Learning Forum

[Marc Böttner]

Hello,

I am trying to model physical processes in which different kinds of material expansions can occur:

-thermal expansion (due to a rise in temperature)

-swelling due to water uptake

-expansion because of ice formation in the porous structures of the material

All these expansions are very similar in their mathematical description on a macroscopic level; they are isotropic and depent linearly on a parameter (temperature, water content, ice content). However, the only way I know to realize this in mechanical is by the (mis-)use of the isotropic coefficient of thermal expansion. This includes taking my input data (temperature, water content etc.), multiplying by the respective expansion coefficient and summing it up to get a "substitute"-temperature, which can be used in the mechanical simulation (setting the expansion coefficient in ANSYS to 1). I was wondering whether there is a smarter way to do this, since it is quite labor intensive and does not seem to be the way the programm was intended to be used.

I should stress that the input data (temperature, water content etc.) does not result from another ANSYS simulation, it is something I want to feed directly into mechanical.

Thanks a lot in advance!

[Fabian Brandes]

Hi Marc, 

I also wonder about how to model the load case of swelling due to water uptake. Thought I reply, so this thread might gain some traction.

Also tried your temperature workaround before but it doesn't work for me for what I want to analyse. 

Hope somebody can help us out