Learning Forum

[Amr 007]

Hi everyone,

In the context of a casting simulation, I’m trying to model the effect of a thermal contact loss (i.e., a gap forming between two solid parts). So far, I’ve been using interface elements (CONTA173) with adjustable thermal contact conductance to simulate this behavior. However, the conductance values are often tuned arbitrarily to match experimental heat flux curves, which limits the predictive capability of the model.

I’m wondering how others approach this problem.

• Do you model the gap using thermal radiation between the surfaces?
• If so, do you consider near-field radiation effects when the gap is extremely small (e.g., nanometer scale)?
• In your experience, how sensitive is the extracted heat flux to the size of the gap (from sub-micron to millimeter scale)?

Any insights, references, or examples would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance,