Chapter Six

Thermal Analysis
Thermal Analysis
Chapter Overview Training Manual

• In this chapter, performing steady-state and transient thermal

ANSYS Workbench – Simulation

analyses in Simulation will be covered:
A. Geometry
B. Assemblies – Solid Body Contact
C. Heat Loads
D. Solution Options
E. Results and Postprocessing
F. Workshop 6.1
G. Thermal Transient Setup
H. Transient Settings
I. Transient Loads
J. Transient Results
K. Workshop 6.2

• The capabilities described in this section are generally applicable

to ANSYS DesignSpace Entra licenses and above, except for an
ANSYS Structural license.

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Thermal Analysis
Basics of Steady-State Heat Transfer Training Manual

• For a steady-state (static) thermal analysis in Simulation,

ANSYS Workbench – Simulation

the temperatures {T} are solved for in the matrix below:

 K  T  T    Q T 
Assumptions:
– No transient effects are considered in a steady-state analysis
– [K] can be constant or a function of temperature
– {Q} can be constant or a function of temperature

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Thermal Analysis
Basics of Steady-State Heat Transfer Training Manual

• Fourier’s Law provides the basis of the previous equation:

ANSYS Workbench – Simulation

• Heat flow within a solid (Fourier’s Law) is the basis of [K]
• Heat flux, heat flow rate, and convection are treated as boundary
conditions on the system {Q}
• Convection is treated as a boundary condition although
temperature-dependent film coefficients are possible

• It is important to remember these assumptions related to

performing thermal analyses in Simulation.

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 Thermal Analysis
Physics Filters Training Manual

• If a thermal-only solution is to be performed the Physics

ANSYS Workbench – Simulation

Filter can be used to filter the GUI
– Under “View menu > Physics Filter,” unselect the “Structural”
and “Electromagnetic” options
– This applies to options in the “Environment” and “Solution”
levels only
– If a thermal-stress simulation is to be performed, do not turn
off the structural physics filter

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 Thermal Analysis
A. Geometry Training Manual

• In thermal analyses, all types of bodies supported by

ANSYS Workbench – Simulation

Simulation may be used.
– Solid, surface, and line bodies are supported
– For surface bodies, thickness must be input in the Details view
of the Geometry branch
– Line bodie cross-section and orientation is defined within
DesignModeler
– Cross-section and orientation information results in an
‘effective’ thermal cross-section
– Only temperature results are available for line bodies
– The “Point Mass” feature is not available in thermal analyses

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 Thermal Analysis
… Geometry Training Manual

• Shell and line body assumptions:

ANSYS Workbench – Simulation

– For shell bodies through-thickness temperature gradients are
not available. Shells assume temperatures on top and bottom
of surface are the same
– For line bodies through thickness variation in the temperature
is not available. Line bodies assume the temperature is
constant across the cross-section
• Temperature variation will still be considered along the line body

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 Thermal Analysis
… Material Properties Training Manual

ANSYS Workbench – Simulation

• The only required material property is thermal conductivity

– Thermal Conductivity is
input in the Engineering
Data application

– Temperature-dependent
thermal conductivity is
input as a table

If any temperature-dependent material properties exist, this will

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 Thermal Analysis
B. Assemblies – Solid Body Contact Training Manual

• When importing assemblies of solid parts, contact regions are

ANSYS Workbench – Simulation

automatically created between the solid bodies enabling heat
transfer between parts in an assembly

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Model shown is from a sample Inventor assembly.
6-9
 Thermal Analysis
… Assemblies – Contact Region Training Manual

– No heat spreading is considered in the contact/target interface

ANSYS Workbench – Simulation

• Heat flow within the contact region is in the contact normal
direction only
• Heat flows only if a target element is present in the normal
direction of a contact element

In the figure on the left, the solid

green double-arrows indicate
heat flow within the contact
region. Heat flow only occurs if a
target surface is normal to a
contact surface.
The light, dotted green arrows
indicate that no heat transfer will
occur between parts.

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 Thermal Analysis
… Assemblies – Contact Region Training Manual

– If the parts are initially in contact heat transfer will occur

ANSYS Workbench – Simulation

between the parts.
– If the parts are initially out of contact no heat transfer takes
place
– Summary:
Heat Transfe r Be tw een Parts in Conta ct Region?
Conta ct Type
Initially Touching Inside Pinball Region Outside Pinball Region
Bonded Yes Yes No
No Separation Yes Yes No
Rough Yes No No
Frictionless Yes No No

– The pinball region determines when contact occurs and is

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

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 Thermal Analysis
… Assemblies – Contact Region Training Manual

• If the contact is bonded or no separation, then

ANSYS Workbench – Simulation

heat transfer will occur (solid green lines)
when the surfaces are within the pinball
radius

Pinball Radius

In this figure on the right, the

gap between the two parts is
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 Thermal Analysis
… Assemblies – Thermal Conductance Training Manual

– The amount of heat flow between two parts is defined by the

ANSYS Workbench – Simulation

contact heat flux q:

q  TCC  Ttarget  Tcontact 

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

TCC  KXX 10,000 / ASMDIAG

– This essentially provides ‘perfect’ conductance between parts.

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Thermal Analysis
… Assemblies – Thermal Conductance Training Manual

• Perfect thermal contact conductance between parts means

ANSYS Workbench – Simulation

that no temperature drop is assumed at the interface
• One may want to include finite thermal conductance
instead
– The contact conductance can be influenced by many factors:
• surface flatness
• surface finish
• oxides
• entrapped fluids
• contact pressure
T
• surface temperature
• use of conductive grease T

x
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 Thermal Analysis
… Assemblies – Thermal Conductance Training Manual

• In ANSYS Professional licenses and above, the user may

ANSYS Workbench – Simulation

define a finite thermal contact conductance (TCC) if the
Pure Penalty or Augmented Lagrange Formulation is used
– The thermal contact conductance per unit area is input for
each contact region in the Details view
– If thermal contact resistance is known invert this value and
divide by the contacting area to obtain TCC value

If “Thermal Conductance” is left

at “Program Chosen,” near-
perfect thermal contact
conductance will be defined.
thermal contact conductance can
be input which is the same as
including thermal contact
resistance at a contact interface.

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 Thermal Analysis
… Assemblies – Thermal Conductance Training Manual

• Thermal Contact Notes:

ANSYS Workbench – Simulation

– For symmetric contact the user does not need to account for a
‘double’ thermal contact resistance
– MPC bonded contact allows for perfect thermal contact
conductance

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 Thermal Analysis
… Assemblies – Surface Body Contact Training Manual

• Edge contact is a subset of general

ANSYS Workbench – Simulation

contact:
– For contact including shell faces or solid
edges only bonded or no separation
behavior is allowed
– For contact involving shell edges only
bonded behavior using MPC formulation
is allowed:
• The user can set the search direction as
either
the target normal or pinball region.
• If a gap exists the pinball region can be
used for the search direction to detect
contact beyond a gap

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 Thermal Analysis
… Assemblies – Spot Weld Training Manual

• Spot welds provide discreet heat transfer points:

ANSYS Workbench – Simulation

– Spotweld definition is done in the CAD software (currently
only DesignModeler and Unigraphics)
– Spotwelds can be created in Simulation manually at vertices

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De signSpace x
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Structural
Mecha nical/Multiphysics x
De signMode le r x
Pro/ENGINEER
Unigra phics x
SolidW orks
Inventor
Solid Edge
Mecha nical Desktop
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IGES 6-18
 Thermal Analysis
C. Heat Loads Training Manual

• Heat Flow:

ANSYS Workbench – Simulation

– A heat flow rate can be applied to a vertex, edge, or surface. The
load gets distributed for multiple selections
– Heat flow has units of energy/time

• Heat Flux:
– A heat flux can be applied to surfaces only
– Heat flux has units of energy/time/area

• Internal Heat Generation:

– An internal heat generation rate can be applied to bodies only.
– Heat generation has units of energy/time/volume

A positive value for heat load will add energy to the system.

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 Thermal Analysis
… Adiabatic Conditions Training Manual

• Perfectly Insulated:

ANSYS Workbench – Simulation

– Perfectly insulated condition is applied to surfaces
– This is the default condition in thermal analyses when no load is
applied:
• This load type is used as a way to remove loading on specified surfaces
• For example, it may be easier for a user to apply heat flux or convection
on an entire part, then use the perfectly insulated condition to selectively
‘remove’ the loading on some surfaces

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 Thermal Analysis
… Thermal Boundary Conditions Training Manual

Temperature, Convection and Radiation:

ANSYS Workbench – Simulation

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

• Given Temperature:
– Imposes a temperature on vertices, edges, surfaces or bodies
– Temperature is the degree of freedom solved for

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 Thermal Analysis
… Thermal Boundary Conditions Training Manual

• Convection:

ANSYS Workbench – Simulation

– Applied to surfaces only (edges in 2D analyses)
– Convection q is related to a film coefficient h, the surface area
A, and the difference in the surface temperature Tsurface &
ambient temperature Tbulk

q  hATsurface  Tambient 

– “h” and “Tbulk” are user-input values

– The film coefficient h can be constant or temperature
dependent

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 Thermal Analysis
… Thermal Boundary Conditions Training Manual

• Temperature-Dependent Convection:

ANSYS Workbench – Simulation

– Select “New Convection…” for the Correlation
– The “Engineering Data” tab will open and the Coefficient Type can
then be defined for the convection load
– Determine what temperature is used for h(T):
• Average film temperature
T=(Tsurface+Tbulk)/2
• Surface temperature
T= Tsurface
• Bulk temperature
T= Tbulk
• Difference of surface and
bulk temperatures
T=(Tsurface-Tbulk)

Select the temperature-

dependency from the
pull-down menu

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 Thermal Analysis
… Thermal Boundary Conditions Training Manual

• Temperature-Dependent Convection (continued):

ANSYS Workbench – Simulation

• The user inputs the film coefficients and temperatures in a table.
The values are plotted on a graph, as shown below

Temperature-dependent
convection will result in a
nonlinear solution.
The only exception is if the film
coefficient h is based on a
function of the bulk temperature
only.

Right mouse click on the table

to add or delete values.

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 Thermal Analysis
… Thermal Boundary Conditions Training Manual

• Temperature-Dependent Convection (continued):

ANSYS Workbench – Simulation

• The convection data can also be imported from a file

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Thermal Analysis
… Thermal Boundary Conditions Training Manual

• Radiation:

ANSYS Workbench – Simulation

– Applied to surfaces (edges in 2D analyses)

QR  FA Tsurface
4
 Tambient
4

– Where:
• σ = Stefan-Boltzman constant
• ε = Emmisivity
• A = Area of radiating surface
• F = Form factor (1)

– Provides for radiation to ambient only (not between surfaces)

– Form factor assumed to be 1
– Stefan Boltzman constant is determined and set automatically based
on the active working unit system

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 Thermal Analysis
D. Solution Options Training Manual

• Solution options are set under the “Solutions” branch:

ANSYS Workbench – Simulation

– The ANSYS database can be saved
– Two solvers are available in Simulation:
• Default = Program Chosen
– Iterative = PCG solver
– Direct = sparse solver

– The “Weak Springs” and “Large Deflection”

options are meant for structural analyses only,
so they can be ignored for a thermal analysis

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 Thermal Analysis
… Solution Options Training Manual

• Informative settings show the user the status of the

ANSYS Workbench – Simulation

analysis:
– “Analysis Type”
– Nonlinear solution
– Solver working directory
– Any solver messages which appear after
solution can be checked afterwards under
“Solver Messages”

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 Thermal Analysis
… Solving the Model Training Manual

• To solve the model, request results and “Solve”

ANSYS Workbench – Simulation

– If a “Solution Information” branch is requested, the details of
the solution output can be examined

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 Thermal Analysis
… Solving the Model Training Manual

• To perform a thermal-stress solution add structural

ANSYS Workbench – Simulation

supports and/or loads and request structural results, then
solve the model
– The following will be performed automatically:
• A steady-state thermal analysis will be performed
• The temperature field will be mapped back onto the structural
model
• A structural analysis will be performed
– Simulation automates this type of coupled-field solution

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Thermal Analysis
E. Results and Postprocessing Training Manual

• Various results are available for postprocessing:

ANSYS Workbench – Simulation

– Temperature
– Heat Flux
– “Reaction” Heat Flow Rate

• In Simulation, results are usually requested before solving,

but they can be requested afterwards, too.
– A new solution is not required for retrieving output of a solved
model.

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 Thermal Analysis
… Temperature Training Manual

• Temperature:

ANSYS Workbench – Simulation

– Temperature is a scalar quantity and has no
direction associated with it.

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 Thermal Analysis
… Heat Flux Training Manual

• Heat flux contour or vector plots are available:

ANSYS Workbench – Simulation

– Heat flux q is defined as
q   KXX  T
– “Total Heat Flux” and “Directional Heat Flux” can be requested
• The magnitude & direction can be plotted as vectors by activating vector
mode

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 Thermal Analysis
… Reaction Heat Flow Rate Training Manual

• Reaction heat flow rates is available for Given Temperature

ANSYS Workbench – Simulation

or Convection boundary conditions:
– Reaction heat flow rate is printed in the Details view after a
solution.

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 Thermal Analysis
… Reaction Heat Flow Rate Training Manual

• The “Worksheet” tab for the “Environment” branch has a

ANSYS Workbench – Simulation

tabular summary of reaction heat flow rates
– Note: if a thermal support shares a vertex, edge, or surface
with another thermal support or load the reported reaction
heat flow rate may be incorrect. The solution will still be valid,
but the reported values may not be accurate

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Thermal Analysis
F. Workshop 6.1 – Steady State Thermal Analysis Training Manual

• Workshop 6.1 – Steady State Thermal Analysis

ANSYS Workbench – Simulation

• Goal:
– Analyze the pump housing shown below for its heat transfer
characteristics.

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Thermal Analysis
Transient Thermal Analysis Training Manual

• The previous discussion related to steady state analyses

ANSYS Workbench – Simulation

only. The following section introduces the ability to apply
time dependent boundary conditions on thermal models
• The previous sections are equally applicable in steady state
or transient analyses
• Three additional areas will be addressed concerning
transient analysis:
– Input time dependent boundary conditions
– Set up transient solution options
– Access results over time

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Thermal Analysis
G: Thermal Transient Setup Training Manual

• A thermal transient analysis is

ANSYS Workbench – Simulation

specified from the Environment
branch
• An “End Time” must then be
entered to indicate the duration of
the analysis
• Supported transient loads:
– Temperature
– Heat flux
– Heat generation rate
– Heat flow
– Convection film coefficient
– Ambient temperature for radiation or
convection

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Thermal Analysis
. . . Thermal Transient Setup Training Manual

• When a transient analysis is requested the GUI will update with

ANSYS Workbench – Simulation

new information sections:
– Environment will contain an “Initial Condition” branch
– Solution will contain a “Transient Settings” branch
– A timeline and table will be inserted below the graphics screen

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Thermal Analysis
. . . Initial Conditions Training Manual

• Initial conditions can be handled in 2 ways:

ANSYS Workbench – Simulation

– Uniform specified temperature
– Non uniform temperature distribution based on a
previously solved Environment
• Choose the steady state result to be used as an
initial condition then, RMB > “Generate Transient
Environment with Initial Condition”

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Thermal Analysis
H. Transient Settings Training Manual

• Transient settings and details:

ANSYS Workbench – Simulation

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Thermal Analysis
. . . Transient Settings Training Manual

• Transient Details:

ANSYS Workbench – Simulation

Tabular Data Curve Type Column
– Time stepping controls
– Visibility of transient
information

DT (Delta Time) Legend Chart Legend

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Thermal Analysis
. . . Transient Settings Training Manual

• Automatic Step Resets:

ANSYS Workbench – Simulation

– Automatic time step reset places resets
at extreme inflection points in the load
history
• The slider controls the reset frequency
– Manual resets can be added by RMB in
the transient settings graph and at the
desired time point
• Manual reset points can be moved by
dragging with the cursor

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Thermal Analysis
. . . Transient Settings Training Manual

• Time reset points are indicated by the triangular markers at

ANSYS Workbench – Simulation

the top of the chart
– Automatic resets: solid
– Manual resets: wire frame

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Thermal Analysis
. . . Transient Settings Training Manual

• The “visible” column in the time line

ANSYS Workbench – Simulation

legend controls specific information to
be plotted
– Notice here the heat flux is applied as a
step function with solution resets at each
inflection point

Time step reset

points

Heat flux history

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Thermal Analysis
I. Transient Loads Training Manual

• Transient loads are applied using the same techniques

ANSYS Workbench – Simulation

discussed earlier. The only difference will be the setup in
the details for the load

• Instead of choosing “Constant” (default), choose “Load

History”
• The history data can be imported from a previously saved
file or created using the Engineering Data application

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Thermal Analysis
. . . Transient Loads Training Manual

• After choosing “New Load History”, time and load data is entered

ANSYS Workbench – Simulation

in the Engineering Data application
• The plot builds as the data is entered

• Project load histories

are managed the same
way as materials and
convections

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 Thermal Analysis
J. Transient Results Training Manual

• Transient results are plotted like steady state, by highlighting the

ANSYS Workbench – Simulation

branch, however additional information and controls are available

The details view and

graphics legend
include the “display
time”

Timeline and tabular

data are available for
each result time
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Thermal Analysis
. . . Transient Results Training Manual

• To view results from different time points:

ANSYS Workbench – Simulation

– Click on the time point of interest in the timeline
– The details will indicate a red background until the results are
retrieved for the selected time point

Results not
updated New time point selected

– To complete the operation, in the timeline “RMB > Retrieve Results”

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Thermal Analysis
. . . Transient Results Training Manual

• Transient animations are

ANSYS Workbench – Simulation

controlled using the same
controller as steady state
animations
• To animate a specific
range use the mouse to
drag over the desired times
• The resulting animation
will span the highlighted
region

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Thermal Analysis
K. Workshop 6.2 – Transient Thermal Analysis Training Manual

• Workshop 6.2 – Transient Thermal Analysis

ANSYS Workbench – Simulation

• Goal:
– Analyze the heating base on a steam iron like the ones shown
here for steady state and cyclic loading conditions

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