Hydrostatic Pressure combined with Temperature

[cadcamm99]

I am using Inventor 2014 and AutoDesk Simulation 2014.  I want to create an Hydrostatic Pressure analysis at different temperatures for a plastic container.  I just want to know the displacement at different temperatures.  I have the Hydrostatic Pressure load set up I just don't now how to apply the load with temperature.

[AstroJohnPE]

Hi Cadcamm99,

If you are performing a linear static stress analysis, you will probably use one of the options located under "Setup > Model Setup > Parameters", then on the "Thermal" tab. From there, your options are to apply a uniform temperature to the entire model, or read the temperatures from a thermal analysis that you perform in a different design scenario.

You can also apply a temperture to a part or individual nodes. Like other loads, use the "Setup > Loads" menu to apply temperature directly to the selection. Be aware that with a CAD model, it is difficult to assign temperatures to individual nodes because the interior nodes are generally not shown and therefore cannot be selected.

The other things that you need to setup for thermal loads are:

1. The stress free reference temperature; that is, the temperature at which there is no expansion or contraction. That is specified in the Element Definition for each part.
2. The coefficient of thermal expansion. That is specified in the Material for each part.
3. The thermal load case multiplier which scales the thermal load in the model: coefficient of expansion * (element temperature - stress free temperature). The load case multipliers are specified in the "Setup > Model Setup > Parameters".

If performing a nonlinear analysis, the setup is similar except for the load curve. Rather than explain it here, I suggest that you read the page titled "Temperature" in the documentation to understand the behavior of the temperature load curve.