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Thermal Solver
Contains thermal solver related guides, such as the TMG reference manual, thermal API guide, and error message list.
Thermal solver theory
Describes the theory and methods of the thermal solver.
Conduction methods
To model heat conduction, the thermal solver can use two finite volume methods, center of element method or element's center of gravity method, or the finite element method.
Finite volume methods
Comparison between finite volume methods
The thermal solver supports two finite volume conduction methods—the center of element method and the element's center of gravity (CG) method—to create conductive conductances from geometry.

Thermal Solver
Contains thermal solver related guides, such as the TMG reference manual, thermal API guide, and error message list.
- Thermal solver guides
  Maya HTT's thermal solver is included in Simcenter 3D and in Simcenter Femap. This page contains links to thermal solver guides, which help you understand how the thermal solver works.
- Thermal solver theory
  Describes the theory and methods of the thermal solver.
  - Introduction
    This guide provides the theory and methods used by the thermal solver, including methods to calculate conduction, convection, and radiation, as well as modeling specific topics using the thermal solver.
  - Conduction methods
    To model heat conduction, the thermal solver can use two finite volume methods, center of element method or element's center of gravity method, or the finite element method.
    - Finite volume methods
      - Comparison between finite volume methods
        The thermal solver supports two finite volume conduction methods—the center of element method and the element's center of gravity (CG) method—to create conductive conductances from geometry.
      - Element's center of gravity method
        The element's center of gravity (CG) method creates conductances between the CG of the element and its boundary elements.
      - Center of element method
        The following table lists element types supported by the center of element conduction method and how the thermal solver identifies their center of location and sub-elements to create conductances between elements.
      - Axisymmetric elements
        This topic describes how axisymmetric shell and solid elements are defined in thermal analysis.
      - Orthotropic materials
        This topic explains how orthotropic materials are handled in thermal analysis, detailing the process for stretching shell and solid elements based on their thermal conductivities in different material directions and the subsequent calculation of conductance.
    - Finite element method
      The finite element method computes the temperature values at discrete points, solid nodes, by solving the heat conduction equation.
  - Convective heat transfer methods
    The thermal solver computes convection conductances for various geometrical configurations using correlations that depend on specified characteristic lengths, convective surfaces, and type of convection.
  - Radiation exchange methods
    Thermal radiation is a heat transfer due to electromagnetic radiation emitted by the surface of bodies due to their temperature.
  - Miscellaneous topics
  - References
- Thermal solver API guide
  Allows you to create or add functionality to enhance the thermal solver capabilities.

Comparison between finite volume methods

The thermal solver supports two finite volume conduction methods—the center of element method and the element's center of gravity (CG) method—to create conductive conductances from geometry.

The center of element method directly creates conductances between element centers. The element CG method creates boundary elements on each element’s geometry and creates conductances between each element's CG and these boundary elements. This is the recommended method.

Accuracy: The element CG method generally yields a more accurate conductance matrix for solid elements compared to the center of element method.
Tolerance: Oddly shaped elements are better accommodated by the element CG method, enhancing its robustness.
Density: For regular rectangular meshes, the element CG method results in a denser mesh configuration.
Surface temperature computation: The element CG method calculates temperature at the CG of surface elements, providing a closer approximation of the average surface temperature for elements involved in radiation or convection. This leads to more precise temperature computations in models with irregularly shaped elements and significant radiation or convection effects.
Negative conductances: Unlike the center of element method, the element CG method can result in negative conductances under certain conditions.
Material and element consistency: Both methods handle orthotropic materials and axisymmetric elements consistently.