In thermal analysis of assemblies, SolidWorks Simulation lets you define thermal contact resistance values. This allows you to model the thermal effect of a layer of a material which is too thin to mesh in 3D. However, the user needs to input the value of the resistance. Here is a primer on how to calculate the thermal resistance:
The expected value is either the total or distributed resistance, respectively in K/W or (K.m²)/W in the SI unit system.
The basic formula for temperature drop in a thin layer of material between two parts is given by:
DT = q * [t / (k * A)]
where:
DT = temperature drop at the contact zone in K
q = heat power flowing through the contact in W
t = thickness of the layer in m
k = thermal conductivity of the layer material in W/(mK)
A = surface area of the contact in m²
The total thermal resistance is t/(k*A) and the distributed resistance is t/k.
Thermal conductivity required to have a given thermal resistance
You can also determine the thermal conductivity required to have a given thermal resistance.
For a material of constant thickness, the total thermal resistance is Rt = t/(k*A) and the distributed resistance is Rd = t/k.
With:
t = thickness of the layer in m
k = thermal conductivity of the layer material in W/(mK)
A = surface area of the contact in m²
Therefore, you can calculate the required thermal conductivity k to use in a material of thickness t to have the thermal resistance you need: k = t/(Rt*A) or k = t/Rd.
|
|
Vikram Vedantham |
RSS![[Valid RSS]](http://www.3dvision.com/wordpress/wp-content/themes/default/valid-rss.png "Validate my RSS feed"){kind=small}
we are the student at MSU,in final year of BE-4(mechanical). We doing project on thermal contact resistant i.e. whats the effect of pressure, surface roughness etc. we kindly need your help in our project.Hoping you will help us and reply soon.