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doing simulations with coeff of thermal expansion using only the solid mechanics module

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Hi,
Hi

I am trying to perform sims with CTE (alpha's) in the solid mechanics module, but without the structural mechanics module (which supports CTE). I tested a demo version of the structural mechanics module but I did not get a budget to upgrade; I have an education in electronics & signal integrity, but not mechanics

I am trying to work around this. Comsol does not support body (volume) strains so I cannot simply distribute three orthogonal strains alpha*(T-Tref) through the material volume. However, for elastic bodies the strain-stress relation is easily inverted and one can distribute three orthogonal body forces -(E*alpha*(T-Tref)/(1-2*v), where E and v are the E-modulus and the poisson ratio, resp - assuming isotropic materials, more complicated problems like temperature dependent parameters and/or anisotropic materials should be possible.

The study steps involve a thermal followed by a mechanic step, the input in the 2nd is the temperature.
Based on the temperature we distribute body forces as stated above.

But maybe I miss something in my approach, I have not actually build a model and I was hoping to find something on the forum, which I did not ... unless I missed it

Any suggestion of comments on my approach are welcome

0 Replies Last Post 2015年12月22日 GMT-5 05:41
COMSOL Moderator

Hello Jan Vercammen

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