ABAQUS/CAE User's Manual  


15.12.10 Defining a surface convective interaction

You can model heat transfer from surfaces due to convection by creating a surface film condition interaction. Select InteractionCreate from the main menu bar and select the surface. For a brief overview of film conditions, see “Understanding interactions,” Section 15.3. For a more detailed discussion, see “Thermal loads,” Section 19.4.4 of the ABAQUS Analysis User's Manual.

To define a surface convective interaction:

  1. From the main menu bar, select InteractionCreate.

    Tip:  You can also create a surface convective interaction using the tool in the Interaction module toolbox.

  2. In the Create Interaction dialog box that appears, do the following:

    • Name the interaction. For more information about naming objects, see “Using basic dialog box components,” Section 3.2.1.

    • Select the step. You can define convection from a surface only during a heat transfer, coupled temperature-displacement, or coupled thermal-electrical step.

    • Select the Surface film condition type of interaction.

  3. Click Continue to close the Create Interaction dialog box.

  4. Use one of the following methods to select the surface:

    • Use an existing surface to define the region. On the right side of the prompt area, click Surfaces. Select an existing surface from the Region Selection dialog box that appears, and click Continue.

      Note:  The default selection method is based on the selection method you most recently employed. To revert to the other method, click Select in Viewport or Surfaces on the right side of the prompt area.

    • Use the mouse to select a region in the viewport. (For more information, see “Selecting objects within the current viewport,” Section 6.2.)

      If the model contains a combination of orphan mesh instances and native geometric part instances, click one of the following from the prompt area:

      • Click Geometry if you want to select the surface or vertex from native geometry.

      • Click Mesh if you want to select the surface or node from an orphan mesh.

      You can use the angle method to select a group of faces or edges from native geometry or a group of element faces from an orphan mesh. For more information, see “Using the angle method to select multiple objects,” Section 6.2.3.

  5. In the Edit Interaction dialog box that appears, enter the required data. You must use the Amplitude toolset to create the desired film coefficient and sink amplitudes.

    Note:  You can display help on a particular editor feature by selecting HelpOn Context from the main menu bar and then clicking the editor feature of interest.

  6. Click OK to create the interaction and to close the editor.


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