third enclosure
● Two faces for this enclosure

SMX124, Section 5, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S5-64
CASE STUDY: THREE RAD ENCLOSURES
● Create third enclosure
● Two faces for this enclosure

SMX124, Section 5, January 2009

● Attach the MD Nastran Thermal results file

SMX124, Section 5, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S5-76
CASE STUDY: THREE RAD ENCLOSURES
● Display thermal results using a fringe plot

SMX124, Section 5, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S5-77
CASE STUDY: THREE RAD ENCLOSURES
● Display thermal results using a fringe plot

SMX124, Section 5, January 2009

Perform Workshop 5 “Single Radiation Enclosure With

Five Faces” in your exercise workbook.

SMX124, Section 5, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S5-79
VECTOR FLUX FROM A DISTANT SOURCE
● Radiant Flux - heat flux
from a distant radiation
source
● Access the radiant flux form
using the LBCs tab, then the LBC
group
● The form Defaults For Radiant
Flux appears
● Heat Flux – thermal heat flux into
element face. It is positive for
heat flow into a surface.
● Flux vs Time function – function
used to define the flux as a
function of time

SMX124, Section 5, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S5-80
VECTOR FLUX FROM A DISTANT SRCE (Cont.)
● Radiant Flux - heat flux from a distant radiation source
● Temp of radiant source – temperature of source
● Local coord system for specifying the thermal vector flux
direction
● Local x-dir – direction cosine of flux relative to x-axis of local
coordinate system
● Local y-dir -- direction cosine of flux relative to y-axis of local
coordinate system
● Local z-dir -- direction cosine of flux relative to z-axis of local
coordinate system

SMX124, Section 5, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S5-81
VECTOR FLUX FROM A DISTANT SRCE (Cont.)
● Radiant Flux - heat flux from a distant radiation source
● Absorptivity
● Constant, 0 <= <= 1
● Absorp vs Time scaling function
● function used to define absorptivity as a function of time
● Emissivity
● Constant, 0 <= <= 1
● Shell surface option
● FRONT or BACK
● Detailed surface prop definition
● Wavelength and/or temperature dependent surface properties

SMX124, Section 5, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S5-82
VECTOR FLUX FROM A DISTANT SRCE (Cont.)
● Radiant Flux - heat flux from a
distant radiation source
● Click Store, then click Exit
● Specify the application region using
the Create Radiant Flux pick panel
● Select an entity type to screen pick,
e.g. Nodes
● Screen pick the nodes to apply the
vector heat flux to
● Click Done, then click Exit

SMX124, Section 5, January 2009

Perform Workshop 6 “Variable Directional Solar Load to

a Single Quad4 Element” in your exercise workbook.

SMX124, Section 5, January 2009

SMX124, Section 6, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S6-1
SMX124, Section 6, January 2009
Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S6-2
THERMAL PROBLEMS VIA SOL 400
● Currently SOL 400 is accessed via the Structures
Workspace (SimXpert R3.2)
● It is similar to the Thermal Workspace
● The following briefly covers several topics
● Material properties
● Element properties
● Loads and boundary conditions
● SimXpert analysis file creation (Simulations)

SMX124, Section 6, January 2009

● Some of these apply to heat transfer

● Isotropic
● Orthotropic 2D, 2D Axi, and 3D
● Anisotropic 2D and 3D
● Radiation Band
● Radiation Mat

SMX124, Section 6, January 2009

● Some of these apply to heat transfer

● 0D
● Spring (simple resistor) (PELAS)
● Damper (simple lumped heat capacity) (PDAMP)
● 1D
● Truss (PROD)
● Beam (simple, library, or arbitrary cross-section) (PBAR)
● Spring (simple resistor) (PELAS)
● Damper (simple lumped heat capacity) (PDAMP)
SMX124, Section 6, January 2009
Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S6-5
THERMAL PROBLEMS VIA SOL 400
● Properties (element)
● 1D
● Tube (PTUBE)
● Bend (PBEND)
● 2D
● Shell (PSHELL)
● Layered composite (PCOMP)
● Plane strain composite
● 3D
● Solid (PSOLID)
● Solid composite (PCOMPLS)

SMX124, Section 6, January 2009

● Currently these are the available lbcs.

● Future releases of SimXpert (>R3.2) will include forced
convection.

SMX124, Section 6, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S6-7
THERMAL PROBLEMS VIA SOL 400
● Specify the parameter values for a SimXpert thermal
analysis.

SMX124, Section 6, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S6-8
THERMAL PROBLEMS VIA SOL 400
● Under DefaultLoadCase specify the analysis type as
nonlinear steady state heat transfer.

SMX124, Section 6, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S6-9
THERMAL PROBLEMS VIA SOL 400
● Specify the parameter values for
Loadcase Control.

SMX124, Section 6, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S6-10
THERMAL PROBLEMS VIA SOL 400
● Observe what LBCs are associated to Loads/Boundaries;
look at the set DefaultLbcSet.

SMX124, Section 6, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S6-11
THERMAL PROBLEMS VIA SOL 400
● For a SimXpert chained
analysis (e.g. thermal to
structural) this is what a
Model Browser tree can look
like.

SMX124, Section 6, January 2009

Perform Workshop 7 “Concentric Spheres With

Radiation Between Them” in your exercise workbook.

Perform Workshop 8 “Transient Response of Power

Electronics” in your exercise workbook.

Perform Workshop 9 “Integrated Circuit Board Thermal

Stress Analysis” in your exercise workbook.

SMX124, Section 6, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S6-13
SMX124, Section 6, January 2009
Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S6-14
SECTION 7
THERMAL ANALYSIS THEORY OF
MSC SimXpert THERMAL
ANALYSIS

SMX124, Section 7, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S7-1
SMX124, Section 7, January 2009
Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S7-2
FORMULATIONS
● Thermal problems can be categorized as
● Steady-state
● Steady-state analyses are concerned with state point solutions with
constant/fixed boundary conditions
● Transient
● Transient analyses are characterized by solution evolution over time,
and in addition to energy exchange with the environment, involves
thermal energy storage
● Linear
● Properties; i.e. conductivity, convection coefficient; they do not
change with
● Temperature
● The boundary conditions do not involve
● Radiation

SMX124, Section 7, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S7-3
FORMULATIONS (Cont.)
● Thermal problems can be categorized as (continued)
● Nonlinear
● Temperature dependent material properties.
● Conduction
● Convection
● Natural
● Forced
● Radiation boundary conditions.
● Ambient
● Enclosure
● Steady-state or transient solution.
● All nonlinear analyses necessarily involve solution iteration, error
estimation, and convergence criteria.

SMX124, Section 7, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S7-4
STEADY-STATE FORMULATION STEPS
● The familiar conduction heat transfer equation is
q 1 
T
T  
2

k  t
● A transition is made from this equation (strong form) to a variational
formulation (weak form). The matrix equation corresponding to the
variational formulation is
[ B ]{T
} [ K ]{T } {F }
● where, [B] and [K] are the heat capacity and conduction matrices

● {T} and {F} are the temperature and heat load vectors
● The MD Nastran Thermal steady-state equation derived from this
equation is
[ K ]{T } R
[ ]{T Tabs }4 {P} {N }
SMX124, Section 7, January 2009
Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S7-5
STEADY-STATE FORMULATION STEPS (Cont.)
● This is a nonlinear matrix equation. It is solved using the Newton-
Raphson iteration scheme. A residual load vector function is defined as
the difference between the applied thermal load vector and the thermal
load vector due to element temperature.

{R} ({P} {N}) ([K ]{T } [R]{T Tabs}4 )

● The residual load vector function is equal to zero for the solution
temperature vector. The task is to determine the solution temperatures.
The residual load vector function is approximated by its first-order
Taylor series expansion about the temperature vector from the i-th
iteration.
i

{R}
{R({T})}{R({T} )}  ({T }{T}i )
i


{T}
SMX124, Section 7, January 2009
Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S7-6
STEADY-STATE FORMULATION STEPS (Cont.)
● The Taylor series expansion is evaluated at the temperatures for the
(i + 1)-th iteration, and set equal to zero.
i

{R} i1
{R({T} )} {R({T} )}  ({T} {T} ) {0}
i
1 i i


{T}
● From this the following equation is arrived at.

[ KT ] {T } {R}
i i i

● where
i 1
{T } {T }
i
{T } i
i

{N }
[ K T ] 
[ K ] 4[ R] {T Tabs } 
i i
 i

i 3

{T } 
● Note
SMX124, Section 7, January 2009
{T }i1 {T }i {T }i
Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S7-7
STEADY-STATE FORMULATION STEPS (Cont.)
● This is an iterative process, not linear. Start with i = 0. Thus, the first
equation to be solved is
[KT ]0{T}0 {R}0
● From the solution to this equation the next temperature vector is
found from 1 0
{T} {T} {T}
0

● Next, use i = 1. The next equation to be solved is

[ K T ] {T } {R}
1 1 1

● From the solution to this equation the next temperature vector is

found from
{T }2 {T }1 {T }1
● This process is repeated until a converged solution is obtained, {T}m.
SMX124, Section 7, January 2009
Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S7-8
STEADY-STATE FORMULATION STEPS (Cont.)
● Graphical representation of the solution process
● Expression (F) for the thermal load vector due to element
temperature
F [K ]{T} [ R]{T Tabs}4 F

P+N
1
1 KT 1
R1
KT 0
R0 F1

F0
T 0 T 1
SMX124, Section 7, January 2009 T0 T1 T2 Tm T
Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S7-9
STEADY-STATE FORMULATION STEPS (Cont.)
● Since matrix decomposition is time consuming, MD Nastran does not
update the left-hand side matrix at each iteration. The tangential matrix
is updated only when the solution fails to converge or the iteration
efficiency can be improved. However, the residual vector is updated at
each iteration.
● In concert with the Newton-Raphson method, the following options are
provided to improve the efficiency of the iteration.
● Tangential matrix update strategy
● Line search method
● Bisection of loads
● Quasi-Newton (BFGS) updates

SMX124, Section 7, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S7-10
STEADY-STATE CONVERGENCE
● Convergence of nonlinear
steady-state solution process
● The form, whos entries are used to
specify control of the nonlinear
steady-state solution process, is
repeated here for convenience. MD
Nastran parameter (alpha) names
are shown in the MSC SimXpert
GUI

SMX124, Section 7, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S7-11
STEADY-STATE CONVERGENCE (Cont.)
● Convergence of nonlinear steady-state solution process
● Iteration control
● The incremental and iterative solution processes are controlled by the
parameters specified under Static Nonlinear Iterations.
● For each subcase, load, and SPC temperature, changes are processed
incrementally with the number of subdivisions defined by the value of NINC.
F
P+N
One
Increment
f2(P + N)
One
Total Load Increment
f1(P + N)
One
Increment

SMX124, Section 7, January 2009

T
Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S7-12
STEADY-STATE CONVERGENCE (Cont.)
● Convergence of nonlinear steady-state solution process
● Iteration control
● The incremental and iterative solution processes are controlled by the
parameters specified under Static Nonlinear Iterations.
● The Matrix Update Method field is used to specify the tangential matrix update
strategy. Three separate options may be selected.
● Automatic -- the program automatically selects the most efficient strategy based on
convergence rates. At each iteration, the number of steps (iterations) required to converge as
well as the computing time with and without matrix update are estimated. The tangential
matrix is updated if (a) the estimated number of iterations to converge exceeds MAXITER, (b)
the estimated time required for convergence with current matrix exceeds the estimated time
to converge with matrix update, or (c) the solution diverges. The tangential matrix is also
F updated on convergence if KSTEP is less than the number of steps required for convergence
with the current matrix.

j
a) Est # iters to converge > MAXITER,
# iters to
For iteration b) Est time to converge with current >
“j”
converge [ KT ] j updated if Est time to converge with update, or
estimated
c) Solution process diverges
T Automatic
SMX124, Section 7, January 2009
Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S7-13
STEADY-STATE CONVERGENCE (Cont.)
● Convergence of nonlinear steady-state solution process
● Iteration control
● The Matrix Update Method field is used to specify the tangential matrix
update strategy. Three separate options may be selected.
● Semi-Automatic -- this option is identical to the AUTO option except that the
program updates the tangential matrix after the first iteration.
● Controlled Iters -- the program updates the tangential matrix at every KSTEPth
iteration and on convergence if KSTEP < MAXITER. However, the tangential matrix
is never updated if KSTEP > MAXITER. Note that the Newton-Raphson method is
obtained if KSTEP = 1, and the modified Newton-Raphson method is selected by
setting KSTEP = MAXITER.
F

j
For iteration
“j” [ KT ] j updated every KSTEPth iteration or at
convergence if KSTEP <= MAXITER

T Controlled Iters
SMX124, Section 7, January 2009
Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S7-14
STEADY-STATE CONVERGENCE (Cont.)
● Convergence of nonlinear steady-state solution process
● Iteration control
● The number of iterations for a load increment is limited to MAXITER. If the solution
does not converge in MAXITER iterations, the current load increment is bisected and
the analysis for that increment is repeated.

F
P+N

f2(P + N)

f1(P + N)

T
SMX124, Section 7, January 2009
Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S7-15
STEADY-STATE CONVERGENCE (Cont.)
● Convergence of nonlinear steady-state solution process
● Iteration control
● The divergence rate is defined as the ratio of energy error before and at the end of
the current iteration, i+1

● The divergence parameter for the i-th iteration, NDIVi , is incremented as follows

NDIVi1 NDIVi 1, for less severe error

NDIVi1 NDIVi 2 , for more severe error
● This computation is performed for all of the iterations of the current load increment

● The solution for the current load increment is taken as diverged when NDIVfinal >=
MAXDIV

SMX124, Section 7, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S7-16
STEADY-STATE CONVERGENCE (Cont.)
● Convergence of nonlinear steady-state solution process
● Iteration output
● For each iteration, the related output is printed under the following headings:
Parameters Description

ITERATIONS Iteration i

EUI Relative error for temperature

EPI Relative error for load

EWI Relative error for energy

LAMBDA Rate of convergence

DLMAG Absolute norm of the residual vector

FACTOR Final value for the line search parameters

E-FIRST Divergence rate, initial error before line search

E-FINAL Error at the end of the line search

NQNV Number of quasi-Newton vectors appended

NLS Number of line searches performed during the iteration

ENIC Expected number of iterations for convergence

NDV Number of occurrences of probable divergence during the iteration

MDV Number of occurrences of bisection conditions during the iteration

SMX124, Section 7, January 2009
Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S7-17
STEADY-STATE CONVERGENCE (Cont.)
● Convergence of nonlinear steady-state solution process
● Convergence criteria
● The convergence criteria are characterized by the dimensionless error
functions and the convergence tolerances. To ensure accuracy and
efficiency, multiple criteria with errors measured about temperatures,
loads, and energy are provided.
● Temperature error function
● Since the error in temperatures is not known, a contraction factor q is
introduced to formulate the temperature error function, which is defined as
|| T i 1 T i || || T i ||
q i i
 i1
|| T T || || T ||
1

● The final form of the temperature error function is obtained by introducing a

weighted normalization. The result is

q {| |}T {| T |}
EU 
1 q {| |}T {| T |}
● where the weighting function {is defined as the square root of the diagonal
terms of the tangent matrix.
SMX124, Section 7, January 2009
Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S7-18
STEADY-STATE CONVERGENCE (Cont.)
● Convergence of nonlinear steady-state solution process
● Convergence criteria
● Load error function
● The load error function is defined as

{| R |} 
T
{| T |}
EP 
{| P|}T 
{| T |}
● where

{| P
|} {| Pld |} {| Pld |}
● where {Pld} is the applied thermal load at the previous load step, and {Pld} is the
incremental load.

● Energy error function

● The energy (or work) error function is defined as

{| R |}T {| T |}
EW 
{| P |}T 
{| T |}
SMX124, Section 7, January 2009
Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S7-19
STEADY-STATE CONVERGENCE (Cont.)
● Convergence of nonlinear steady-state solution process
● Convergence criteria
● Using the error functions
● At every iteration, error functions are evaluated and the results printed in
the convergence table under the headings EUI, EPI, and EWI. The
convergence test is performed by comparing the value of the error
functions with the convergence tolerances, e.g.
● E U < EPSU ?
● E P < EPSP ?
● EW < EPSW ?
● where the value of EPSU, EPSP, and EPSW are tolerances specified in
the MSC SimXpert Subcase Parameters form. The solution has converged
if these tests are satisfied. Note that only those criteria selected by the user
(specified in the Convergence Criteria part of the form) are used to check
for convergence. The tolerances should not be too restrictive so that many
more iterations are performed than need to be, or too un-restrictive so that
there is poor accuracy. It is recommended that the default values be used
until better values are found through iteration experience.
SMX124, Section 7, January 2009
Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S7-20
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR STEADY-STATE
● Recommendations
● The following are recommendations, designed to aid the user.
● Highly nonlinear radiation problems
● It is advised to use NLPARM,ID,NINC,DT,KMETHOD,KSTEP,…; where NINC = 1,
KMETHOD = ITER, and KSTEP = 1. This will cause the tangent conduction matrix
to be calculated for each iteration.
● NLPARM settings for problems that do not involve a high-degree of nonlinear
radiation
● NLPARM,ID,NINC,DT,KMETHOD,KSTEP,MAXITER,…; where NINC = 1,
KMETHOD = AUTO, KSTEP = 5, and MAXITER = 25.
● Also, for some of these problems, the iterative solution is sensitive to the initial
temperature guess. It is recommended to overshoot (i.e., make a high initial guess)
the estimated solution temperature vector.

SMX124, Section 7, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S7-21
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR STEADY-STATE
● Recommendations
● The following are recommendations, designed to aid the user.
● Incremental load
● Incremental loading reduces the imbalance of the equilibrium equation caused by
applied loads. The single-point constraints (temperature specified by SPC in the
Bulk Data) and the applied loads (specified by QHBDY, QBDYi, VECFLUX, and
QVOL) can be incremented. If the solution takes more iterations than the default
values of the maximum number of iterations allowed for convergence (MAXITER),
the increment size should be decreased. For linear problems, no incremental load
steps are required.
● Convergence criteria
● At the beginning stages of a new analysis, it is recommended that the defaults be
used for all options. However, all the Error options (Temperature, Load, and Work)
may be selected to improve the efficiency of convergence. For problems with poor
convergence, the tolerances EPSU, EPSP, and EPSW can be increased within the
limits of reasonable accuracy.

SMX124, Section 7, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S7-22
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR STEADY-STATE
● Recommendations
● The following are recommendations, designed to aid the user.
● Convergence criteria
● For radiation problems that do not converge, and have an error code SFM 4551,
use the full Newton Raphson method so the conduction matrix will be updated
every iteration. This is done using NLPARM, ID, NINC, DT, KMETHOD, …, where
KMETHOD = FNT for SOL 400.
● SOL153
● The best method determined through experience is to use the “full” Newton-
Raphson method. This involves updating the conduction tangent matrix every
iteration. To do this use Matrix Update Method: Controlled Iters, Number of
Iterations per Update (KSTEP) = 1. Because the conduction tangent matrix is
calculated for each iteration it is necessary to have only one increment, NINC = 1.
● For problems that are not highly nonlinear it is acceptable to use Matrix Update
Method: Automatic.

SMX124, Section 7, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S7-23
TRANSIENT THERMAL ANALYSIS
● Transient analysis
● Models are similar to those for steady-state analysis, except must
also have
● Specific heat (heat capacity per unit mass)
● Density
● As needed
● Lumped thermal capacitance
● Dynamic transfer function
● The equation for the variation of temperature with time, as shown on
the following page, will have to be solved as for steady-state
analysis. Also, integrating the set of equations will require specifying
parameters, e.g. integration interval/step.

SMX124, Section 7, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S7-24
TRANSIENT FORMULATION STEPS
● The familiar conduction heat transfer equation is
q 1 
T
T  
2

● {T} and {F} are the temperature and heat load vectors
● The MD NASTRAN Thermal transient equation derived from this
equation is

[ B ]{T } [ K ]{T } [R ]{T Tabs } {P} { N }
4

SMX124, Section 7, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S7-25
TRANSIENT FORMULATION STEPS (Cont.)
● This is a nonlinear matrix equation. It is solved using the Newton-
Raphson iteration scheme. A residual load vector function is defined
as the difference between the applied thermal load vector and the
thermal load vector due to element temperature and temperature
rate.

{R (t )} ({P} {N }) ([ B ]{T } [ K ]{T } [R ]{T Tabs } )
4

● The residual load vector function, at a given time, is equal to zero for
the solution temperature vector at that time. The task is to determine
the solution temperatures and their rates. The residual load vector
function is approximated by its first-order Taylor series expansion
about the temperature vector from the i-th iteration, for the n+1 time
point (the solution is known for time point n).
i

{R}
{Rn1} {Rn 1}   ({Tn1} {Tn1}i )
i

SMX124, Section 7, January 2009


{T }
n1
Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S7-26
TRANSIENT FORMULATION STEPS (Cont.)
● The Taylor series expansion is evaluated at the temperatures for the
(i + 1)-th iteration, and set equal to zero.
i

{R}
{Rn1} {Rn1}   ({Tn1}i1 {Tn1}i ) {0}
i
1 i


{T}
n
1
● From this the following equation is arrived at.

~ i
[ K T ]n1 {Tn 1 }i {Rn 1}i
● where
{Tn1} {Tn1} {Tn1}
i i
1 i

● Note

{Tn 1}i 1 {Tn 1}i {Tn 1}i

SMX124, Section 7, January 2009
Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S7-27
TRANSIENT FORMULATION STEPS (Cont.)
● where (continued)
i
~ i 
({R}) 1 1
[ KT ]n1    [ B]n1 [ KT ]n1  [B]n [KT ]n
i i

{T} n
1 
t t
● and, where the approximation for the time derivative is given by

1 1 
{Tn1}  ({Tn 1} {Tn }) (1  ){Tn }
 i i


t 
● Another approximation used is


{ N }
[ KT ]n 
[ K ]n 4[ R ]n {Tn Tabs } 

3


{T } 
n

SMX124, Section 7, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S7-28
TRANSIENT FORMULATION STEPS (Cont.)
● The residual load vector function for the i-th iteration is given by
i 
{Rn1} ({Pn1} {Nn1} ) ([B] {Tn1} [ K ]n1{Tn1} 
i i
i i i
n1

[R] {Tn1 Tabs} )

i
n1
i4

● This process is the same as for the steady-state analysis, this is an

iterative process. Start with i = 0. Thus, the first equation to be solved
is
~ 0
[ KT ]n 1 {Tn 1} {Rn1}
0 0

● From the solution to this equation the next temperature vector is found
from
{Tn1}1 {Tn1}0 {Tn1}0
SMX124, Section 7, January 2009
Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S7-29
TRANSIENT FORMULATION STEPS (Cont.)
● Next, use i = 1. The next equation to be solved is
~ 1
[ K T ]n1 {Tn1}1 {Rn 1}1
● From the solution to this equation the next temperature vector is found
from
{Tn1}2 {Tn1}1 {Tn1}1
● This process is repeated until a converged solution is obtained,
{Tn+1}m.
● The process is repeated for the next time point, n+2. (tn+2 = tn+1 +
tn+1). Set {T n+2}0 = {Tn+1}m.

SMX124, Section 7, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S7-30
TRANSIENT FORMULATION STEPS (Cont.)
● Graphical representation of the solution process
● Expression (F) for the thermal load vector due to element
temperature and temperature rate
F [ B]{T
}[ K ]{T }[R]{T Tabs }4 F
P N
1
~
1 KT1 n 1
~ R1n1
KT0 n 1
R0 Fn11
n1

Fn01
Tn01 Tn11
SMX124, Section 7, January 2009 Tn01 ( Tnl ) Tn11 Tn21 Tnm1 T
Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S7-31
TRANSIENT FORMULATION STEPS (Cont.)
● Since matrix decomposition is time consuming, MD NASTRAN does
not update the left-hand side matrix at each iteration. The tangential
matrix is updated only when the solution fails to converge or the
iteration efficiency can be improved. However, the residual vector is
updated at each iteration.
● In concert with the Newton-Raphson method, the following options are
provided to improve the efficiency of the iteration process:
● Tangential matrix update strategy
● Line search method
● Bisection of loads
● Quasi-Newton (BFGS) updates

SMX124, Section 7, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S7-32
FORMULATION STEP COMMENTS
● These options are specified under Analysis in SimXpert. In general, if
the solution process diverges, a line search algorithm, a bisection of
loads method, or the quasi-Newton update method are implemented in
an effort to improve the solution obtained. If the solution still fails to
converge using all the above methods, the tangential stiffness matrix
is updated, and the iteration is resumed. The user may refer to the MD
NASTRAN Handbook for Nonlinear Analysis for a detailed description
of the above mentioned algorithms.

SMX124, Section 7, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S7-33
TRANSIENT CONVERGENCE
● Convergence of nonlinear transient
solution process
● The form, whos entries are used to
specify control of the nonlinear
transient solution process, is repeated
here for convenience. MD NASTRAN
parameter (alpha) names are shown in
the MSC SimXpert GUI

SMX124, Section 7, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S7-34
TRANSIENT CONVERGENCE (Cont.)
● Convergence of nonlinear transient solution process
● Automatic time stepping
● An example of adjusting the time step
● MD NASTRAN estimates an optimal time step size, and the step size evolves based
on the convergence condition. The time step is doubled (tn+1 = 2tn) as {Tn} (= {T n} –
{Tn-1}) becomes small.

|| {Tn } ||
UTOL(default 0.1)
|| {T} ||max
● where || {T
} ||maxis the maximum value of the norms computed from the previous time
steps, and UTOL is a tolerance on the temperature increment specified in MSC
SimXpert.
● If the temperature increment exceeds the tolerance, a proper time step size can
be predicted from the following calculation, where n is the inverse of the
characteristic time.
{Tn }T [ KT ]{Tn }
n  n

{Tn }T {H n }
SMX124, Section 7, January 2009
Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S7-35
TRANSIENT CONVERGENCE (Cont.)
● Convergence of nonlinear transient solution process
● Automatic time stepping
● The next time step is adjusted using

tn1 f (rn ) tn

● where f(r) is a scaling factor defined as follows

f (rn ) 0.25, rn 0.5 

RB
f (rn ) 0.5, 0.5 
RB rn RB
f (rn ) 1.0, RB rn 2.0
f (rn ) 2.0, 2.0 rn 3.0 / RB
f (rn ) 4.0, rn 3.0 / RB
● where
1 2 1 
rn  
 


 

MSTEP n 
t n 
SMX124, Section 7, January 2009
Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S7-36
TRANSIENT CONVERGENCE (Cont.)
● Convergence of nonlinear transient solution process
● Integration and iteration control
● The initial time increment and the number of time steps are specified by
DT and NDT, respectively. So, the duration of the solution of the
problem is approximately NDT * DT. This time is approximate because
the time increment may be adjusted (increased or decreased) during
the solution of the problem, so that the number of time steps may not
be equal to NDT. However, the total solution time is close to NDT * DT.

Total time NDT 

SMX124, Section 7, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S7-37
TRANSIENT CONVERGENCE (Cont.)
● Convergence of nonlinear transient solution process
● Integration and iteration control
● During the bisection process (time step is bisected) the heat capacitance matrix
and tangential conduction matrix are updated every KSTEPth converged
bisection solution.
F
P+N

f2(P + N)
[ B ]in 1 update every KSTEPth
bisection solution
f1(P + N) [ K T ]in 1

SMX124, Section 7, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S7-38
TRANSIENT CONVERGENCE (Cont.)
● Convergence of nonlinear transient solution process
● Integration and iteration control
● The number of iterations for a time step is limited to MAXITER. If MAXITER is
specified as negative, the analysis is terminated on the second divergence
condition during the same time step or when the solution diverges for five
consecutive time steps. If MAXITER is specified as positive, the program
computes the best solution and continues the analysis until divergence occurs
again. If the solution does not converge in MAXITER iterations, the process is
considered divergent. Either bisection or matrix update is activated when the
process diverges.

Number of iterations for

time step <= MAXITER

Process diverges => Bisection of time step or matrix update

SMX124, Section 7, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S7-39
TRANSIENT CONVERGENCE (Cont.)
● Convergence of nonlinear transient solution process
● Integration and iteration control
● The convergence criteria are defined under Convergence Criteria. Two types of
things must be specified
● Error: Temperature, Load, Work

● Tolerance: Temperature (EPSU), Load (EPSP), Work (EPSW)

● The requested criteria (combination of Temperature Error (U), Load Error (P),
and Work Error (W)) are satisfied upon convergence. Note that at least two
iterations are required to check the temperature convergence criterion.

● If the bisection option is used, the time step is bisected upon divergence.
Otherwise, the left-hand side matrices are updated, and the computation for the
current time step is repeated.

● The BFGS update and the line search process are performed in the same way
as in steady state analysis.

SMX124, Section 7, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S7-40
TRANSIENT CONVERGENCE (Cont.)
● Convergence of nonlinear transient solution process
● Integration and iteration control
● The number of bisections for a load increment is limited to |MAXBIS|. Different
actions are taken when the solution diverges, depending on the sign of MAXBIS.
If MAXBIS is positive and the solution does not converge after MAXBIS
bisections, the best solution is computed and the analysis is continued to the
next time step. If MAXBIS is negative and the solution does not converge in
|MAXBIS| bisections, the analysis is terminated.

● Iteration output
● At each iteration or time step, the related output data are printed

SMX124, Section 7, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S7-41
TRANSIENT CONVERGENCE (Cont.)
● Convergence of nonlinear transient solution process
● Integration and Iteration control
● The divergence rate is defined as the ratio of energy error before and at the end of
the current iteration, i+1

● The divergence parameter for the i-th iteration, NDIVi , is incremented as follows

NDIVi 1 NDIVi 1 , for less severe error

NDIVi 1 NDIVi 2 , for more severe error
● This computation is performed for all of the iterations of the current time step

● The solution for the current time step is taken as diverged when NDIVfinal >=
MAXDIV

SMX124, Section 7, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S7-42
TRANSIENT CONVERGENCE (Cont.)
● Convergence of nonlinear transient solution process
Parameters Description

TIME Cumulative time for the duration of the analysis.

ITER Iteration count for each time step.

DISP Relative error in terms of temperatures

LOAD Relative error in terms of loads

WORK Relative error in terms of work

LAMDBA(I) Rate of convergence

DLMAG Absolute norm of the residual vector

FACTOR Final value of the line search parameter.

E-FIRST Divergence rate, initial error before line search.

E-FINAL Error at the end of line search.

NQNV Number of quasi-Newton vectors appended.

NLS Number of line searches performed during the iteration.

ITR DIV Number of occurrences of divergence detected during the adaptive iteration.

MAT DIV Number of occurrences of bisection conditions during the iteration.

NO. BIS Number of bisections executed for the current time interval.

ADJUST Ratio of time step adjustment relative to DT.

SMX124, Section 7, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S7-43
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR TRANSIENT
● Convergence of nonlinear transient solution process
● Recommendations
● The following are recommendations designed to aid the user.
● Time step size
● To avoid inaccurate results or results from an unstable analysis, a proper initial time step
associated with the spatial mesh size is suggested. The selection criterion is

1 C
t |initial  (x) 2 p
n k
● where t| initial is the initial time step, n is the modification number of the time scale, x is the
mesh size (dimension of the smallest element), is the material density, Cp is the specific
heat at constant pressure, and k is the thermal conductivity. A suggested value for n is 10.
For highly nonlinear problems a small initial time step size is recommended.
● Numerical stability
● Numerical stability is controlled by the damping parameter . For linear problems = 0 (no
numerical damping) is adequate, but for nonlinear problems a larger value of may be
advisable. Increasing the value of improves numerical stability; however, the solution
accuracy can be reduced. The recommended range of values is from 0.0 to 0.1 (the default
value is 0.01). The numerical damping is specified using PARAM, NDAMP, (value of  

This is a Bulk Data PARAM entry.

SMX124, Section 7, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S7-44
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR TRANSIENT
● Convergence of nonlinear transient solution process
● Recommendations
● The following are recommendations designed to aid the user.
● Initial temperatures and boundary temperatures
● The specification of initial temperatures and boundary condition temperatures should
be consistent. For a given point, the initial temperature should be equal to the
boundary condition temperature at t = 0.

● Convergence criteria
● At the beginning stages of a new analysis, it is recommended that the defaults be
used for all options. However, all three Error options (UPW) may be selected to
improve the efficiency of convergence. For nonlinear problems with time-varying
boundary conditions, the U Error option must be selected, because the large
conductance (internally generated) affects the calculations of the PW Error functions.
For problems with poor convergence, the tolerances EPSU, EPSP, and EPSW can
be increased within the limits of reasonable accuracy.
● When there is a time varying temperature boundary condition, e.g. time varying
ambient temperature, set the convergence criteria to just “U”. An example of this can
be seen for Example 7b of the exercises (Chapter 5) in the MD Nastran 2002 Thermal
Analysis User’s Guide.

SMX124, Section 7, January 2009

Copyright 2009 MSC.Software Corporation S7-45
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR TRANSIENT
● Convergence of nonlinear transient solution process
● Recommendations
● The following are recommendations designed to aid the user.
● Fixed time step
● If a fixed time step is desired, the adaptive time stepping can be deactivated by
clicking the checkbox for Fixed Time Steps.

SMX124, Section 7, January 2009

Lingap Oct2001 Update 3398
No ratings yet
Lingap Oct2001 Update 3398
21 pages
MSC Trainings 2015
No ratings yet
MSC Trainings 2015
45 pages
A Short Note On The Drag Correlation For Spheres
No ratings yet
A Short Note On The Drag Correlation For Spheres
4 pages
MD Nastran 2010 Design Sensitivity and Optimization
No ratings yet
MD Nastran 2010 Design Sensitivity and Optimization
740 pages
03 Section2 Normal Modes 012904
No ratings yet
03 Section2 Normal Modes 012904
94 pages
Nas101 S+N+B Workbook PDF
100% (1)
Nas101 S+N+B Workbook PDF
372 pages
Linear Static, Normal Modes, and Buckling Analysis Using MSC - Nastran and MSC - Patran
No ratings yet
Linear Static, Normal Modes, and Buckling Analysis Using MSC - Nastran and MSC - Patran
4 pages
MD Nastran Demonstration Problems 2010
No ratings yet
MD Nastran Demonstration Problems 2010
1,347 pages
Nastran in A Nutshell
No ratings yet
Nastran in A Nutshell
32 pages
MSC Nastran 2021.4 Nonlinear SOL 400 User Guide
No ratings yet
MSC Nastran 2021.4 Nonlinear SOL 400 User Guide
816 pages
CAEfatigue Use Cases
No ratings yet
CAEfatigue Use Cases
10 pages
MSC - Software Corporation: Dynamic Analysis Using MSC - Patran and MSC - Nastran
No ratings yet
MSC - Software Corporation: Dynamic Analysis Using MSC - Patran and MSC - Nastran
4 pages
FesafeFatigueTheory PDF
No ratings yet
FesafeFatigueTheory PDF
264 pages
Mechanically Fastned Joints CAEA PDF
No ratings yet
Mechanically Fastned Joints CAEA PDF
7 pages
Patran 2012 Laminate
No ratings yet
Patran 2012 Laminate
176 pages
Altair RADIOSS
No ratings yet
Altair RADIOSS
4 pages
MSC - Nastran 2002 Thermal Analysis User's Guide
No ratings yet
MSC - Nastran 2002 Thermal Analysis User's Guide
461 pages
NASTRAN Nonlinear Elements
No ratings yet
NASTRAN Nonlinear Elements
90 pages
ANSYS Autodyn
100% (1)
ANSYS Autodyn
22 pages
Workshop 5 Direct Frequency Response Analysis: WS5-1 NAS122, Workshop 5, January 2004 © 2004 MSC - Software Corporation
No ratings yet
Workshop 5 Direct Frequency Response Analysis: WS5-1 NAS122, Workshop 5, January 2004 © 2004 MSC - Software Corporation
18 pages
Chained Analysis: Fan Blade Out With Rotor Dynamics
100% (1)
Chained Analysis: Fan Blade Out With Rotor Dynamics
21 pages
Patran 2008 r1 Reference Manual Part 3: Finite Element Modeling
No ratings yet
Patran 2008 r1 Reference Manual Part 3: Finite Element Modeling
442 pages
Nastran 2013 Doc Embedded Fatigue
No ratings yet
Nastran 2013 Doc Embedded Fatigue
308 pages
Sec4 Optimization of Composites 021712
No ratings yet
Sec4 Optimization of Composites 021712
34 pages
MSC - Nastran 2003 Linear Static Analysis User's Guide
No ratings yet
MSC - Nastran 2003 Linear Static Analysis User's Guide
792 pages
MSC Training Catalogue 2014: Hängpilsgatan 6, SE-426 77 Västra Frölunda, Sweden Tel: +46 (0) 31 7485990
No ratings yet
MSC Training Catalogue 2014: Hängpilsgatan 6, SE-426 77 Västra Frölunda, Sweden Tel: +46 (0) 31 7485990
44 pages
Radioss Theory Manual 12.0 Version Nov 2
No ratings yet
Radioss Theory Manual 12.0 Version Nov 2
52 pages
My Documents
100% (1)
My Documents
358 pages
MD Nastran 2010 Dynamic Analysis User's Guide
No ratings yet
MD Nastran 2010 Dynamic Analysis User's Guide
802 pages
Altair HyperMesh 5.0 Tutorials
No ratings yet
Altair HyperMesh 5.0 Tutorials
474 pages
Nastran 2018 Linear Static Analysis Guide PDF
No ratings yet
Nastran 2018 Linear Static Analysis Guide PDF
759 pages
Fatigue Analysis MSC Patran
100% (1)
Fatigue Analysis MSC Patran
21 pages
10 List Group PAT301
No ratings yet
10 List Group PAT301
40 pages
HM10 Intro Hyper Mesh (Altair)
No ratings yet
HM10 Intro Hyper Mesh (Altair)
124 pages
Nastran Optimization User Guide
No ratings yet
Nastran Optimization User Guide
704 pages
Linear Static Analysis, Nastran
No ratings yet
Linear Static Analysis, Nastran
735 pages
Results Mapping PDF
No ratings yet
Results Mapping PDF
3 pages
Practical Finite Element Modeling Techniques Using MSC - Nastran
No ratings yet
Practical Finite Element Modeling Techniques Using MSC - Nastran
4 pages
NX Nastran Users Guid
No ratings yet
NX Nastran Users Guid
822 pages
Patran 2010 Training 301 Coursenotes PDF
No ratings yet
Patran 2010 Training 301 Coursenotes PDF
865 pages
DesignLife Fatigue Analysis Software - 477
No ratings yet
DesignLife Fatigue Analysis Software - 477
8 pages
DF5.7.1 Application Manual
No ratings yet
DF5.7.1 Application Manual
121 pages
Xfmea5 Training
No ratings yet
Xfmea5 Training
110 pages
Sec2 Solid Composites 021712
No ratings yet
Sec2 Solid Composites 021712
35 pages
ANSYS Workbench 2021 R1: A Tutorial Approach, 4th Edition
From Everand
ANSYS Workbench 2021 R1: A Tutorial Approach, 4th Edition
Prof. Sham Tickoo
No ratings yet
TRA User Manual
No ratings yet
TRA User Manual
13 pages
Thermal response to periodic heating of a heat sink incorporating a phase
No ratings yet
Thermal response to periodic heating of a heat sink incorporating a phase
14 pages
Seisimic-ELF-on-DPT1302-61-สภาวิศวกร-by-Panithi-B-_250102_195805
No ratings yet
Seisimic-ELF-on-DPT1302-61-สภาวิศวกร-by-Panithi-B-_250102_195805
66 pages
Mathematical Modeling and Optimization Strategies (Genetic Algorithm and Knowledge Base) Applied To The Continuous Casting of Steel
No ratings yet
Mathematical Modeling and Optimization Strategies (Genetic Algorithm and Knowledge Base) Applied To The Continuous Casting of Steel
17 pages
tpul2g123-q1_pm
No ratings yet
tpul2g123-q1_pm
41 pages
tmp61fghd
No ratings yet
tmp61fghd
32 pages
Resistance Materials
No ratings yet
Resistance Materials
77 pages
Discrete-Time IIR Filter Design From Continuous-Time Filters
No ratings yet
Discrete-Time IIR Filter Design From Continuous-Time Filters
16 pages
Heat Transfer Analysis: Section 7
No ratings yet
Heat Transfer Analysis: Section 7
22 pages
TMS022 2xTL-D18W HFS
No ratings yet
TMS022 2xTL-D18W HFS
3 pages
LS1 - Analysis of Air-Conditioning Processes PDF
No ratings yet
LS1 - Analysis of Air-Conditioning Processes PDF
4 pages
JHU-SPH Modeling of Water Waves: P.K. Stansby & D.E. Laurence
No ratings yet
JHU-SPH Modeling of Water Waves: P.K. Stansby & D.E. Laurence
32 pages
art-3A10.1007-2Fs00542-014-2144-5
No ratings yet
art-3A10.1007-2Fs00542-014-2144-5
7 pages
What's New in ANSYS 2020 R1 - APDL
No ratings yet
What's New in ANSYS 2020 R1 - APDL
45 pages
نسخة من Lec 02
No ratings yet
نسخة من Lec 02
23 pages
2006-IEEET&D_PerdasDC-DESSEM_DinizSantos
No ratings yet
2006-IEEET&D_PerdasDC-DESSEM_DinizSantos
21 pages
Despirito - 2001 - Computational Fluid Dynamics Analysis of A Missile With Grid Fins
No ratings yet
Despirito - 2001 - Computational Fluid Dynamics Analysis of A Missile With Grid Fins
8 pages
WORKSHEET UNIFORMLY ACCELERATED MOTION
No ratings yet
WORKSHEET UNIFORMLY ACCELERATED MOTION
1 page
Pile Cap ACI - EC2-20161217
100% (1)
Pile Cap ACI - EC2-20161217
27 pages
Ay1920 Sem 1 Sce5321
No ratings yet
Ay1920 Sem 1 Sce5321
8 pages
Effect of Rocks Anisotropy On Deviation Tendencies of Drilling Systems
No ratings yet
Effect of Rocks Anisotropy On Deviation Tendencies of Drilling Systems
4 pages
Physics 121: Electricity & Magnetism - Lecture 3 Electric Field
No ratings yet
Physics 121: Electricity & Magnetism - Lecture 3 Electric Field
22 pages
Tutorial Rotors - Solution
No ratings yet
Tutorial Rotors - Solution
25 pages
Identifying Unknown Samples
No ratings yet
Identifying Unknown Samples
12 pages
Experimental Study of The XY-Friction Pendulum Bearing For Bridge Applications
No ratings yet
Experimental Study of The XY-Friction Pendulum Bearing For Bridge Applications
10 pages
Strain and Thermal Stress ANSWERS
No ratings yet
Strain and Thermal Stress ANSWERS
12 pages
Topic 5.1 Electric Field - Paper I 2019
No ratings yet
Topic 5.1 Electric Field - Paper I 2019
12 pages
Lab Report 04
No ratings yet
Lab Report 04
4 pages
Additional 3 Chapter 3 PDF
No ratings yet
Additional 3 Chapter 3 PDF
16 pages
Design of Eccentric Connection With Load Lying in Plane of Joint (Rivet & Bolt)
No ratings yet
Design of Eccentric Connection With Load Lying in Plane of Joint (Rivet & Bolt)
27 pages
Pressure Driven Flow - 1
No ratings yet
Pressure Driven Flow - 1
15 pages
Divergence and Curl
No ratings yet
Divergence and Curl
16 pages
Dynamics Model of Backhoe Devices Considering Excavation Load For
No ratings yet
Dynamics Model of Backhoe Devices Considering Excavation Load For
10 pages
Gauss's Law
No ratings yet
Gauss's Law
20 pages
Tough A-Level Physics Gravity Questions
No ratings yet
Tough A-Level Physics Gravity Questions
7 pages
Ch.03 Modeling in Time Domain - Assignment
No ratings yet
Ch.03 Modeling in Time Domain - Assignment
3 pages
Brittle Facture of A Crane Hook
No ratings yet
Brittle Facture of A Crane Hook
10 pages
Co-Requisite: Prerequisite: Data Book / Codes/Standards Course Category Course Designed by Approval
No ratings yet
Co-Requisite: Prerequisite: Data Book / Codes/Standards Course Category Course Designed by Approval
3 pages
DYNSIM Best Practices 4 - Header
No ratings yet
DYNSIM Best Practices 4 - Header
20 pages
RCD Lecture 1
No ratings yet
RCD Lecture 1
65 pages
Experiment 5. Resonance Tube - Report
No ratings yet
Experiment 5. Resonance Tube - Report
4 pages
AERODYN1 Part 8 Viscous Effects Boundary Layer and Flow Separation FVPB2
No ratings yet
AERODYN1 Part 8 Viscous Effects Boundary Layer and Flow Separation FVPB2
43 pages
Waves & Vibrations All Quizzes and Midterm Answers - Updated
No ratings yet
Waves & Vibrations All Quizzes and Midterm Answers - Updated
5 pages
Geohazards: Madhavi Latha Gali P. Raghuveer Rao Editors
33% (3)
Geohazards: Madhavi Latha Gali P. Raghuveer Rao Editors
753 pages
Engineering Thermodynamics Solutions Manual
No ratings yet
Engineering Thermodynamics Solutions Manual
32 pages