Axisymmetric thermal modeling in non-axisymmetric solutions

You can use axisymmetric elements in a thermal or coupled thermal-flow solution that also contains non-axisymmetric element types. When you model thermal effects on complex geometry, you can save computational time by using axisymmetric and non-axisymmetric elements together.

Note:

Thermal elements can be axisymmetric or non-axisymmetric elements while flow elements are always 3D elements.

Temperature distribution on an axisymmetric light bulb and a non-axisymmetric filament

Axisymmetric elements are differentiated from non-axisymmetric elements by their parent mesh collector. In the axisymmetric mesh collectors, you must specify:

• The axis of revolutionYou specify the X-axis, Y-axis, or Z-axis of the absolute coordinate system only.

• The number of axisymmetric segments

Note:

Axisymmetric elements cannot be connected to non-axisymmetric elements by node sharing. You must use thermal couplings to make the connection.

The following table lists the available axisymmetric mesh collectors, physical property tables, element types, and their equivalent regular element. The equivalent regular element is representative of the element that results when the thermal solver revolves the axisymmetric element around the axis of revolution.

Type	Element family and mesh collector	Physical property table	Element type	Equivalent regular element
Lumped Mass Axisymmetric	0D Concentrated Mass	Beam	0D Lump	1D beam
Beam Axisymmetric	1D Beam	Thin Shell	1D Beam	2D linear shell element
Duct Axisymmetric	1D Duct	Duct	1D Duct	N/A
Duct with Mass Flow Axisymmetric	1D Duct	N/A	1D Duct	N/A
Shell Axisymmetric	2D Shell	N/A	Tri3 Thin ShellTri6 Thin ShellQuad4 Thin Shell****Quad8 Thin Shell	3D solid element

Learn more

Workflow for thermal and flow analyses

Modeling additional heat paths

Modeling convection

Identifying flow enclosures

Look up more details

Summary of available Mesh Collector properties for Simcenter 3D Thermal/Flow, Electronic Systems Cooling, and Space Systems Thermal

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Axisymmetric thermal modeling in non-axisymmetric solutions, Simcenter 3D 2021.1 Series

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