Changing initial temperature not affecting structural analysis results

General Questions
1

Hi there,

I have a shell model of a reinforced, load bearing plate that is being subjected to axial loads and a central bending moment. The structure will have a design temperature of 200°C, however, when I apply this as an initial temperature, it has no affect on my results.

My material properties are correctly set up and I have ran similar analyses without a problem. I have tried both Coupled Temperature-displacement and static steps.

The only difference between this model and similar models that I have ran is that I am using tied constraints to keep the parts together (I was unable to produce a compound part without obtaining an error). The constraints seem to be working well; when I look at my results with a large scale of deflection I have continuity between all parts.

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Any help would be welcome,

Thanks,

Danny

2

Do you have thermal expansion and/or temperature dependency of material properties defined ? Is there a temperature defined field introducing temperature gradient during the analysis ? Only then you will see the influence of temperature on structural results (btw. you can check the current temperature output).

3

I have thermal expansion and temperature dependency defined.

I haven’t set a defined temperature field. Would the correct process be to set the initial temperature to 0°C and then define a temperature field at 200°C?

1 Like
4

This seems to have worked, thank you for your help.