{"id":157876,"date":"2022-06-06T09:57:55","date_gmt":"2022-06-06T09:57:55","guid":{"rendered":"\/knowledge\/forums\/topic\/how-does-mechanical-and-mechanical-apdl-use-tref-and-tunif-to-identify-the-temperature-to-be-used-to-define-material-properties\/"},"modified":"2022-06-06T09:57:55","modified_gmt":"2022-06-06T09:57:55","slug":"how-does-mechanical-and-mechanical-apdl-use-tref-and-tunif-to-identify-the-temperature-to-be-used-to-define-material-properties","status":"publish","type":"topic","link":"https:\/\/innovationspace.ansys.com\/knowledge\/forums\/topic\/how-does-mechanical-and-mechanical-apdl-use-tref-and-tunif-to-identify-the-temperature-to-be-used-to-define-material-properties\/","title":{"rendered":"How does Mechanical and Mechanical APDL use TREF and TUNIF to identify the temperature to be used to define material properties?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>If one does not not have a coefficient of thermal expansion (alpha) defined, then the Environment Temperature (TREF command in MAPDL) should not affect the results.  That temperature is only used to calculate the thermal strains based on the difference between it and the nodal temperatures (alpha* deltaT).<br \/>If alpha is zero, the calculated thermal strains are zero, regardless of the TREF setting.<br \/>Nodal temperatures are calculated from a thermal analysis or imposed by a thermal condition (TUNIF command in MAPDL).<br \/>If temperature dependent material properties are defined, the nodal temperature are used by the solver to identify the correct material properties.  If material properties are only defined for one temperature, then the solver will use those properties regardless of the nodal temperatures.<br \/>Reference Temperature is the temperature at which the model experiences zero strain.  It is only used to calculate the thermal strains.  It does affect the material properties used by the solver.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"template":"","class_list":["post-157876","topic","type-topic","status-publish","hentry","topic-tag-apdl","topic-tag-trif","topic-tag-tunif"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t<!-- All in One SEO 4.9.10 - aioseo.com -->\n\t<meta name=\"description\" content=\"If one does not not have a coefficient of thermal expansion (alpha) defined, then the Environment Temperature (TREF command in MAPDL) should not affect the results. That temperature is only used to calculate the thermal strains based on the difference between it and the nodal temperatures (alpha* deltaT).If alpha is zero, the calculated thermal strains\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"max-image-preview:large\" \/>\n\t<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/innovationspace.ansys.com\/knowledge\/forums\/topic\/how-does-mechanical-and-mechanical-apdl-use-tref-and-tunif-to-identify-the-temperature-to-be-used-to-define-material-properties\/\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"generator\" content=\"All in One SEO (AIOSEO) 4.9.10\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Ansys Knowledge | Ansys Innovation Space\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How does Mechanical and Mechanical APDL use TREF and TUNIF to identify the temperature to be used to define material properties? | Ansys Knowledge\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"If one does not not have a coefficient of thermal expansion (alpha) defined, then the Environment Temperature (TREF command in MAPDL) should not affect the results. That temperature is only used to calculate the thermal strains based on the difference between it and the nodal temperatures (alpha* deltaT).If alpha is zero, the calculated thermal strains\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/innovationspace.ansys.com\/knowledge\/forums\/topic\/how-does-mechanical-and-mechanical-apdl-use-tref-and-tunif-to-identify-the-temperature-to-be-used-to-define-material-properties\/\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-06-06T09:57:55+00:00\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-06-06T09:57:55+00:00\" \/>\n\t\t<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n\t\t<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"How does Mechanical and Mechanical APDL use TREF and TUNIF to identify the temperature to be used to define material properties? | Ansys Knowledge\" \/>\n\t\t<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"If one does not not have a coefficient of thermal expansion (alpha) defined, then the Environment Temperature (TREF command in MAPDL) should not affect the results. That temperature is only used to calculate the thermal strains based on the difference between it and the nodal temperatures (alpha* deltaT).If alpha is zero, the calculated thermal strains\" \/>\n\t\t<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"aioseo-schema\">\n\t\t\t{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/innovationspace.ansys.com\\\/knowledge\\\/forums\\\/topic\\\/how-does-mechanical-and-mechanical-apdl-use-tref-and-tunif-to-identify-the-temperature-to-be-used-to-define-material-properties\\\/#breadcrumblist\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/innovationspace.ansys.com\\\/knowledge#listItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/innovationspace.ansys.com\\\/knowledge\",\"nextItem\":{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/innovationspace.ansys.com\\\/knowledge\\\/topics\\\/#listItem\",\"name\":\"Topics\"}},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/innovationspace.ansys.com\\\/knowledge\\\/topics\\\/#listItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Topics\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/innovationspace.ansys.com\\\/knowledge\\\/topics\\\/\",\"nextItem\":{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/innovationspace.ansys.com\\\/knowledge\\\/forums\\\/topic-tag\\\/apdl\\\/#listItem\",\"name\":\"apdl\"},\"previousItem\":{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/innovationspace.ansys.com\\\/knowledge#listItem\",\"name\":\"Home\"}},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/innovationspace.ansys.com\\\/knowledge\\\/forums\\\/topic-tag\\\/apdl\\\/#listItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"apdl\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/innovationspace.ansys.com\\\/knowledge\\\/forums\\\/topic-tag\\\/apdl\\\/\",\"nextItem\":{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/innovationspace.ansys.com\\\/knowledge\\\/forums\\\/topic\\\/how-does-mechanical-and-mechanical-apdl-use-tref-and-tunif-to-identify-the-temperature-to-be-used-to-define-material-properties\\\/#listItem\",\"name\":\"How does Mechanical and Mechanical APDL use TREF and TUNIF to identify the temperature to be used to define material properties?\"},\"previousItem\":{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/innovationspace.ansys.com\\\/knowledge\\\/topics\\\/#listItem\",\"name\":\"Topics\"}},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/innovationspace.ansys.com\\\/knowledge\\\/forums\\\/topic\\\/how-does-mechanical-and-mechanical-apdl-use-tref-and-tunif-to-identify-the-temperature-to-be-used-to-define-material-properties\\\/#listItem\",\"position\":4,\"name\":\"How does Mechanical and Mechanical APDL use TREF and TUNIF to identify the temperature to be used to define material properties?\",\"previousItem\":{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/innovationspace.ansys.com\\\/knowledge\\\/forums\\\/topic-tag\\\/apdl\\\/#listItem\",\"name\":\"apdl\"}}]},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/innovationspace.ansys.com\\\/knowledge\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Ansys Knowledge\",\"description\":\"Ansys Innovation Space\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/innovationspace.ansys.com\\\/knowledge\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/innovationspace.ansys.com\\\/knowledge\\\/forums\\\/topic\\\/how-does-mechanical-and-mechanical-apdl-use-tref-and-tunif-to-identify-the-temperature-to-be-used-to-define-material-properties\\\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/innovationspace.ansys.com\\\/knowledge\\\/forums\\\/topic\\\/how-does-mechanical-and-mechanical-apdl-use-tref-and-tunif-to-identify-the-temperature-to-be-used-to-define-material-properties\\\/\",\"name\":\"How does Mechanical and Mechanical APDL use TREF and TUNIF to identify the temperature to be used to define material properties? | Ansys Knowledge\",\"description\":\"If one does not not have a coefficient of thermal expansion (alpha) defined, then the Environment Temperature (TREF command in MAPDL) should not affect the results. That temperature is only used to calculate the thermal strains based on the difference between it and the nodal temperatures (alpha* deltaT).If alpha is zero, the calculated thermal strains\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/innovationspace.ansys.com\\\/knowledge\\\/#website\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/innovationspace.ansys.com\\\/knowledge\\\/forums\\\/topic\\\/how-does-mechanical-and-mechanical-apdl-use-tref-and-tunif-to-identify-the-temperature-to-be-used-to-define-material-properties\\\/#breadcrumblist\"},\"datePublished\":\"2022-06-06T09:57:55+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-06-06T09:57:55+00:00\"},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/innovationspace.ansys.com\\\/knowledge\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/innovationspace.ansys.com\\\/knowledge\\\/\",\"name\":\"Ansys Knowledge\",\"description\":\"Ansys Innovation Space\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/innovationspace.ansys.com\\\/knowledge\\\/#organization\"}}]}\n\t\t<\/script>\n\t\t<!-- All in One SEO -->\n\n","aioseo_head_json":{"title":"How does Mechanical and Mechanical APDL use TREF and TUNIF to identify the temperature to be used to define material properties? | Ansys Knowledge","description":"If one does not not have a coefficient of thermal expansion (alpha) defined, then the Environment Temperature (TREF command in MAPDL) should not affect the results. That temperature is only used to calculate the thermal strains based on the difference between it and the nodal temperatures (alpha* deltaT).If alpha is zero, the calculated thermal strains","canonical_url":"https:\/\/innovationspace.ansys.com\/knowledge\/forums\/topic\/how-does-mechanical-and-mechanical-apdl-use-tref-and-tunif-to-identify-the-temperature-to-be-used-to-define-material-properties\/","robots":"max-image-preview:large","keywords":"","webmasterTools":{"miscellaneous":""},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/innovationspace.ansys.com\/knowledge\/forums\/topic\/how-does-mechanical-and-mechanical-apdl-use-tref-and-tunif-to-identify-the-temperature-to-be-used-to-define-material-properties\/#breadcrumblist","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/innovationspace.ansys.com\/knowledge#listItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/innovationspace.ansys.com\/knowledge","nextItem":{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/innovationspace.ansys.com\/knowledge\/topics\/#listItem","name":"Topics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/innovationspace.ansys.com\/knowledge\/topics\/#listItem","position":2,"name":"Topics","item":"https:\/\/innovationspace.ansys.com\/knowledge\/topics\/","nextItem":{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/innovationspace.ansys.com\/knowledge\/forums\/topic-tag\/apdl\/#listItem","name":"apdl"},"previousItem":{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/innovationspace.ansys.com\/knowledge#listItem","name":"Home"}},{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/innovationspace.ansys.com\/knowledge\/forums\/topic-tag\/apdl\/#listItem","position":3,"name":"apdl","item":"https:\/\/innovationspace.ansys.com\/knowledge\/forums\/topic-tag\/apdl\/","nextItem":{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/innovationspace.ansys.com\/knowledge\/forums\/topic\/how-does-mechanical-and-mechanical-apdl-use-tref-and-tunif-to-identify-the-temperature-to-be-used-to-define-material-properties\/#listItem","name":"How does Mechanical and Mechanical APDL use TREF and TUNIF to identify the temperature to be used to define material properties?"},"previousItem":{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/innovationspace.ansys.com\/knowledge\/topics\/#listItem","name":"Topics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/innovationspace.ansys.com\/knowledge\/forums\/topic\/how-does-mechanical-and-mechanical-apdl-use-tref-and-tunif-to-identify-the-temperature-to-be-used-to-define-material-properties\/#listItem","position":4,"name":"How does Mechanical and Mechanical APDL use TREF and TUNIF to identify the temperature to be used to define material properties?","previousItem":{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/innovationspace.ansys.com\/knowledge\/forums\/topic-tag\/apdl\/#listItem","name":"apdl"}}]},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/innovationspace.ansys.com\/knowledge\/#organization","name":"Ansys Knowledge","description":"Ansys Innovation Space","url":"https:\/\/innovationspace.ansys.com\/knowledge\/"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/innovationspace.ansys.com\/knowledge\/forums\/topic\/how-does-mechanical-and-mechanical-apdl-use-tref-and-tunif-to-identify-the-temperature-to-be-used-to-define-material-properties\/#webpage","url":"https:\/\/innovationspace.ansys.com\/knowledge\/forums\/topic\/how-does-mechanical-and-mechanical-apdl-use-tref-and-tunif-to-identify-the-temperature-to-be-used-to-define-material-properties\/","name":"How does Mechanical and Mechanical APDL use TREF and TUNIF to identify the temperature to be used to define material properties? | Ansys Knowledge","description":"If one does not not have a coefficient of thermal expansion (alpha) defined, then the Environment Temperature (TREF command in MAPDL) should not affect the results. That temperature is only used to calculate the thermal strains based on the difference between it and the nodal temperatures (alpha* deltaT).If alpha is zero, the calculated thermal strains","inLanguage":"en-US","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/innovationspace.ansys.com\/knowledge\/#website"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/innovationspace.ansys.com\/knowledge\/forums\/topic\/how-does-mechanical-and-mechanical-apdl-use-tref-and-tunif-to-identify-the-temperature-to-be-used-to-define-material-properties\/#breadcrumblist"},"datePublished":"2022-06-06T09:57:55+00:00","dateModified":"2022-06-06T09:57:55+00:00"},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/innovationspace.ansys.com\/knowledge\/#website","url":"https:\/\/innovationspace.ansys.com\/knowledge\/","name":"Ansys Knowledge","description":"Ansys Innovation Space","inLanguage":"en-US","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/innovationspace.ansys.com\/knowledge\/#organization"}}]},"og:locale":"en_US","og:site_name":"Ansys Knowledge | Ansys Innovation Space","og:type":"article","og:title":"How does Mechanical and Mechanical APDL use TREF and TUNIF to identify the temperature to be used to define material properties? | Ansys Knowledge","og:description":"If one does not not have a coefficient of thermal expansion (alpha) defined, then the Environment Temperature (TREF command in MAPDL) should not affect the results. That temperature is only used to calculate the thermal strains based on the difference between it and the nodal temperatures (alpha* deltaT).If alpha is zero, the calculated thermal strains","og:url":"https:\/\/innovationspace.ansys.com\/knowledge\/forums\/topic\/how-does-mechanical-and-mechanical-apdl-use-tref-and-tunif-to-identify-the-temperature-to-be-used-to-define-material-properties\/","article:published_time":"2022-06-06T09:57:55+00:00","article:modified_time":"2022-06-06T09:57:55+00:00","twitter:card":"summary_large_image","twitter:title":"How does Mechanical and Mechanical APDL use TREF and TUNIF to identify the temperature to be used to define material properties? | Ansys Knowledge","twitter:description":"If one does not not have a coefficient of thermal expansion (alpha) defined, then the Environment Temperature (TREF command in MAPDL) should not affect the results. That temperature is only used to calculate the thermal strains based on the difference between it and the nodal temperatures (alpha* deltaT).If alpha is zero, the calculated thermal strains"},"aioseo_meta_data":{"post_id":"157876","title":null,"description":null,"keywords":null,"keyphrases":null,"primary_term":null,"canonical_url":null,"og_title":null,"og_description":null,"og_object_type":"default","og_image_type":"default","og_image_url":null,"og_image_width":null,"og_image_height":null,"og_image_custom_url":null,"og_image_custom_fields":null,"og_video":null,"og_custom_url":null,"og_article_section":null,"og_article_tags":null,"twitter_use_og":false,"twitter_card":"default","twitter_image_type":"default","twitter_image_url":null,"twitter_image_custom_url":null,"twitter_image_custom_fields":null,"twitter_title":null,"twitter_description":null,"schema":{"blockGraphs":[],"customGraphs":[],"default":{"data":{"Article":[],"Course":[],"Dataset":[],"FAQPage":[],"Movie":[],"Person":[],"Product":[],"ProductReview":[],"Car":[],"Recipe":[],"Service":[],"SoftwareApplication":[],"WebPage":[]},"graphName":"","isEnabled":true},"graphs":[]},"schema_type":"default","schema_type_options":null,"pillar_content":false,"robots_default":true,"robots_noindex":false,"robots_noarchive":false,"robots_nosnippet":false,"robots_nofollow":false,"robots_noimageindex":false,"robots_noodp":false,"robots_notranslate":false,"robots_max_snippet":null,"robots_max_videopreview":null,"robots_max_imagepreview":"large","priority":null,"frequency":null,"local_seo":null,"limit_modified_date":false,"created":"2025-10-17 17:55:14","updated":"2026-07-29 03:34:43","ai":null,"breadcrumb_settings":null,"seo_analyzer_scan_date":null},"aioseo_breadcrumb":"<div class=\"aioseo-breadcrumbs\"><span class=\"aioseo-breadcrumb\">\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/innovationspace.ansys.com\/knowledge\" title=\"Home\">Home<\/a>\n\t\t<\/span><span class=\"aioseo-breadcrumb-separator\">&raquo;<\/span><span class=\"aioseo-breadcrumb\">\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/innovationspace.ansys.com\/knowledge\/topics\/\" title=\"Topics\">Topics<\/a>\n\t\t<\/span><span class=\"aioseo-breadcrumb-separator\">&raquo;<\/span><span class=\"aioseo-breadcrumb\">\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/innovationspace.ansys.com\/knowledge\/forums\/topic-tag\/apdl\/\" title=\"apdl\">apdl<\/a>\n\t\t<\/span><span class=\"aioseo-breadcrumb-separator\">&raquo;<\/span><span class=\"aioseo-breadcrumb\">\n\t\t\tHow does Mechanical and Mechanical APDL use TREF and TUNIF to identify the temperature to be used to define material properties?\n\t\t<\/span><\/div>","aioseo_breadcrumb_json":[{"label":"Home","link":"https:\/\/innovationspace.ansys.com\/knowledge"},{"label":"Topics","link":"https:\/\/innovationspace.ansys.com\/knowledge\/topics\/"},{"label":"apdl","link":"https:\/\/innovationspace.ansys.com\/knowledge\/forums\/topic-tag\/apdl\/"},{"label":"How does Mechanical and Mechanical APDL use TREF and TUNIF to identify the temperature to be used to define material properties?","link":"https:\/\/innovationspace.ansys.com\/knowledge\/forums\/topic\/how-does-mechanical-and-mechanical-apdl-use-tref-and-tunif-to-identify-the-temperature-to-be-used-to-define-material-properties\/"}],"acf":[],"custom_fields":[{"0":{"_wp_page_template":["default"],"_bbp_last_active_time":["06-06-2022 20:20"],"_bbp_forum_id":["27789"],"_btv_view_count":["4700"],"_bbp_likes_count":["0"]},"test":"articlesansys-com"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/innovationspace.ansys.com\/knowledge\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topics\/157876","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/innovationspace.ansys.com\/knowledge\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topics"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/innovationspace.ansys.com\/knowledge\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/topic"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/innovationspace.ansys.com\/knowledge\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topics\/157876\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/innovationspace.ansys.com\/knowledge\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=157876"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}