Displacement of part due to thermal expansion?

[JohnTomasik6493]

Snooped around the software's tutorials and help section, but I can't figure out what analysis to use and an example of how to set up the analysis as well as how to display those results.  I had an old thermal analysis that I tried to figure out if there was a means of displaying the expansion/shrink of the part, but the only things I found were the "long/short ratio", warp angle, etc.  The numbers didn't make sense.  For instance, the long/short ratio displays in mm/mm, and the value was 15 mm/mm, which definitely doesn't make sense for expansion of a metal object for a heat rise of 35 deg C.

A little help, please?

[John_Holtz]

Hi John,

A thermal analysis only calculates temperatures and heat fluxes. To get displacements, whether due to applied forces or thermal expansion, you need to perform a stress analysis. Here are two pages in the help that should get you started:

• Help > Autodesk Simulation > Examples > Linear and Dynamic Stress > Thermal Stresses of Tanks. Then look at the displacement results.
• Help > Autodesk Simulation > Setting Up and Performing the Analysis > Set Up Analyses > Linear > Loads and Constraints > Temperatures. The "introduction" essentially gives all of the steps necessary to do what you are trying.