*COUPLED THERMAL-ELECTRICAL

Fully coupled, simultaneous heat transfer and electrical analysis.

This option is used to analyze problems where the electrical potential and temperature fields must be solved simultaneously.

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Coupled thermal-electrical analysis

ProductsAbaqus/StandardAbaqus/CAE

TypeHistory data

LevelStep

Abaqus/CAEStep module

Optional parameters

DELTMX

Include this parameter to activate automatic time incrementation in transient analysis. If the DELTMX parameter is omitted in a transient analysis, fixed time increments will be used. Set this parameter equal to the maximum temperature change to be allowed in an increment in a transient analysis. Abaqus/Standard will restrict the time step to ensure that this value will not be exceeded at any node (except nodes with boundary conditions) during any increment of the analysis.

END

Set END=PERIOD (default) to analyze a specific time period in a transient analysis. Set END=SS to end the analysis when steady state is reached.

MXDEM

For problems including cavity radiation heat transfer, set this parameter equal to the maximum allowable emissivity change with temperature and field variables during an increment. If the value of MXDEM is exceeded, Abaqus/Standard will cut back the increment until the maximum change in emissivity is less than the value input. If this parameter is omitted, a default value of 0.1 is used.

This parameter controls the accuracy of changes in emissivity due to temperature since Abaqus/Standard evaluates the emissivity based on the temperature at the start of each increment and uses that emissivity value throughout the increment.

STEADY STATE

Include this parameter to choose steady-state thermal analysis. Transient thermal analysis is assumed if this parameter is omitted. If this parameter is included, automatic time incrementation will be used.

Data line to define incrementation and steady state

First (and only) line

  1. Initial time increment. If automatic incrementation is used, this value should be a reasonable suggestion for the initial step and will be adjusted as necessary. If direct incrementation is used, this value will be the fixed time increment size.

  2. Total time period. If END=SS is chosen, the step ends when steady state is reached or after this time period, whichever occurs first.

  3. Minimum time increment allowed. If Abaqus/Standard finds it needs a smaller time increment than this value, the analysis is terminated. If a value is given, Abaqus/Standard will use the minimum of the given value and 0.8 times the initial time increment. If no value is given, Abaqus/Standard sets the minimum increment equal to the minimum of 0.8 times the initial time increment (first data item on this data line) and 10−5 times the total time period (second data item on this data line). This value is used only for automatic time incrementation.

  4. Maximum time increment allowed. If this value is not specified, the upper limit is the total step time. This value is used only for automatic time incrementation.

  5. Temperature change rate (temperature per time) used to define steady-state thermal conditions; only needed if END=SS is chosen. When all nodal temperatures are changing at less than this rate, the solution terminates.