Specifying a Coupling Resolution

The Coupling Resolution option lets you control the accuracy of the coupling. Two different approaches are available: One to One resolution, and a series of five resolution settings ranging from Coarse to Finest.

• With One to One resolution, the solver calculates a single conductance from each primary element to the nearest secondary element. Some inaccuracy may be introduced in the exact location of the conductance on the larger surface, but the general trend of in-plane conductance is maintained. This is adequate for most applications.With One to One resolution, you can improve the coupling's accuracy by:Using a finer mesh on the primary surface than on the secondary surface.Matching the meshes on the two surfaces so that there is a one to one correspondence between nodes, and so that each primary element shadows only one secondary element. The nodes do not have to match perfectly.

• With the settings Coarse through Finest, each primary element is divided into a progressively larger number of sub-elements. For each sub-element, an area proportional conductance is created to the nearest of the secondary elements. Once conductances from each of the sub-elements are calculated, they are merged and parallel conductances are combined. The result is area-proportional couplings which are distributed among the secondary elements based on element overlap.

The following graphic shows examples of these different approaches.

One to One resolution	Coarse to Finest resolution

	Primary elements.		Secondary elements.
	Primary element with sub-division.		Thermal coupling.

Coupling Resolution

Avoiding false heat concentrations when using One-to-One Resolution

When using One to One resolution, the primary elements should be smaller than or the same size as the secondary elements. However, the primary and secondary mesh do not need to align. A large primary element (A) coupled to a single small secondary element (B) can result in a false heat concentration (C), because the entire conductance of the primary element is concentrated on a small area.

False heat concentration

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Specifying a Coupling Resolution, Simcenter 3D 2021.1 Series

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