Surface-to-Surface Contact dialog box (Thermal/SST/ESC)

Type
Type	Specifies the face pair creation method.Automatic PairingAllows the software to detect matching polygon faces and apply the thermal coupling parameter and/or electrical coupling parameter between the appropriate polygon faces.Manual PairingAllows you to select a pair of similar polygon faces, 3D element faces, or 2D elements to define primary and secondary regions for contact.
Name
Name	Defines the contact name.Description opens an editor that lets you type a description for the simulation object.
Destination Folder
Simulation Object Container	Specifies the folder in the Simulation Navigator in which the boundary condition will be stored. The list includes the root container and existing folders that you created using the New Folder command. Examples of a root container include Load Container, Constraint Container, and Simulation Object Container.
Folder Manager	Displays a hierarchical listing of existing folders. To create a new folder, right-click any level of the hierarchy and choose New Folder.
Automatic Face Pair Creation
Appears only when you select Automatic from the Type list.
Create Face Pairs	Opens the Create Automatic Face Pairs dialog box, which enables you to specify face pair generation properties, preview face pairs, and generate face pairs automatically.For more information on automatic face paring see Create Automatic Face Pairs dialog box.
Primary Region
Appears only when you select Manual Pairing from the Type list.
Primary Region	Lets you select a primary region from the list, or click Create Region to create a new region. After you select a region use Edit to modify it.See Region dialog box
Secondary Region
Appears only when you select Manual Pairing from the Type list.
Secondary Region	Lets you select a secondary region from the list, or click Create Region to create a new region. After you select a region use Edit to modify it.See Region dialog box
Swap Regions
Appears only when you select Manual Pairing from the Type list.
Swap Regions	Click Swap Regions to swap the primary and secondary region selections.
Thermal Magnitude
Activate Thermal Coupling	Transfers heat through the contact pairs.
Type	Appears when the Activate Thermal Coupling check box is selected.Specifies the type of thermal coupling.Perfect ContactMerges the two surfaces so that their temperatures are identical.SpecifyDefines heat transfer as conductive, radiative, or both.
Account for	Appears when Type is set to Specify.Specifies how the software defines the heat transfer.ConductionSpecifies conductive heat transfer.RadiationSpecifies radiative heat transfer.Conduction and RadiationSpecifies conductive and radiative heat transfer.
Conduction Type	Appears when Account for is set to Conduction or Conduction and Radiation.Specifies the type that is used to simulate conduction between the contact pairs.Total ConductanceDefines an absolute conductance between the two element sets. The conductance is defined in units of power per degree of temperature difference between the two element sets. Specify the total conductance value in the Conductance box.Total ResistanceDefines a resistance to heat flow between the two element sets. The resistance is defined in units of degree of temperature difference between the two element sets per power. Specify the total resistance value in the Resistance box.Heat Transfer CoefficientDefines the quantity of heat that flows between the two element sets. The heat transfer coefficient is defined in units of power per unit area, per degree of temperature difference between the two element sets. Specify the heat transfer coefficient value in the Coefficient box.Conductive GapDefines the gap thermal conductivity. The conductivity is defined in units of power per unit thickness, per degree of temperature difference between the two element sets. Specify its value in the Gap Thermal Conductivity box.For more information, see Additional magnitude options.
Radiation Type	Appears when you select Radiation or Conduction and Radiation from the Account for list.Specifies how the software calculates radiative conductances.Close Parallel PlatesUses the emissivities of the two element sets to calculate the radiative conductances. The software assumes that the two element sets are on flat parallel plates that are close to each other.Gray Body View FactorCalculates the radiative conductances based on the gray body view factor value that you specify in the Gray Body View Factor box.Effective EmissivityCalculates the radiative conductances based on the effective emissivity value that you specify in the Emissivity * Gray Body View Factor box. Effective emissivity = emissivity x gray body view factor.
Electrical Magnitude
Activate Electrical Coupling	Transfers electric current through the contact pairs.
Electrical Type	Appears when the Activate Electrical Coupling check box is selected.Specifies the type of electrical coupling.Total ResistanceSpecifies the total resistance in Ohms between the elements in the two regions. You define the total resistance value as constant or dependent on time, temperature, heat flow rate, or thermal capacitance in the Electrical Resistance box.Conductance GapSpecifies the electrical resistivity of the material that fills the gap between the elements of the two regions. You define the electrical resistivity value as constant or dependent on time, temperature, heat flow rate, or thermal capacitance in the Electrical Resistivity box.
Additional Parameters
Coupling Resolution	Controls the accuracy of the coupling. The software subdivides primary elements according to the Coupling Resolution before it determines conductances. One-to-OneThe solver calculates a single conductance from each primary element to the nearest secondary element.Coarse through FinestThe solver subdivides each primary element into a progressively larger number of sub-elements.Note: Although it may seem that the finer subdivision level would produce more accurate results, this is not always the case.For more information, see Specifying a Coupling Resolution.
Only Connect Overlapping Elements	Connects only primary sub-elements to secondary elements that overlap.For more information, see Using the Only Connect Overlapping Elements option.
Overlap Projection Direction	Appears when the Only Connect Overlapping Elements check box is selected.Specifies whether the normal of the primary or secondary elements is used to calculate the area of overlap.For more information, see Using the Overlap Projection Direction option.
Temperature Dependence Uses	Specifies which temperature is used to evaluate the magnitude when a temperature-varying function is used. You can define a temperature dependency in table fields, formula fields, 4D fields, and table of fields.Average TemperatureUses the average temperature of primary and secondary regions to evaluate the magnitude.Primary TemperatureUses the temperature of the primary region to evaluate the magnitude.For more information, see Temperature dependency for thermal and electrical couplings.
Boundary Condition Generation
Appears only when you select Automatic from the Type list.
Associate to Automatic Pair Recipe	Associates generated contact pairs with the automatic pair recipe. The automatic pair recipe is the set of parameters on the Create Automatic Face Pairs dialog box that determine how to compute and group face pairs.When you select this option, the generated contact pairs appear in the Simulation Navigator with the prefix Auto. If the master part is updated, the software recalculates the face pairs and updates the boundary condition.When you clear this option, the generated contact pairs are not associated with the face pair recipe. If the master model changes, the contact pairs are not updated. These contact pairs behave the same as manually created contact pairs.

How do I

Create Surface-to-Surface Contact

Learn more

Surface-to-Surface Contact

Specifying a Coupling Resolution

Using the Only Connect Overlapping Elements option

Using the Overlap Projection Direction option

Temperature dependency for thermal and electrical couplings

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Surface-to-Surface Contact dialog box (Thermal/SST/ESC), Simcenter 3D 2021.1 Series

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