HYpERwORKs TutORIAL - ApR 2010

THERMAL ANALYSIS HEAT TRANSFER

Principles Thermal analysis is performed to understand the change of mechanical properties due to temperature changes. One event of particular interest is the transmission of thermal energy within a material, also named heat transfer. The transference of heat occurs when there are temperature differences in a body. The thermal energy moves from the hot area to the cooler area in order to satisfy the energy balance within the body. Fouriers Law of Conduction, an empirical law based on observation, captures the principles of heat transfer, this law states that rate of heat flow through a homogeneous material is directly proportional to the area of the section at right angles to the direction of the heat flow and the temperature difference along the path of the heat flow.

Solution According to the heat flux equation, the magnitude of temperature gradient is:

This result applies when the thermal loading of the engine block is not cooled

Fig. 1 Representation of Fouriers Law of Conduction

Fouriers Law is described by the equation below:

RADIOSS Bulk Data Implementation The model provided in this tutorial is pre-processed in HyperMesh, resolved using the Radioss Bulk Data solver and then post-processed using HyperView, all part of the HyperWorks CAE suite: 1 - Open a HyperMesh Session 2 - Import the engine block model 3 - Create the conduction interface 4 - Implement the boundary conditions 5- Run the analysis 6-I mplement the cooling boundary condition 7- Run the analysis again with the new set up 8-P  ost-process the results within HyperView

Where k is the thermal conductivity of the material. This equation is a simplification for 1-D modelling and describes the flow of thermal energy through the entire body. There is an alterantive expression of the Fouriers Law, which describes the flow of energy relative to the area where the heat transfer occurs:

Where q is called heat flux and

is the temperature gradient.

Practical Case The temperature distribution in an engine block is an important factor when designing a four-cylinder engine. The heat flux generated during ignition is 4 W/mm2 but the temperature inside the engine bay is 2500C The analysis of the engine block is focued on the differences between the temperature gradient when the engine is working uncooled and when the engine is liquid colled at 2250C. The material used to manufacture the engine block is steel and has a thermal conductivity value of 0.037 W/ mm 0C

RADIOSS Bulk Data result Due to the complexity of this model, the analytical value has been compared to the temperature gradient of one of the elements in the perimeter of the cylinder hole:

The model can be used to understand the temperature gradient at different engine regimes. Why not try it out yourself?

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