ANSYS - Heat Conduction in a Cylinder

Creado por John Matthew Singleton Jr, modificado por última vez por Sebastien Lachance-Barrett el
ene 19, 2014

https://confluence.cornell.edu/display/SIMULATION/ANSYS+-+Heat+Conduction+in+a+Cylinder

Author: John Singleton, Cornell University

Problem Specification
1. Pre-Analysis & Start-Up
2. Geometry
3. Mesh
4. Physics Setup
5. Numerical Solution
6. Numerical Results
7. Verification & Validation
Exercises
Comments

Problem Specification

Consider a hollow cylinder of inner radius, r_i=1.75 inches, and outer radius r_o=3.25 inches. The
length of the cylinder is 10 feet and the coefficient of heat transfer is 0.04Btu/(h.ftF). The temperature
of the the pipe at the inner radius is 400 degrees Fahrenheit and the temperature of the pipe at the
outer radius is 80 degrees Fahrenheit. This is illustrated in the figure below.

Using ANSYS find the temperature throughout the pipe, the total heat flux, and the directional heat
flux.

Pre-Analysis & Start-Up

Calculate Radial Temperature Dependence

The governing equation for axisymmetric radial heat flow for a homogeneous cylinder with inner
radius r_i and outer radius r_o is displayed below. Note that the following equation assumes that the
cylinder is long enough for end effects to be ignored.
In the above equation k is the thermal conductivity, A is the surface area, T is the temperature, r is the
radial position and Q is the heat generation per unit area.

For the given problem there is no heat generation, thus the governing equation can be solved easily.
The solution for temperature as a function of radial position is displayed below.

Open ANSYS Workbench

Find where the ANSYS shortcut is located and launch ANSYS Workbench. Before starting, we need
to change the units from metric to standard: select Units > US Customary (lbm,in,s,F,A,lbf,V)

Steady-State Thermal Analysis System

The problem at hand is a steady-state thermal problem so drag Steady-State Thermal (ANSYS)
over to the project schematic. Rename the stand alone system to "Cylindrical Heat Flow".

Engineering Data

In order to enter the thermal conductivity for Cornellium (Double Click) Engineering Data. Next,
click on the Click here to add a new material, then name it Cornellium and press enter. Now,
(Double Click) Isotropic Thermal Conductivity. Change, the Unit to BTU/(ft^2 hr(F/ft)). Then,
input 0.04 for Value and lastly (Click) Return to Project.

Save

Save your project as "Cylindrical Heat Flow" and don't forget that in order to open the project in the
future you will need both the "CylindricalHeatFlow.wbpj" file and the "CylindricalHeatFlow_files"
folder.

Geometry

For users of ANSYS 15.0, please check at the end for procedures for turning on the Auto Constraint
feature before creating sketches in DesignModeler.

2D Analysis Type

The default analysis type is 3D, so that must be changed. In order to make this change (Right Click)
Geometry > Properties then change Analysis Type to 2D.

Launch Design Modeler

In order to start the Design Modeler (Double Click) Geometry. After the Design Modeler opens,
select inch as the desired length unit.
Proper Orientation

The sketching will be done in the XY plane, so (Click) XY Plane , then click on the face plane button,
.

Line Sketching

The given problem is axisymmetric. That is, in terms of position, the results will only vary in the radial
direction. Thus, the problem will be modeled with a rectangle in the first quadrant of the XY plane.
First click on the Sketching Tab, , then click on the Rectangle button, . Next, draw a
rectangle in the first quadrant of the XY plane. Your screen should look comparable to the image
below.

Dimensioning

The dimensions of the rectangle will now be inputted into ANSYS. Dimension the rectangle as shown
in the image below.

Now, specify the dimensions as shown in the image below.

Note, that the given length of the pipe is 10 feet: however, here the height has been specified to 3
inches. The height is arbitrary because the results only vary radially.

Surface Creation

Here, the rectangle will be turned into a surface. To do so (Click)Concept > Surface From Sketches
. Next, highlight all four edges of the rectangle and select Apply in the "Details of SurfaceSK1" table.
Now, click the generate button, , in order to create the surface.

At this point save the project and then exit the Design Modeler.

Mesh

In order to start the meshing process (Double Click) Model.

Specify Axisymmetric

Make sure to do this step before doing anything else in the Mechanical window. Highlight Geometry
then expand Definition in the "Details of Geometry" table. Next, change 2D Behavior to
Axisymmetric.

Mapped Face Meshing

For this problem a mapped face mesh will be created. First, (Right Click) Mesh > Insert > Mapped
Face Meshing. The mapped face mesh command needs to be applied to the Surface Body. Highlight
the area of the surface body and apply it as the geometry selection in the "Details of Mapped Face
Meshing" table.

Edge Sizing

This mesh will have two edge sizings, so carry out the following command twice (Right Click) Mesh
> Insert > Sizing. Next, highlight Sizing, then highlight the left vertical line of the rectangle and apply
it as the geometry selection in the "Details of Sizing" table. Change Type to Number of Divisions
and change Behavior to Hard. Then set the value for Number of Divisions to 1. At this point the
second edge sizing will be dealt with. To define the second edge sizing highlight Sizing 2 then
highlight the bottom horizontal line of the rectangle and apply it as the geometry selection in the
"Details of Sizing 2" table. Next, change Type to Number of Divisions. Now, set the value of
Number of Divisions to 10 divisions.

Mesh Generation

The mesh is now ready to be generated. To do so (Right Click) Mesh > Generate Mesh. At this
point you should have the mesh displayed in the image below.
Leave the Mechanical window open for the next step.

Physics Setup

Material Properties

At this point, the material, Cornellium, will be assigned to the geometry. To assign the material,
expand Geometry, , in the tree outline. Next, click on Surface Body, .
Then set Assignment to Cornellium in the "Details of Surface Body" table, as shown below.
Define Boundary Temperatures

The two boundary temperatures need to be inputted into ANSYS. To input a boundary temperature
(Right Click) Steady-State Thermal > Insert > Temperature. There are two boundary temperature
conditions so repeat the previous sequence of commands twice. Now, highlight Temperature, then
highlight the left vertical line (inner radius) and apply it as the geometry selection in the "Details of
Temperature" table. The default units are degrees Celsius; however, the problem gives temperatures
in degrees Fahrenheit. To change the default temperature units Units > U.S. Customary. Now,
change the magnitude of the temperature to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. This process needs to be
repeated for the right vertical line (outer radius), so highlight Temperature 2. Next, highlight the right
vertical line and apply it as the geometry selection in the "Details of Temperature 2". Lastly, set the
magnitude of the temperature to 80 degrees Fahrenheit.

Numerical Solution

Now, ANSYS will be told which outputs it needs to solve for.

Temperature

To specify the temperature as an output (Right Click) Solution > Insert > Thermal > Temperature

Radial Dependence of Temperature

It is now desired to have ANSYS give values of temperature as a function of radial position for many
points spanning between the inner and outer radius. In order to carry out this task a Path needs to be
created. In order to create the Path first (Right Click) Model > Insert > Construction Geometry.
Next, (Right Click) Construction Geometry > Insert > Path. Now, select the bottom left corner of
the rectangle (using the vertex selection filter) and apply it as the Start point for the path. Then, select
the bottom right corner of the rectangle and apply it as the End point for the path. Change the
Number of Sampling Points to 60 and rename "Path" to "Radial Path". Next, (Right Click) Solution
> Insert > Thermal > Temperature. Now, change "Temperature 2" to "T(r)". Then, under "Details of
T(r)" change Scoping Method to Path then change Path to Radial Path

Total Heat Flux and Directional Heat Flux

In order to have ANSYS solve for the Total Heat Flux (Right Click) Solution > Insert > Thermal >
Total Heat Flux. The following sequence will command ANSYS to solve for the Directional Heat Flux:
(Right Click) Solution > Insert > Thermal > Directional Heat Flux.

Execute the Solver

In order to have ANSYS solve for the previously defined results click Solve, .

Numerical Results

If you have followed this tutorial successfully, you should obtain the results that are displayed below.
Temperature

Total Heat Flux and Directional Heat Flux

Total Heat Flux

Directional Heat Flux

You can visualize the heat flux in vector form by click on the vector icon:
Radial Dependence of Temperature

High light T(r) and the following graph and tabular data will be displayed:
Note that the ANSYS result is obtained along the edge from the bottom left vertex to the bottom right
vertex of the 2D model. In other words, the ANSYS plot displays the temperature variation from
r=1.75 to r=3.25 inches.

ANSYS result can be exported and compared against the exact solution. The MATLAB code used to
generate the exact solution can be downloaded here.

Verification & Validation

Comparison of ANSYS Results to Theoretical Results

If the simulation has been successful then its results should closely match those of theory.
Furthermore, the results should converge to the solution as the mesh is refined. Here, the radial
dependence of the temperature found through ANSYS (with meshes of 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 and 10 elements)
and theory will be compared. The theoretical solution for temperature as a function of radial position
can be found in the Pre-Analysis Section. In order to make the figure below the ANSYS temperature
values T(r) were first exported into a text file and then transferred to EXCEL. As one can see from the
plot below, the theoretical and the FEA solutions match very closely. Additionally, the finite element
solution converges very quickly. In the figure below there are seven plotted lines; however, only one
is visible since the variation is very minute.
ANSYS 15 - Turning on Auto Contraints

Saltar al final de los metadatos

 Creado por Chiyu Jiang, modificado por última vez por Rajesh Bhaskaran el feb 11, 2015

Ir al inicio de los metadatos

It is very important to check that the Auto Constraints feature is turned on before creating any
sketches in DesignModeler. Otherwise, vertices and lines in your sketches will not be coincident with
the coordinate axes. This can cause problems in your solution later on. The Auto Constraint feature is
not turned on by default in ANSYS 15.0. This tip demonstrates how to turn on the Auto Constraint
feature in DesignModeler.

Procedure
Before creating a sketch, click on the "sketching" tab.

Next, click on Contraints and keep scrolling untill Auto Contraints appear.
Finally, click on Auto Contraints and check the boxes next to Global and Cursor.

Okay, all set! Have fun sketching and modelling!