Joule Heating

Using SimScale Thermal
1

I am back to my usual difficulty in predicting Joule heating in a circuit. I was just wondering if there are other users in the Simscale community who have a similar need for simulation of heating of materials by current flow?
Thank-you,
John

2

Hello @johnstockton,
I would also be interested to know how large the demand for this feature would be.

For simple cases it should not be too hard to implement because of the analogies in the heat equation and the electric potential. There is a generic approach one could use with a thermal solver to compute the joule heating effect in a chained manner:

  • Solve the electric potential (can be done with heat solver using equivalences)
  • Compute heat source from electric potential using Ohm’s law
  • Apply heat source in a thermal analysis as load

A similar chained approach is used for our thermo-mechanical analysis types.
Would this be enough for your needs? Could you explain your application a little more so that we can get a feeling how useful/valid the above approach would be in your case.

Best,
Richard

3

Hello Richard,
Can I send this directly to your email?
The solution you suggest sounds good. One characteristic that would make it even better would be temperature dependent thermal conductivity but at this point, even a constant thermal conductivity would be a great tool compared to what I have now.
John

4

Hello John,
sure you can, just send it to rszoeke-schuller@simscale.com
The temperature dependent thermal conductivity will come out of the box with the thermal solver.
Best,
Richard

1 Like
5

Hello Richard, did you receive the files? Thanks, John

6

Hello John,
yes I got the files, but unfortunately I did not have time yet to check if the proposed work flow would be applicable to your case. I’ll update you as soon as I have tested the model or in case I need any additional information on the application.
Best,
Richard

7

No problem. Just checking. If you have any questions feel free to contact me by email or phone.

8

I would like to have it as well.
I also would like to have microwave heating :heart_eyes: