The Thermal Stress, Membrane Interface
The Thermal Stress, Membrane () interface combines a Membrane interface with a Heat Transfer in Shells interface. The coupling occurs on boundaries, where the temperature from the Heat Transfer interface acts as a thermal load for the Membrane interface, causing thermal expansion.
When a predefined Thermal Stress, Membrane interface is added from the Structural Mechanics branch () of the Model Wizard or Add Physics windows, Membrane and Heat Transfer in Shells interfaces are added to the Model Builder.
In addition, the Multiphysics node is added which automatically includes the multiphysics coupling feature Layered Thermal Expansion.
On the Constituent Physics Interfaces
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The Membrane interface is described in The Membrane Interface.
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The Heat Transfer in Shells interface is described in The Heat Transfer in Shells Interface.
For information about the constitutive equations including thermal expansion in the section dealing with the theory background, see Theory for the Membrane Interface.
Settings for Physics Interfaces and Coupling Features
When physics interfaces are added using the predefined couplings, for example Thermal Stress, Membrane, specific settings are included with the physics interfaces and the coupling features.
However, if physics interfaces are added one at a time, followed by the coupling features, these modified settings are not automatically included.
For example, if single Membrane and Heat Transfer in Shells interfaces are added, an empty Multiphysics node appears in the model tree. You can choose from the available coupling features but the settings in the constituent interfaces are nor modified.
Coupling features are available from the context menu (right-click the Multiphysics node) or from the Physics toolbar, Multiphysics Couplings menu.
Table 12-4: Modified Settings for a Thermal Stress, Membrane interface
Physics Interface or Coupling Feature
Modified Settings
Membrane
For the Membrane interface, under Structural Transient Behavior the Structural transient behavior is set to Quasi-static.
Heat Transfer in Shells
For the Heat Transfer in Shell interface, under Discretization, the shape function order for the temperature is set to Linear.
Layered Thermal Expansion
The Boundary Selection is the same as that of the participating physics interfaces.
The corresponding Membrane and Heat Transfer in Shells interfaces are preselected in the Coupled Interfaces section.
Coupling Features
The Layered Thermal Expansion is used to couple the interfaces.