Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and more specifically conjugate heat transfer (CHT) analysis can accurately predict heat transfer by simultaneous solving all the relevant solid and flow field heat transfer processes, for example: conduction through solids, free and forced convection in the gases/fluids and thermal radiation.
The CHT approach has an advantage over FE thermal analyses in that wall heat transfer coefficients and their local variations on surfaces are directly calculated within the model rather than based on simplified empirical calculations. The CHT approach therefore has benefits for those applications where heat transfer is either non-uniform or difficult to calculate empirically.
The heat transfer projects performed by TriVista have covered a wide range of aerodynamic and hydrodynamic industrial applications but projects typically had objectives such as:
- Temperature distribution analysis.
- Heat flux rate analysis – calculation of wall heat flux rates or heat transfer coefficients.
- Visualisation of heat transfer features for improved understanding of system flow phenomena.
- Identification of localised ‘hot spots’ or heat sinks in checking against specified requirements.
- Evaluating variation in temperature peaks for different operating conditions/ failure modes.
- Assessing insulation or heat shield effectiveness and optimising of material selections.
- Coupling CHT with FE analysis to evaluate thermally induced stresses, expansion or fatigue.
- Temperature field analysis
- CFD thermal analysis
- Heat transfer coefficient analysis
- Heat transfer rate analysis
TriVista Engineering is a leading provider of cost-effective CFD services to industry and has supported clients on heat transfer problems across a wide range of industrial fields for instance: processing plants, power generation, oil and gas, subsea equipment, aerospace, defence, nuclear, appliances and automotive. This analysis was performed on industrial equipment such as: heaters, furnaces, boilers, burners, heat exchangers and electronic enclosures.
The ANSYS CFD suite of software tools used by TriVista have the conjugate heat transfer (CHT) modelling technology and many types of radiation models that provide us with a capability to tackle heat transfer projects with confidence. This is well integrated with our FE analysis and design tools enabling us to provide a multi-physics analysis (e.g. coupled thermal stress analysis) capability.
If you would like to know more please feel free to call or email (contact details below). Our helpful experienced engineers will be happy to advise you, without obligation. Alternatively, you may prefer to use our simple enquiry form.