{"id":17632,"date":"2018-11-24T17:50:31","date_gmt":"2018-11-24T17:50:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.simscale.com\/?page_id=17632"},"modified":"2025-07-17T17:15:40","modified_gmt":"2025-07-17T17:15:40","slug":"thermomechanical","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.simscale.com\/docs\/analysis-types\/thermomechanical\/","title":{"rendered":"Thermomechanical"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The <strong>thermomechanical<\/strong> analysis type uses <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.code-aster.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">Code_Aster<\/a> to calculate the structural and thermal behavior of one or multiple bodies at once.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The thermal and structural result fields are calculated sequentially, in an iterative process, where the results of a thermal step serve as input for the next structural step. The stress state of the structure depends on the structural constraints and loads, as well as on the thermal expansion under thermal loads.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><a href=\"https:\/\/frontend-assets.simscale.com\/media\/2025\/01\/image-38.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"475\" height=\"550\" nonce='5a16b910d3ba2640cb8b770ffe73c3fc' src=\"https:\/\/frontend-assets.simscale.com\/media\/2025\/01\/image-38.png\" alt=\"thermomechanical analysis type hot shock globe valve\" class=\"wp-image-99145\" srcset=\"https:\/\/frontend-assets.simscale.com\/media\/2025\/01\/image-38.png 475w, https:\/\/frontend-assets.simscale.com\/media\/2025\/01\/image-38-259x300.png 259w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 475px) 100vw, 475px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Figure 1: Stresses on a globe valve due to a thermal shock<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A thermomechanical analysis enables you to investigate the structural and thermal behavior of the model, as well as the thermal influences on the structural load state of the parts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id='creating-a-thermomechanical-analysis' class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"creating-a-thermomechanical-analysis\">Creating a Thermomechanical Analysis<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To create a thermomechanical analysis, select the desired geometry, and click on &#8216;<strong>Create Simulation<\/strong>&#8216;:<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><a href=\"https:\/\/frontend-assets.simscale.com\/media\/2025\/01\/image-35.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"680\" height=\"309\" nonce='5a16b910d3ba2640cb8b770ffe73c3fc' src=\"https:\/\/frontend-assets.simscale.com\/media\/2025\/01\/image-35.png\" alt=\"new simulation run in simscale\" class=\"wp-image-99142\" srcset=\"https:\/\/frontend-assets.simscale.com\/media\/2025\/01\/image-35.png 680w, https:\/\/frontend-assets.simscale.com\/media\/2025\/01\/image-35-300x136.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 680px) 100vw, 680px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Figure 2: Creating a new simulation in SimScale<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The SimScale analysis type choice widget appears: <\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><a href=\"https:\/\/frontend-assets.simscale.com\/media\/2025\/07\/image-28.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1098\" height=\"884\" src=\"https:\/\/frontend-assets.simscale.com\/media\/2025\/07\/image-28.png\" alt=\"simscale analysis type choice widget with options\" class=\"wp-image-106597\" srcset=\"https:\/\/frontend-assets.simscale.com\/media\/2025\/07\/image-28.png 1098w, https:\/\/frontend-assets.simscale.com\/media\/2025\/07\/image-28-300x242.png 300w, https:\/\/frontend-assets.simscale.com\/media\/2025\/07\/image-28-1024x824.png 1024w, https:\/\/frontend-assets.simscale.com\/media\/2025\/07\/image-28-768x618.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1098px) 100vw, 1098px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Figure 3: Creation of a new thermomechanical analysis<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Choose &#8216;<strong>Thermomechanical<\/strong>&#8216; from the list and confirm your choice by clicking on the &#8216;<strong>Create Simulation<\/strong>&#8216; button. Figure 4 shows an overview of the settings available for a thermomechanical simulation:<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><a href=\"https:\/\/frontend-assets.simscale.com\/media\/2025\/01\/image-37.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"277\" height=\"542\" nonce='5a16b910d3ba2640cb8b770ffe73c3fc' src=\"https:\/\/frontend-assets.simscale.com\/media\/2025\/01\/image-37.png\" alt=\"simulation tree thermomechanical analysis type\" class=\"wp-image-99144\" srcset=\"https:\/\/frontend-assets.simscale.com\/media\/2025\/01\/image-37.png 277w, https:\/\/frontend-assets.simscale.com\/media\/2025\/01\/image-37-153x300.png 153w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 277px) 100vw, 277px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Figure 4: Simulation tree showing the entries for a transient nonlinear thermomechanical analysis<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This document will describe the different simulation settings that need to be defined to run the simulation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id='global-settings' class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"global-settings\">Global Settings<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The global settings can be accessed by clicking on the simulation name, in this case, <strong>&#8216;Thermomechanical&#8217;<\/strong> in the simulation tree. Here you can define the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><em>Time dependency<\/em>: the time dependency can be <em>Steady state<\/em> or <em>Transient<\/em>;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>For transient analysis, users can also choose if the analysis will be <em>Linear<\/em> or <em>Nonlinear<\/em>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Lastly, it&#8217;s possible to define the <em>Inertia effects<\/em> to <em>Static<\/em> or <em>Dynamic<\/em>. Inertia effects are only taken into account when <em>Dynamic<\/em> is selected.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For more information, check the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.simscale.com\/docs\/simulation-setup\/global-settings\/\">global settings<\/a> page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id='geometry' class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"geometry\">Geometry<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The <em>Geometry<\/em> tab contains the CAD model used for the simulation. Details of CAD handling are described in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.simscale.com\/docs\/simwiki\/preprocessing\/\">pre-processing<\/a> section. For more information on the CAD upload process and the subsequent steps please read our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.simscale.com\/docs\/cad-preparation\/\">standard documentation<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id='contacts' class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"contacts\">Contacts<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Assemblies of multiple bodies that are not fused, but touch each other, require contact definitions. All interfaces between bodies are automatically detected and defined as <em>Bonded<\/em> contacts when the simulation is created. <em>Sliding<\/em> contact and <em>Cyclic symmetry<\/em> contact definitions are also available. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For more information about contacts, have a look at this <a href=\"https:\/\/www.simscale.com\/docs\/simulation-setup\/contacts\/\">page<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id='physical-contacts' class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"physical-contacts\">Physical Contacts<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.simscale.com\/docs\/simulation-setup\/contacts\/#nonlinear-contact\">physical contacts<\/a>&nbsp;tab will only be available in nonlinear analysis. There, users can define contact pairs of faces or face sets. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Physical contacts help to model contact behavior closer to reality. The distance between the contact faces is monitored during the simulation. If they touch each other, the interaction forces that prevent those faces from interpenetrating are taken into account.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id='element-technology' class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"element-technology\">Element Technology<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.simscale.com\/docs\/simulation-setup\/fea-element-technology\/\">Element technology<\/a> refers to the numerical formulation for the solid finite element used in the simulation. This includes the mesh order, reduced integration, and mass lumping.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id='model' class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"model\">Model<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.simscale.com\/docs\/simulation-setup\/model\/\">Model<\/a>&nbsp;section, one can define a gravitational load for the whole domain. Additionally, if your analysis is set to <em>Nonlinear<\/em>, you can determine the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.simscale.com\/docs\/simulation-setup\/model\/#geometric-behavior\">geometric behavior<\/a> of the model.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id='materials' class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"materials-\">Materials <\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A series of properties are defined under the Materials tab, including mechanical-related parameters, such as <em>Young&#8217;s modulus<\/em> and thermal-related parameters, such as the <em>Thermal conductivity<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Furthermore, you can choose the material behavior describing the constitutive law that is used for the stress-strain relation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"hw-block hw-note hw-note--warning hw-note\">\n    <div class=\"hw-note__title\">\n        <p class=\"hw-note__titleText\"><i class=\"fa fa-exclamation-circle\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>Important<\/p>\n    <\/div>\n    <div class=\"hw-note__body\">\n        <p>To define the material properties of the domain, make sure to assign exactly one material to each part. Please see the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.simscale.com\/docs\/simulation-setup\/materials\/\">materials<\/a> section for more details.<\/p>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 id='initial-conditions' class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"initial-conditions\">Initial Conditions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Defining initial conditions is only required in case of a <em>Transient<\/em> analysis. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.simscale.com\/docs\/simulation-setup\/initial-conditions\/\">initial conditions<\/a> should be defined carefully since they determine the initial state of the domain before the loads and constraints are applied. Therefore, they will influence the solution of the simulation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Depending on the <em>Global settings<\/em> configuration, the following parameters may be available for initialization:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><em>Displacements<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\\((U)\\) <em>Velocity<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\\((a)\\) <em>Acceleration<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\\((\\sigma)\\) <em>Stress<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\\((T)\\) <em>Temperature<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Per default, the displacements, velocities, and accelerations are initialized with a zero magnitude vector. Temperature is initialized globally at 20\u00b0C. Additionally, when available, the initial stress state is taken as zero.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Users can change the initial settings of all five parameters, using global or subdomain initialization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id='boundary-conditions' class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"boundary-conditions\">Boundary Conditions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a&nbsp;thermomechanical&nbsp;analysis, one can define constraints, loads, thermal loads, and temperature boundary conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id='constraints-and-loads' class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"constraints-and-loads\">Constraints and Loads<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To determine the position of a part of the geometry, add at least one displacement constraint in every coordinate direction. Otherwise, the part is allowed to freely move in space. This is intended, for example, in drop tests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In case no force boundary conditions are defined (including gravitational force), the geometry becomes load-free. In this case, apart from the prescribed displacement boundary conditions, no deformation will evolve. This might be intended to determine the strain distribution, for example, in pre-clamped structural components. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id='temperature-and-heat-flux' class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"temperature-and-heat-flux\">Temperature and Heat Flux<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You can define temperature and thermal load boundary conditions. If you provide a temperature boundary condition on an entity, the temperature value of all contained nodes is set to the given prescribed value. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Thermal load boundary conditions define the heat flux into or out of the domain via different mechanisms. Note that a negative heat flux indicates a heat loss to the environment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"hw-block hw-note hw-note--warning hw-note\">\n    <div class=\"hw-note__title\">\n        <p class=\"hw-note__titleText\"><i class=\"fa fa-exclamation-circle\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>Important<\/p>\n    <\/div>\n    <div class=\"hw-note__body\">\n        <p>It is not possible to simultaneously prescribe a temperature value and a thermal load to the same entity. This results in an overconstrained boundary.<\/p>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This <a href=\"https:\/\/www.simscale.com\/docs\/simulation-setup\/boundary-conditions\/\">documentation page<\/a> contains a list of all boundary conditions with additional information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id='numerics' class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"numerics\">Numerics<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Under numerics, you can set the equation solver of your simulation. The choice highly influences the computational time and the required memory size of the simulation. For an overview of the solvers available, please check this <a href=\"https:\/\/www.simscale.com\/blog\/2016\/08\/how-to-choose-solvers-for-fem\/\">page<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id='simulation-control' class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"simulation-control\">Simulation Control<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.simscale.com\/docs\/simulation-setup\/simulation-control\/\">simulation control<\/a> settings define the overall process of the calculation. There you can set, for example, the time step length and the maximum runtime for your simulation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id='result-control' class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"result-control\">Result Control<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Under <em>Result control<\/em>, users can specify additional parameters of interest to be calculated. Monitors can also be defined. For example, one can set area and volume average controls, as well as <em>Point data<\/em> for monitoring quantities on specific points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Please refer to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.simscale.com\/docs\/simulation-setup\/result-control\/\">result control page<\/a> for further insight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id='mesh' class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"mesh\">Mesh<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.simscale.com\/docs\/simulation-setup\/meshing\/\">Meshing<\/a> is the discretization of the simulation domain. It essentially means to split up one large problem into multiple smaller mathematical problems. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For a thermomechanical analysis, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.simscale.com\/docs\/simulation-setup\/meshing\/standard\/\">standard<\/a> algorithm is available. The standard mesher is recommended, as it is more robust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id='example-projects' class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"example-projects\">Example Projects<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.simscale.com\/docs\/tutorials\/heat-transfer-engine-piston\/\">Advanced Tutorial: Thermomechanical Analysis of an Engine Piston<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.simscale.com\/docs\/validation-cases\/design-analysis-of-spherical-pressure-vessel\/\">Validation Case: Design Analysis of a Spherical Pressure Vessel<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.simscale.com\/docs\/validation-cases\/thermal-stress-analysis-of-polymeric-photo-thermal-microactuator\/\">Validation Case: Thermal Stress Analysis of Polymeric Photo-Thermal Microactuator<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The thermomechanical analysis type uses Code_Aster to calculate the structural and thermal behavior of one or multiple bodies...","protected":false},"author":94,"featured_media":99145,"parent":17174,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"templates\/template-documentation.php","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-17632","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.simscale.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/17632","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.simscale.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.simscale.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.simscale.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/94"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.simscale.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17632"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.simscale.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/17632\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.simscale.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/17174"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.simscale.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/99145"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.simscale.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}