About Coupled Thermal-Stress Steps

A coupled thermal-stress step performs a thermal analysis and a stress analysis simultaneously, which captures the effects of temperature and stress distributions on each other.

A coupled thermal-stress step is a procedure that you create within a general analysis case. A general analysis case supports thermal, structural, and electrical potential degrees of freedom, such that you can run multiphysics simulations simultaneously.

This page discusses:

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Defining Coupled Thermal-Stress Steps

A coupled thermal-stress step neglects inertia effects, and it can model steady-state or transient responses.

Thermal Response

In a steady-state, coupled, thermal-stress step, the thermal response does not depend on time. In a transient, coupled, thermal-stress step, the thermal response depends on time.

Time Incrementation

The type of time incrementation determines how a coupled thermal-stress step progresses. Two types of time incrementation are available: automatic incrementation and fixed incrementation. In automatic incrementation, the solvers increment an analysis using some initial time incrementation parameters that you specify. In fixed incrementation, you specify a fixed time increment size to use throughout the analysis.

Creep

A coupled thermal-stress step can account for creep (that is, the viscoelastic response). The creep depends on the model's material properties. The solvers calculate creep by either implicit integration or explicit integration.