Thermal Analysis of a simple CAD file (.stl)

17 views (last 30 days)
Erdal Schranz
Erdal Schranz on 18 May 2018
Commented: Fionn Mc Evoy on 22 Jan 2024
Dear,
I try to make a simple thermal analysis in Partial Differential Equation Toolbox. I have combine two cubes with different length in a CAD software and have export it to the format .stl . Here is the picture of the two combine cubes:
After that I mesh the model and set the temperature at Face 5 (F5) to 90°C and Face 12 (F12) to 20°C. Here is the temperature distribution. It looks like that the two cubes are not combined. What can I do that the two cubes are connected and we have a heat flow between them? In the attachment you will find the necessary files.
Thank you very much for your help. Best regards Erdal
thermalmodel = createpde('thermal','steadystate');
importGeometry(thermalmodel,'CombineCubes.stl');
pdegplot(thermalmodel, 'FaceAlpha',0.5,'FaceLabels','on','CellLabels','on')
mesh=generateMesh(thermalmodel)
pdemesh(thermalmodel);
T1 =90;
T2 = 20;
thermalProperties(thermalmodel,'cell',1,'ThermalConductivity',0.15);
thermalProperties(thermalmodel,'cell',2,'ThermalConductivity',0.3);
thermalBC(thermalmodel,'Face',5,'Temperature',T1); %Temperature upside
thermalBC(thermalmodel,'Face',12,'Temperature',T2); %Temperature downside
results = solve(thermalmodel);
pdeplot3D(thermalmodel,'ColorMapData',results.Temperature)
caxis([0 100])
  1 Comment
Ravi Kumar
Ravi Kumar on 21 May 2018
Hi Erdal,
Is it correct to say you want to define different thermal conductivity for each block?
What version of MATLAB are you using?
I can suggest a workflow depending on your MATLAB version.
Regards, Ravi

Sign in to comment.

Answers (1)

Erdal Schranz
Erdal Schranz on 22 May 2018
Dear Ravi, thank you for your answer. I can define different thermal conductivity for each block, see in my code above
if true
thermalProperties(thermalmodel,'cell',1,'ThermalConductivity',0.15);
thermalProperties(thermalmodel,'cell',2,'ThermalConductivity',0.3);
end
The problem is that the two blocks are not thermally connected. You can see that cause both cubes have a uniform temperature distribution. There should be a heat flow from Cube 1 to Cube 2 and therefore the temperature should not be uniform distributed. Does anybody know how to get a thermal connection between this two cubes?
Thank you
Best regards Erdal

Community Treasure Hunt

Find the treasures in MATLAB Central and discover how the community can help you!

Start Hunting!