Define 2D element material orientation (Simcenter 3D Thermal/Flow, Electronic Systems Cooling, and Space Systems Thermal)

This example shows how to define material orientation for all 2D elements in a mesh.

1. Display the FEM.

2. In the Simulation Navigator, expand the 2D Collectors node.

3. Right-click the 2D mesh collector and choose Edit.

4. From the Material Orientation Method list, select the desired method for defining the orientation. Coordinate System method Orientation Angle method Tangent Curve method Vector method

5. (Optional) Click Preview to visualize the material orientation on your mesh.

6. Click OK.

Coordinate System method

1. From the Material Orientation Type list, select the desired coordinate system.

2. From the Main Conduction Plane and Direction list, select the desired main conduction plane and the main conduction direction.The software determines the three components of the thermal conductivity as follows:The software projects the main direction vector on the shell element. The direction of the main direction vector determines Kelem1, which is the main conductivity of the element. For example, in the Cartesian coordinate system, the orthotropic conductivity Kelem1 is defined as follows:Kelem1 = K1 when the main direction vector is X.Kelem1 = K2 when the main direction vector is Y.Kelem1 = K3 when the main direction vector is Z.The conductivity in the direction of the element normal, Kelem3, is the conductivity normal to the main plane. For example, in the Cartesian coordinate system, the orthotropic conductivity Kelem3 is defined as follows:Kelem3 = K1 when the main plane is the X plane.Kelem3 = K2 when the main plane is the Y plane.Kelem3 = K3 when the main plane is the Z plane.The third component of the conductivity, Kelem2, is the remaining conductivity and its direction is the remaining direction to complete the right-hand side coordinate system.

For example, you define one orthotropic material with a large conductivity in the X direction. You take that material and drape it onto each face of a cube. For the three visible faces, the large conductivity is oriented as follows:

• On the right and top faces of your cube, the large conductivity is in the X direction.

• On the front face of your cube, the large conductivity is in the Z direction.

		— Right face of the cube — Front face of the cube — Top face of the cube

For the three visible faces, you need to create three 2D mesh collectors with the same orthotropic material defined and set the Main Conduction Plane and Direction list to the following options:

• For the right face 2D mesh collector, select Y plane, X direction.

• For the front face 2D mesh collector, select X plane, Z direction.

• For the top face 2D mesh collector, select Z plane, X direction.

See Define orthotropic thermal conductivity in a cylindrical mesh (Simcenter 3D Thermal/Flow, Electronic Systems Cooling, and Space Systems Thermal) for a step-by-step example.

Orientation Angle method

In the Orientation Angle box, enter the angle between the first edge of the element and the desired X-axis of the material coordinate system you are defining.

Tangent Curve method

1. In the graphics window, select a curve or edge on your geometry. For each element, the software finds the closest point on the selected curve or edge to the element centroid and sets the primary direction as tangent to that geometry.In the following example, the material orientation represented by the yellow arrows was defined by selecting the edge . Note: The arrows shown in the picture are displayed using the Element Material Orientation command.

2. (Optional) Enter an angle in the Rotation Angle box to rotate the initial direction of the material orientation vector. Continuing with the previous example, an angle of 45 degrees results in the following vector.

Vector method

1. Define the material orientation vector using one of these methods:Select an edge in the geometry to infer a vectorUse the vector tools to define the vector**Vector inferred from edge (1)**Vector specified as X direction

2. (Optional) Click Reverse Direction to reverse the direction of the material orientation vector.

3. (Optional) Enter an angle in the Rotation Angle box to rotate the initial direction of the material orientation vector.

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Define 2D element material orientation (Simcenter 3D Thermal/Flow, Electronic Systems Cooling, and Space Systems Thermal) , Simcenter 3D 2021.1 Series

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