Thermal Analysis, using finite element techniques, is carried out as
a steady-state or transient analysis. Conductive heat transfer is
handled directly by finite element techniques; conduction occurs in a
solid due to temperature differences. However, radiation heat transfer
analysis may require additional particle-tracking or ray-tracing
techniques to approximate the radiant energy arriving at a given
surface.
Convective heat transfer occurs due to the swirling motion of a fluid at
a non-uniform temperature, owing to its variation in density and the
action of gravity. A common way to handle convection is through
convective heat transfer coefficients. Advanced simulation codes may
couple fluid, thermal, and structural analysis in order to study the
multi-physics effect on the design of equipment and structures.
LS-DYNA couples thermal and structural analysis through coupled
constitutive models; the user may select thermal elastic and
viscoelastic materials for such an analysis. LS-DYNA additionally
provides compressible and incompressible fluid dynamics analysis
capabilities.
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