Introduction to

Heat Transfer Module

Version 4.3b

Introduction to the Heat Transfer Module

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May 2013

COMSOL 4.3b

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Part No. CM020804

Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Basic Concepts Described in The Heat Transfer Module . . . . . . . . 2
The Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

The Heat Transfer Module Interfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

The Physics List by Space Dimension and Study Type . . . . . . . . . 11

The Model Library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Tutorial ExampleHeat Sink. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Model Definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Adding Surface-to-Surface Radiation Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

|i

ii |

Introduction
The Heat Transfer Module is used by product designers, developers, and
scientists, who use detailed geometrical descriptions to study the influence of
heating and cooling in devices or processes. It has modeling tools for the
simulation of all mechanisms of heat transfer including conduction, convection,
and radiation. Simulations can be run for transient and steady conditions in 1D,
1D axisymmetric, 2D, 2D axisymmetric, and 3D space coordinate systems.
The high level detail provided by these simulations allows for the optimization of
design and operational conditions in devices and processes influenced by heat
transfer.

Figure 1: Temperature and flow field in an aluminum heat sink and in cooling air that is pumped over the
heat sink. The temperature and flow field are solved using detailed geometry and a description of the
physics.

The Model Library contains tutorials models as well as industrial equipment and
device benchmark models for verification and validation.
This introduction fine tunes your COMSOL model building skills for heat transfer
simulations. The model tutorial solves a conjugate heat transfer problem from the
field of electronic cooling but the principles can be applied to any other field
involving heat transfer in solids and fluids.

Introduction

|1

Basic Concepts Described in The Heat Transfer Module

Heat is one form of energy that, similar to work, is in transit from inside a system
or from one system to another. This energy may be stored as kinetic or potential
energy in the atoms and molecules in a system.
Conduction is the form of heat transfer that can be described as proportional to
the temperature gradients in a system. This is formulated mathematically by
Fouriers law. The Heat Transfer Module describes conduction in systems with
constant thermal conductivity and in systems where thermal conductivity is a
function of temperature itself or of any other model variable, for example chemical
composition.

Radiation

Conduction
and
Convection

Conduction

Figure 2: Heat transfer in a system containing a solid surrounded by a fluid (conjugate heat transfer). In
the fluid, heat transfer can take place through conduction and convection, while conduction is the main
heat transfer mechanism in solids. Heat transfer by radiation can occur between surfaces or between
surfaces and ambient.

In the case of a moving fluid, the energy transported by the fluid has to be
modeled in combination with fluid flow. This is referred to as convection of heat
and has to be accounted for in forced and free convection (conduction and
advection). This module includes descriptions for heat transfer in fluids and
conjugate heat transfer (heat transfer in solids and fluids in the one system) for
both laminar and turbulent flows. In the case of turbulent flow the module offers
high-Reynolds or, alternatively, low-Reynolds models to accurately describe
conjugate heat transfer.

2 | Introduction

Radiation is the third mechanism for heat transfer included in the module. It is
modeled using expressions for surface-to-ambient radiation (for example, by
defining boundary conditions) and also by using surface-to-surface radiation
models, which includes external radiation sources (for example, the sun). The
surface-to-surface radiation capabilities are based on the radiosity method. In
addition, the module also contains functionality for radiation in participating
media. This radiation model accounts for the absorption, emission, and scattering
of radiation by the fluid present between radiating surfaces.
The basis of the Heat Transfer Module is the balance of energy in a studied system.
The contributions to this energy balance originate from conduction, convection,
and radiation but also from latent heat, Joule heating, heat sources, and heat sinks.
In the case of moving solids, translational terms may also be included in the heat
transfer models, for example for solids in rotating machinery. Effects of solid
deformations on thermal properties can also be included. Physical properties and
heat sources (or sinks) can be described as arbitrary expressions of the dependent
variables in a model (for example, temperature and electric field). The heat transfer
equations are defined automatically by the dedicated physics interfaces for heat
transfer and fluid flow. The formulations of these equations can be visualized in
detail for validation and verification purposes.
Physical properties such as thermal conductivity, heat capacity, density, and
emissivity can be obtained from the built-in material library for solids and fluids
and from the add-on Material Library in COMSOL. In addition, the module
contains relations for the calculation of heat transfer coefficients for different types
of convective heat transfer from a surface. For turbulent heat transfer, it also
features relations that calculate the thermal conductivity in turbulent flow using
the eddy diffusivity from turbulence models (sometimes referred to as turbulent
conductivity).
The work flow in the module is straightforward and is described by these steps
define the geometry, select the material to be modeled, select the type of heat
transfer, define the boundary and initial conditions, define the finite element
mesh, select a solver, and visualize the results. All these steps are accessed from the
COMSOL Desktop. The mesh and solver steps are often automatically completed
with the default settings, which are already tuned for each type of heat transfer
interface.

The Applications
Heat generation and transfer are present in most physical processes and
phenomena, either as side effects or as desired effects. The module can be
effectively used to study a variety of processes, for example to include building
ventilation effects, to account for turbulent free convection and heat transfer, to

Introduction

|3

analyze the impact of electronic microdevice heat generation and cooling, and to
study phase change effects.
The Heat Transfer Modules Model Library contains tutorial and benchmark
models from different engineering fields and applications. See The Model
Library to find out how to access the models.
The Building and Constructions section in the Model Library includes models
that are related to energy efficiency and dissipation in buildings. Most of these
models use convective heat flux to account for heat exchange between a structure
and the surroundings. Simulation provides accurate description of the heat and
energy fluxes which facilitates energy management in building and constructions.

Figure 3: Temperature field in a building wall exposed to cold environment. This plot is from the model
Thermal Bridge 3D Two Floors.

The Heat Exchangers section in the Model Library present several heat exchangers
with different sizes, flow arrangements and flow regimes. They benefit from the
predefined conjugate heat transfer interface that provides ready to use coupling
between solids, shells and laminar or turbulent flows. The simulation results
determine the heat exchangers properties like their efficiency, pressure loss or
compactness.

4 | Introduction

Figure 4: Wall temperature in a shell and pipe heat exchanger resulting from the heat exchange between
a cold and a hot fluid separated by a thin wall. This plot is from the model Shell and Tube Heat
Exchanger.

The Medical Technology section in the Model Library introduces the concept of
bioheating, where the influence of various processes in living tissue are accounted
for as contributing to heat flux and as sources and sinks in the heat balance. The
types of bioheating applications modeled include hyperthermia cancer therapy,
such as microwave heating of tumors, and the interaction between microwave
antennas and living tissue, for example, the influence of cellphone use to the
temperature of tissue close to the ear. The benefit of using the bioheat equation
is that it has been validated for different types of living tissue using empirical data
for the different properties, sources, and sinks. The models and simulations
defined in this interface provide excellent complements to experimental and
clinical trials, which may be used, for example, to develop new methods for dose
planning.
The Phase Change section in the Model Library presents applications such as
metal melting or food cooking. The common feature with these models is that
the temperature field defines the material phase which has a very large impact on
the material properties. The highly nonlinear behavior of the material properties
as a function of temperature are automatically generated by the heat transfer with
phase change feature. The phase change modeling provides information to
control material transformation.

Introduction

|5

The Power Electronics and Electronic Cooling section in the Model Library
includes models that often involve heat generation and heat transfer in solids and
conjugate heat transfer, where cooling is described in greater detail. The models
in these applications are often used to design cooling systems and control the
operating conditions of electronic devices and power systems. When the model
results are interpreted, it provides the tools needed to understand and optimize
the flow and heat transfer mechanisms in these systems.

Figure 5: Temperature field as a result of conjugate heat transfer in computer Power Supply Unit (PSU).
This plot is from the model Electronic Enclosure Cooling. .

The Thermal Contact and Friction section in the Model Library contains
examples where the thermal cooling is dependent on a thermal contact or where
the heat source is due to friction. The thermal contact properties can be coupled
with a structural mechanics that provides the contact pressure at the interface. It
is also possible to combine thermal contact and electrical contact in the same
model.
The Thermal Processing section in the Model Library has examples including
thermal processing of materials such as continuous casting. The common feature
with these most of these models is that the temperature field and the temperature
variations have a very large impact on the material properties or the physical
behavior (thermal expansion, thermophoresis, ...) of the modeled processes and
devices. These couplings make these processes difficult to predict and understand.

6 | Introduction

Modeling and simulation often provide a shortcut to this understanding, which is

required to design and operate a system.

Figure 6: Temperature field plot from the Continuous Casting model. A sharp temperature gradient is
found across the mushy layer, where the liquid metal solidifies..

The Thermal Radiation section in the Model Library contains applications where
the heat transfer by radiation needs to be considered to describe the heat flux
accurately. The common feature between these models is that they contain
devices at high temperature which are responsible for high radiative heat transfer.
The complexity of such models is due to nonlinearity resulting from radiative
heat transfer modeling and the geometrical effects like shielding between two
radiating objects, in particular when the geometry is moving or deformed during
the simulation.
The Thermal Stress section in the Model Library presents models where the
temperature field generates thermal expansion. These models requires the
Structural Mechanics Module or the MEMS Module for the structural mechanics
part. The thermal stress can results from heat exchanges between cold and hot
devices or from heat sources like a Joule heating.
The next section describes the available interfaces in this module.

Introduction

|7

The Heat Transfer Module Interfaces

The figure below shows the Heat Transfer interfaces included in the Heat Transfer
Module. These physics interfaces describe different heat transfer mechanisms and
also include predefined expressions for sources and sinks. The Heat Transfer
interfaces are available in 1D, 2D, 2D axisymmetric, 3D, and for stationary and
time-dependent analyses.

H EAT TRANSFER
The Heat Transfer in Solids interface ( ) describes, by default, heat transfer by
conduction. It is also able to account for heat flux due to translation in solids, for
example, the rotation of a disk or the linear translation of a shaft. It also account
for the solid deformation, its volume or surface changes.
The Heat Transfer in Fluids interface ( ) accounts for conduction and
convection in gases and liquids as the default heat transfer mechanisms. The
coupling to the flow field in the convection term may be entered manually in the
user interface or it may be selected from a list that couples heat transfer to an
existing fluid flow interface. The Heat Transfer in Fluids interface may be used
when the flow field has already been calculated and the heat transfer problem is
added afterwards, typically for simulations of forced convection.
The Heat Transfer in Porous Media interface ( ) combines conduction in a
porous matrix and in the fluid contained in the pore structure with the convection
of heat generated by the flow of the fluid. This physics interface provides a power
law or user-defined expression for the effective heat transfer properties and a
predefined expression for dispersion in porous media. Dispersion is caused by the
tortuous path of the liquid in the porous media, which would not be described if

8 | The Heat Transfer Module Interfaces

only the mean convective term was taken into account. This interface may be used
for a wide range of porous materials, from porous structures in the pulp and paper
industry to the simulation of heat transfer in soil and rock.
The Bioheat Transfer interface ( ) is a dedicated interface for heat transfer in
living tissue. The bioheat model described in this interface has been verified for
different types of living tissue, where also empirical data is available for physical
properties, sources, and sinks. Apart from data such as thermal conductivity, heat
capacity, and density, tabulated data is also available for blood perfusion rates and
metabolic heat sources.
The Heat Transfer in Shells interface ( ) contains descriptions for heat transfer
where large temperature variations may be present in a 3D structure but where the
temperature differences across the thickness of the material of the structure are
negligible. Typical examples may be structures like tanks, pipes, heat exchangers,
airplane fuselages, and so forth. This physics interface can be combined with other
heat transfer interfaces, for example to model the walls of a tank using the Heat
Transfer in Thin Shells interface while the Heat Transfer in Fluids feature may be
used to model the fluid inside the tank. In many cases using the Highly
Conductive Layer boundary condition is the easiest solution.

C ONJUGATE H EAT TRANSFER

The Conjugate Heat Transfer interfaces ( ) describe heat transfer in solids and
fluids and nonisothermal flow in the fluid. The heat transfer process is tightly
coupled with the fluid flow problem and the physics interfaces include features for
describing heat transfer in free and forced convection, including pressure work and
viscous heating. These physics interfaces are available for laminar and turbulent
nonisothermal flow. For highly accurate simulations of heat transfer between a
solid and a fluid in the turbulent flow regime, low-Reynolds turbulence models
resolve the temperature field in the fluid all the way to the solid wall in the
Turbulent Flow, Low-Re k- interface ( ). The standard k- turbulence model
in the Turbulent Flow, k- interface ( ) is computationally inexpensive
compared to the other turbulent models but also usually less accurate.
If you also have the CFD Module, three additional turbulent models are available.
For less computationally expensive simulations, where wall heat transfer is less
important, the k- turbulence model gives good accuracy at a comparably low
cost. The Spalart-Allmaras interface is a dedicated interface for conjugate heat
transfer in aerodynamics, for example for the simulation of wing profiles. The SST
(Shear Stress Transport) interface is suitable for many external flows cases or
internal flows with sudden expansions.

The Heat Transfer Module Interfaces

|9

R ADIATION
The Heat Transfer interface for radiation belong to essentially two different
groups of radiation modeling interfaces: the surface-to-surface radiation and the
radiation in participating media interfaces. The Heat Transfer with
Surface-to-Surface Radiation interface ( ) combines heat transfer in fluid or
solids including conduction and convection with surface-to-surface radiation. The
surface-to-surface radiation accounts for surface properties dependency to the
spectral bands. For example, making the difference between ambient radiation
(large wavelengths) and the sun radiation (small wavelengths) is necessary to
model green house effect. The Heat Transfer with Radiation in Participating
Media interface ( ) combines heat transfer by conduction and convection in
solids and fluids with radiation where absorption or emission of radiation is taken
into account by the radiation model. In addition the Surface-to-Surface Radiation
interface ( ) describes systems where only radiation is computed, typically to
estimate radiation between surfaces in space applications where the surface
temperature is known. The corresponding Radiation in Participating Media
interface ( ) computes the radiation, including absorption and emission effects,
in a media where the temperature is known.

E LECTROMAGNETIC H EATING
The Joule Heating interface ( ) is a multiphysics interface that couples electric
heating and current conduction in electric conductors with heat transfer for
modeling of Joule heating (resistive heating). This multiphysics interface includes
the features from the Heat Transfer in Solids interface with the Electric Current
interface including predefined couplings for Joule heating.

10 | The Heat Transfer Module Interfaces

The Physics List by Space Dimension and Study Type

The table lists the physics interfaces available with this module in addition to those
included with the COMSOL basic license.
PHYSICS

ICON

TAG

SPACE DIMENSION

PRESET STUDY TYPE

Single-Phase Flow, Laminar Flow*

spf

3D, 2D, 2D
axisymmetric

stationary; time
dependent

Turbulent Flow, k-

spf

3D, 2D, 2D
axisymmetric

stationary; time
dependent

Turbulent Flow, Low Re k-

spf

3D, 2D, 2D
axisymmetric

stationary with
initialization; transient
with initialization

Laminar Flow

nitf

3D, 2D, 2D
axisymmetric

stationary; time
dependent

Turbulent Flow, k-

nitf

3D, 2D, 2D
axisymmetric

stationary; time
dependent

Turbulent Flow, Low Re k-

nitf

3D, 2D, 2D
axisymmetric

stationary with
initialization; transient
with initialization

Heat Transfer in Solids*

ht

all dimensions

stationary; time
dependent

Heat Transfer in Fluids*

ht

all dimensions

stationary; time
dependent

Heat Transfer in Porous Media

ht

all dimensions

stationary; time
dependent

Bioheat Transfer

ht

all dimensions

stationary; time
dependent

Heat Transfer in Thin Shells

hts
h

3D

stationary; time
dependent

nitf

3D, 2D, 2D
axisymmetric

stationary; time
dependent

Fluid Flow
Single-Phase Flow

Non-Isothermal Flow

Heat Transfer

Conjugate Heat Transfer

Laminar Flow

The Heat Transfer Module Interfaces

| 11

PHYSICS

TAG

SPACE DIMENSION

PRESET STUDY TYPE

Turbulent Flow, k-

ICON

nitf

3D, 2D, 2D
axisymmetric

stationary; time
dependent

Turbulent Flow, Low Re k-

nitf

3D, 2D, 2D
axisymmetric

stationary with
initialization; transient
with initialization

Heat Transfer with

Surface-to-Surface Radiation

ht

all dimensions

stationary; time
dependent

Heat Transfer with Radiation in

Participating Media

ht

3D, 2D

stationary; time
dependent

Surface-to-Surface Radiation

rad

all dimensions

stationary; time
dependent

Radiation in Participating Media

rp
m

3D, 2D

stationary; time
dependent

jh

all dimensions

stationary; time
dependent

Radiation

Electromagnetic Heating
Joule Heating*

* This is an enhanced interface, which is included with the base COMSOL package but has added
functionality for this module.

12 | The Heat Transfer Module Interfaces

The Model Library

To open a Heat Transfer Module Model Library model, select View > Model
from the main menu in COMSOL Multiphysics. In the Model Library
Library
window that opens, expand the Heat Transfer Module folder and browse or search
the contents. Click Open Model and PDF to open the model in COMSOL
Multiphysics and a PDF to read background theory about the model including the
step-by-step instructions to build it.
The MPH-files in the COMSOL model libraries can have two formatsFull
MPH-files or Compact MPH-files.
Full MPH-files, including all meshes and solutions. In the Model Library

these models appear with the

icon. If the MPH-files size exceeds 25MB,
a tip with the text Large file and the file size appears when you position
the cursor at the models node in the Model Library tree.
Compact MPH-files with all settings for the model but without built meshes

and solution data to save space on the DVD (a few MPH-files have no
solutions for other reasons). You can open these models to study the settings
and to mesh and re-solve the models. It is also possible to download the full
versionswith meshes and solutionsof most of these models through
Model Library Update. In the Model Library these models appear with the
icon. If you position the cursor at a compact model in the Model Library
window, a No solutions stored message appears. If a full MPH-file is
available for download, the corresponding nodes context menu includes a
Model Library Update item.
A model from the Model Library is used as a tutorial in this guide. See Tutorial
ExampleHeat Sink starting on page 14.

The Model Library

| 13

Tutorial ExampleHeat Sink

This model is an introduction to simulations of fluid flow and conjugate heat
transfer. It demonstrates the following important points. How to:
Define heat transfer in solids and fluids, including fluid flow.
Set a total heat source on a domain using automatic volume computation.
Model the temperature difference between two surfaces in the presence of a

thin thermally resistive layer.

Include the radiative heat transfer between surfaces in a model.

Model Definition
The modeled system consists of an aluminum heat sink for the cooling of an
electronic component. See Figure 7

Figure 7: Heat sink and electronic component geometry

The heat sink is mounted inside a channel of rectangular cross section (see
Figure 7). Such a set-up is used to measure the cooling capacity of heat sinks. Air
enters the channel at the inlet and exits the channel at the outlet. To improve the
thermal contact between the base surface of the heat sink and the top surface of
the electronic component, thermal grease is used. All other external faces are
thermally insulated. The heat dissipated by the electronic component is equal to
1W and is distributed in all the component volume.
The cooling capacity of the heat sink can be determined by monitoring the
temperature in the electronic component.
The model solves a thermal balance for the electronic component, the heat sink,
and the air flowing in the rectangular channel. Thermal energy is transported

14 | Tutorial ExampleHeat Sink

through conduction in the electronic component and the aluminum heat sink.
The temperature field is discontinuous at the interface between the electronic
component and the heat sink due to the presence of a thin resistive layer (thermal
grease). Thermal energy is transported through conduction and convection in the
cooling air. The temperature field is continuous across the internal surfaces
between the heat sink and the air in the channel. The temperature is set at the inlet
of the channel. A total power of 1 W is dissipated in the electronic component.
The transport of thermal energy at the outlet is dominated by convection.
In the first step of the model, heat transfer by radiation between surfaces has been
neglected. This assumption is valid as the surfaces have low emissivity (close to 0),
which is usually the case for polished metals. When the surface emissivity is large
(close to 1), the surface-to-surface radiation should then be considered. This is
done in the second step of this tutorial. The model is modified to account for
surface-to-surface radiation at the channel and heat sink boundaries. Assuming
that the surfaces have been treated with black paint, the surface emissivity is close
to 1 in this second case.
The flow field is obtained by solving one momentum balance for each space
coordinate (x, y, and z) and a mass balance. The inlet velocity is defined by a
parabolic velocity profile for fully developed laminar flow. At the outlet, a constant
pressure is combined with the assumption that there are no viscous stresses in the
direction perpendicular to the outlet. At all solid surfaces, the velocity is set to zero
in all three spatial directions.
The thermal conductivity of air, the heat capacity of air, and the air density are all
temperature-dependent material properties. You can find all of the settings
mentioned in the physics interface for Conjugate Heat Transfer in COMSOL
Multiphysics. You also find the material properties, including their temperature
dependence, in the Material Browser.

Tutorial ExampleHeat Sink

| 15

Results
In Figure 8, the hot wake behind the heat sink is a sign of the convective cooling
effects. The maximum temperature, reached in the electronic component, is about
377 K.

Figure 8: The surface plot shows the temperature field on the channel walls and the heat sink surface,
while the arrow plot shows the flow velocity field around the heat sink.

In the second step, the temperature and velocity fields are obtained when
surface-to-surface radiation is included and the surface emissivities are large.
Figure 9 shows that the maximum temperature, about 356K, is decreased by
about 21K compared to the first case in Figure 8. This confirms that radiative heat

16 | Tutorial ExampleHeat Sink

transfer is not negligible when the surface emissivity is close to 1.

Figure 9: Effects of surface-to-surface radiation on temperature and velocity fields. The surface plot
shows the temperature field on the channel walls and the heat sink surface, while the arrow plot shows
the flow velocity field around the heat sink.

Tutorial ExampleHeat Sink

| 17

M o d e l W i z a rd
1 Open COMSOL Multiphysics. In the Model Wizard window the Space
Dimension defaults to 3D. Click Next .
2 In the Add physics tree under Heat Transfer>Conjugate Heat Transfer ,
double-click Laminar Flow (nitf)
to add it to the Selected physics list. Click
Next .
3 In the Studies tree, under Preset Studies select Stationary
4 Click Finish

Geometr y 1
Follow these steps to import the parameterized model geometry from a separate
MPH-file:
1 In the Model Builder window, under Model 1 right-click Geometry 1
choose Insert Sequence from File .

and

2 Browse to the models Model Library folder and double-click the file
heat_sink_geom_sequence.mph. The file containing the sequence is found in
COMSOL43b\models\Heat_Transfer_Module\Tutorial_Models,_Forced
and Natural Convection\

Import 1
1 In the Model Builder window, under
Model 1>Geometry 1 click Import 1 .
2 In the Import settings window, locate the
Import section.
3 Click the Browse button.
4 Browse to the models Model Library
folder and double-click the file
heat_sink.mphbin.
5 Click the Import button.
6 Click the Build All button

7 Click the Go to Default 3D View button

on the Graphics toolbar.

18 | Tutorial ExampleHeat Sink

Note: The exact location of the files used in this exercise vary based on the
installation. For example, if the installation is on your hard drive, the file path
might be similar to C:\Program Files\COMSOL43b\
models\Heat_Transfer_Module\Tutorial_Models\

Global Definitions
Parameters
1 In the Model Builder window, under Global Definitions

click Parameters

2 In the Parameters settings window, locate the Parameters section.

3 In the table, enter the following settings:
NAME

EXPRESSION

DESCRIPTION

U0

5[cm/s]

Mean inlet velocity

T0

20[degC]

Inlet temperature

P_tot

1[W]

Total power dissipated by the

electronic package

Together with the parameters conatined in the geometry sequence file, the
parameter list should look as follows:

Tutorial ExampleHeat Sink

| 19

Mate rials
To facilitate face selection in the next steps, use the wireframe rendering option.

Air and Aluminum 3003-H18

1 Click the WireFrame Rendering button

on the Graphics toolbar.

2 From the main menu, select

View>Material Browser .
3 In the Material Browser window in the
Materials tree under Built-In,
right-click Air and choose Add
Material to Model .
By default, the first material added applies
to all domains. Typically, you can leave
this setting and add other materials that
override the default material where
applicable. In this example, specify
aluminum for Domain 2.
4 Go to the Material Browser window.
5 In the Materials tree under Built-In,
right-click Aluminum 3003-H18 and
choose Add Material to Model .
6 In the Model Builder, click Aluminum
3003-H18 .

7 In the Graphics window, select Domain 2 only and add it to the Selection list.

Silica Glass
1 Go to the Material Browser. In the Materials tree under Built-In, right-click
Silica glass and choose Add Material to Model .
2 In the Model Builder, click Silica glass
3 Select Domain 3 only.

20 | Tutorial ExampleHeat Sink

Thermal Grease
1 In the Model Builder, right-click Materials and choose Material

2 In the Material settings window, locate the Geometric Entity Selection section.
3 From the Geometric entity level list, choose Boundary. Select Boundary 34
only.
4 Right-click Material 4 and choose Rename (or press F2). Enter Thermal
Grease in the New name field. Click OK.
5 In the Material settings window,
click to expand the Material
Properties section.
6 In the Material properties tree,
select Basic Properties>Thermal
Conductivity.
7 Click the Add to Material button
under the table.

8 Under the Material Contents section, in the table, enter the following settings:

The final node sequence under Materials should match this figure.

Tutorial ExampleHeat Sink

| 21

C o n j u ga te H e a t Tra n sfe r ( n i t f)
Now define the physical properties of the model. Start by adding a Fluid feature
to define the fluid domain.

Fluid 1
1 In the Model Builder, under Conjugate Heat Transfer (nitf)

, click Fluid 1

2 In the Fluid settings window select Domain 1 only.

Next use the power parameter to define the total heat source equal in the
electronic package.

Heat Source 1
1 In the Model Builder, right-click Conjugate Heat Transfer
domain setting Heat Transfer>Heat Source .

and choose the

2 In the Heat Source settings window, under Domain Selection, select Domain 3
only.
3 Under the Heat Source section, click the Total power button. In the Ptot field,
enter P_tot.
For the default Wall node, No slip is the default boundary condition for the fluid.
Define the inlet and outlet conditions as described below.

22 | Tutorial ExampleHeat Sink

Inlet 1
1 In the Model Builder, right-click
Conjugate Heat Transfer (nitf)
and
choose the boundary condition Laminar
Flow>Inlet .
2 In the Inlet settings window, select
Boundary 121 only.
3 Under Boundary Condition from the
Boundary condition list, select Laminar
inflow.
4 Under Laminar Inflow in the Uav field,
enter U0.

Outlet 1
1 In the Model Builder, right-click Conjugate Heat Transfer (nitf)
the boundary condition Laminar Flow>Outlet .
2 Click the Zoom Extents button

and choose

on the Graphics toolbar.

3 In the Outlet settings window select Boundary 1 only.

The node sequence in the Model Builder
should match this figure so far. The D in
the upper left corner of a node means it is a
default node.
Thermal insulation is the default boundary
condition for the temperature. Define the
inlet temperature and the outlet condition.

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| 23

Temperature 1
1 In the Model Builder, right-click Conjugate Heat Transfer (nitf)
the boundary level choose Heat Transfer>Temperature .

and from

2 In the Temperature settings window select Boundary 121 only.

3 Under the Temperature section in the T0 field, enter T0.

Outflow 1
1 In the Model Builder, right-click Conjugate Heat Transfer (nitf)
the boundary condition Heat Transfer>Outflow .

and choose

2 In the Outflow settings window select Boundary 1 only.

Thin Thermally Resistive Layer 1

1 In the Model Builder, right-click Conjugate Heat Transfer (nitf) and choose
the boundary condition Heat Transfer>Thin Thermally Resistive Layer .
2 In the Thin Thermally Resistive Layer settings window select Boundary 34 only.

24 | Tutorial ExampleHeat Sink

3 Under Thin Thermally Resistive Layer in the ds field, enter 50[um].

The node sequence in the Model Builder under Conjugate Heat Transfer should
match the figure.

Me sh 1
Free Tetrahedral 1 and Size
1 In the Model Builder under Model 1 (mod1), click Mesh 1

2 Go to the Mesh settings window. Under Mesh Settings from the Element Size
list, select Extra coarse.
3 Click the Build All button

To get a better view of the mesh, suppress some of the boundaries.

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| 25

4 In the Graphics window, select Boundaries 1, 2, and 4 only. Click the Hide
Selected button
on the toolbar. The mesh is generated and displayed as
shown in the figure below.

To get more accuracy in the numerical results, this mesh can be refined by
choosing another predefined element size. However, doing so requires more
computational time and memory.

Study 1
1 In the Model Builder, right-click Study 1

and choose Compute

Two default plots are generated automatically. The first one shows the velocity
magnitude on five parallel slices. The second one shows the temperature on the
wall boundaries. Add an arrow plot to visualize the velocity field.

26 | Tutorial ExampleHeat Sink

Results
Temperature (nitf)
1 Under Results right-click Temperature
(nitf) and choose Arrow Volume . You
notice that the velocity field is represented
by default.
2 Go to the Arrow Volume settings window.
Under Data from the Data set list, select
Solution 1.

3 Under Arrow Positioning:

- In the x grid points Points field, enter 20.
- In the y grid points Points field, enter 10.
- In the z grid points subsection from the

Entry method list, select Coordinates.

- In the Coordinates field, enter 5e-3 or
5[mm].

4 In the Model Builder, right-click Arrow

Volume 1
and choose Color Expression
.
5 Go to the Color Expression settings
window. In the upper-right corner of the
Expression section, click Replace
Expression
.
6 From the menu, choose Conjugate Heat
Transfer (Laminar Flow)>Velocity
magnitude (nitf.U) (or enter nitf.U in the
Expression field).
7 Click the Plot button

The plot in Figure 8 on page 16 is displayed

in the Graphics window.

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| 27

Adding Surface-to-Surface Radiation Effects

Now we can modify the model to include surface-to-surface radiation effects. First
we need to enable surface to surface property in the physics interface. Then, we
will study the effects of surface to surface radiation between the heat sink and the
channel walls.

C o n j u ga te H e a t Tra n sfe r
You can continue using the model built so far, or you can open the model from
the Model Library.
1 To open the model in the Model Library, select View>Model Library. Under the
Heat Transfer Module>Tutorial_Models,_Forced and Natural Convection
folder, click heat_sink and click Open.
2 In the Model Builder, under Model 1, click Conjugate Heat Transfer
3 In the Conjugate Heat Transfer settings
window, under the Physical Model
section, click to select the
Surface-to-surface radiation check box.
Now it is possible to add the surface to
surface boundary condition to the model.

Surface-to-Surface Radiation 1
1 Right-click Conjugate Heat Transfer
and choose the boundary condition
Surface-to-Surface
Radiation>Surface-to-Surface
Radiation .
A Surface-to-Surface Radiation node
with a second default Initial Values
node is added to the Model Builder.
2 In the Model Builder, click the
Surface-to-Surface Radiation 1
node .

28 | Tutorial ExampleHeat Sink

3 Select Boundaries 6,7,930,36109,

and 111120 only.
Note: There are many ways to select
geometric entities. When you know the
domain to add, such as in this example,
you can click the Paste Selection
button
and enter the information in
the Selection field. For more information
about selecting geometric entities in the
Graphics window, see the COMSOL
Multiphysics Reference Manual.
4 In the Surface-to-Surface Radiation
settings window, under Surface
Emissivity, from the list, choose User
defined. Enter 0.85 in the Surface
emissivity edit field.
By default the radiation direction is
controlled by the opacity of the domains.
The solid parts are automatically defined as
opaque while the fluid parts are
transparent. You can change these settings
by modifying or adding an Opaque
subnode under Heat Transfer in Solids and
Fluid nodes.

Surface-to-Surface Radiation 2
1 Add another Surface-to-Surface Radiation node. In the Model Builder,
right-click Conjugate Heat Transfer
and choose the boundary condition
Surface-to-Surface Radiation>Surface-to-Surface Radiation .
2 Select Boundaries 25 only.
3 In the Surface-to-Surface Radiation settings window, under Surface Emissivity
from the list, choose User defined. Enter 0.9 in the Surface emissivity edit
field.
4 Under Radiation Settings, from the
Radiation direction list, choose
Negative normal direction.
This setting defines the channel interior
as transparent and the exterior as opaque.

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| 29

M o d e l W i z a rd
In order to keep the previous solution and to be able to compare it with this
version of the model, add a second stationary study.
1 In the Model Builder, right-click the Root node and choose Add Study.

2 The Add Study window opens in the Model Wizard. Under Preset Studies select
Stationary .
3 Click Finish

Study 2
Step 1: Stationary
1 In the Model Builder, right-click Study 2

and choose Compute

Results
The same default plots are generated as in Results on page 27. In this step, you
can edit the temperature plot to compare the results.

Temperature (nitf) 1
1 Under Results right-click Temperature (nitf)
and choose Arrow Volume
You notice that the velocity field is represented by default.
2 Under Data from the Data set list, choose Solution 2.

30 | Tutorial ExampleHeat Sink

3 Under Arrow Positioning:

- In the x grid points Points field, enter
20.
- In the y grid points Points field, enter
10.
- In the z grid points subsection from the

Entry method list, select Coordinates.

- In the Coordinates field, enter 5e-3 or
5[mm].

4 Under Results, right-click Arrow Volume

1
and choose Color Expression .
5 In the Color Expression settings window
click the Replace Expression button
.
6 From the menu, choose Conjugate Heat Transfer (Laminar Flow)>Velocity
magnitude (nitf.U).
7 Click the Plot button . The plot that displays should look the same as below
and Figure 9 on page 17

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| 31

32 | Tutorial ExampleHeat Sink