A finite element formulation and adaptive solution approach for large-scale thermomechanical problems with complex contact conditions

Conference · Wed Mar 31 04:00:00 EST 1993

OSTI ID:10184496

Engelmann, B E; Whirley, R G; Raboin, P J

Traditional thermal stress analysis is based on an uncoupled approach in which the thermal problem is solved on a fixed geometry, and the resulting temperatures are then used to load a mechanical problem. In contrast, a fully coupled thermomechanical analysis solves the thermal problem on the deforming geometry and incorporates thermal loads into the mechanical problem. Thermal contact, in which heat flow paths depend on the mechanical deformations of adjacent surfaces, is a major component of many fully coupled thermomechanical analyses. This paper describes the development of a Lagrangian finite element thermomechanical contact methodology. The paper focuses on the formulation and implementation of thermal contact in two dimensions. The proposed approach accommodates arbitrarily large relative motions of contact surfaces, fully unstructured meshes, pressure-dependent contact resistance, conduction across small gaps, and approximate models for convection and radiation. The proposed thermal contact formulation has been implemented in the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory public code PALM2D and has been used to solve a diverse set of thermomechanical problems. Examples frustrating the performance of this code on large deformation thermomechanical problems are presented and discussed.

• Research Organization: Lawrence Livermore National Lab., CA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-48
• OSTI ID: 10184496
• Report Number(s): UCRL-JC--112596; CONF-930785--3; ON: DE93019605
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

42 ENGINEERING
420400
661300
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS
990200
CONSERVATION LAWS
CONVECTION
DEFORMATION
ENERGY
FINITE ELEMENT METHOD
HEAT FLOW
HEAT TRANSFER AND FLUID FLOW
INTERFACES
LINEAR MOMENTUM
MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTERS
MESH GENERATION
OTHER ASPECTS OF PHYSICAL SCIENCE
P CODES
STRESS ANALYSIS
THERMAL ANALYSIS
THERMODYNAMICS