Essay 5

Tutorial for a Three-Dimensional Heat Conduction Problem

Using ANSYS
5.1 Introduction
The problem selected to illustrate the use of ANSYS software for a three-dimensional steadystate heat conduction problem is exhibited in Fig. 5.1.

Fig. 5. 1 Geometry of the selected three-dimensional solid for the heat conduction analysis

The front face of the figure, shown in gray tones, is heated uniformly by a paste-on heating
element. The heat flux
is uniform over that face. All of the other five faces of the solid
exchange heat by convection with the surrounding air environment. The temperature of the air is
22. The convective heat transfer coefficients on the two vertical sides are equal and have
values of 25 / . On the vertical face at the far end of the solid, the heat transfer
coefficient is 31 / . The top and bottom faces of the solid have a heat transfer
coefficient of 19 / .
The fact that the top and bottom faces have the same heat transfer coefficient means that the
temperature of the solid is symmetric about a horizontal plane that bisects the height of the solid.
That plane is indicated by the red lines in the figure. Similarly, the fact that the two sides have
identical heat transfer coefficients creates a symmetry plane identified by the yellow lines. These
planes subdivide the solid into four quadrants such that the temperature solution in each quadrant
is identical. Therefore, it is only necessary to solve the heat conduction problem in one of the
quadrants. The upper-right-hand quadrant will be selected for this purpose and is displayed in
Fig. 5.2.

5.1

Fig. 5. 2 Upper-right-hand quadrant of the solid of Fig. 5.1

For this newly defined geometry, it is appropriate to restate the boundary conditions. Of
particular note are the bottom and left-hand faces of this new geometry. Both of these faces are
symmetry planes. Since the temperatures above and below a symmetry plane are equal, there can
be no heat transfer across the bottom face of the solid of Fig. 5.2. A similar conclusion follows
for the left-hand face. As was stated in Essay 4, a no-heat-transfer surface of a solid is the default
boundary condition for the numerical solution.
The boundary conditions for the front face,
 , remains as before. On the right-hand
face,   25 / , and on the end face,   31 / . Also, as before, the value of 
on the top face is 19 / .
The desired results to be extracted from the ANSYS solution are:
(a) A color-contour diagram showing the temperature distributions on the top, right-hand
side, and far-end faces
(b) The temperature distribution along the length of the solid at the symmetry point which is
created by the intersection of the two symmetry planes

5.2 ANSYS Pre-Processor

Specifying problem physics:
Preferences
check Thermal > click on OK
Specifying element type:
Preprocessor > Element Type > Add/Edit/Delete
click on Add

5.2

 select Thermal Mass Solid > Select Brick 8node 70 > click on
OK > click on Close
(Brick 8node 70 is for three-dimensional heat conduction. For twodimensional analysis Quad 4node 55 may be used.)
Setting material properties:
> Material Props > Material Models
select Thermal > select Conductivity > select Isotropic > enter k value >
click on OK > select Exit from Material menu
Creating the geometry:
> Modeling > Create > Volumes > Block > By Dimensions
enter coordinates of two opposite corners > click on OK
Specifying element sizing:
> Meshing > Size Ctrls > Manual Size > Global > Size
enter element edge length > click on OK
(This meshing choice gives cubic elements.)
Creating the mesh:
> Mesh > Volumes > Mapped > 4 to 6 Sided
pick the volume > click on OK
Applying the boundary conditions:
Two paths:
> Preprocessor > Loads > Define Loads
> Solution > Define Loads
On the symmetry surfaces, there is no need to apply boundary conditions because, by default, the
no-heat transfer condition is automatically applied.
Applying heat flux BC:
On the front face
> Apply > Thermal > Heat Flux > On Areas
5.3

 pick the front face > click on OK

enter the heat flux value, 1000 / > click on OK
Applying convection BCs:
On the far-end face
> Apply > Thermal > Convection > On Areas
pick the far-end face > click on OK
enter heat transfer coefficient in the Film Coefficient text box
> enter the ambient temperature in the Bulk Temperature text box
> click on OK
On the top and right-hand faces, repeat the steps that were outlined for the far-end face.

5.3 ANSYS Solver

Solution > Solve > Current LS (Load Step)
review the status report presented by the software and then click on OK
(This starts the solution)

5.4 ANSYS Post-Processor

Displaying color-contour diagrams of temperature
General Postproc > Plot Results > Contour Plot > Nodal Solu
select DOF Solution > select Nodal Temperature > click on OK
Rotate the geometry using the graphic tools on the right-hand side panel to reveal the
appropriate faces. (top, far-end, and right-hand side respectively, one at a time)
In order to save the resulting picture as an image file:
Select PlotCtrls from the main menu and then from the drop-down menu, select Hard
Copy and select To File from the menu.
Specify file format (use JPG to get a more compressed file) > check Reverse Video
to have an image with bright background > enter the file name > click on OK

5.4

(The colors that appear on a color-contour diagram are keyed to a color stripe displayed
at the bottom of the diagram. The temperature range exhibited are the lowest and highest
temperatures obtained by the solution. Usually, there are nine color blocks in the stripe.
To change the range of the temperatures that are displayed at respective ends of the
stripe, the following steps can be performed.)
PlotCtrls > Style > Contours > Uniform Contours
Specify the number of intervals (or the contour value incr at the bottom of the
window) > Specify the minimum and maximum values of the desired temperature range
> make sure the user specified is checked > click on OK
Displaying the temperature distribution along the symmetry axis of the solid
In order to plot the temperature variation along the symmetry axis of the solid, we will
create a path on the axis, and then map temperature values onto the path, and then plot the
resulting map.
Defining the path
> Path Operations > Define Path > By Nodes
select the two end points of the path (it is easiest to select these points by
clicking near them on the graphical window. We may have to rotate and/or move
the object in order to be able to see the axis displayed.) > click on OK
specify the path name and number of divisions (the higher the number of
divisions, the smoother the graph will be.) > click on OK
Mapping the temperature distribution on the path
> select Map onto Path under the Path Operations
enter the variable name > select DOF Solution and Temperature TEMP >
click on OK
Displaying the graph
> Plot Path Items > On Graph
select the variable created in the previous step > click on OK

5.5