Adding solar loading to a thermal simulation

[pblase]

I am trying to simulate a plate that is sitting in the sun. It will both radiate from its surface and absorb from the Sun which will be at a certain angle. Is there a good way to add solar loading to a simulation? I can't see a good way to add a directional heat source, without doing a lot of math myself. (Can you even have a single face be both a source and a sink?)

[henderh · Accepted solution]

Hi @Anonymous,
It's possible to set it up in such a way we aren't defining the same face for both a radiation source and for the influx of heat. As you've found some load or constraint combinations are mutually exclusive due the the nature of how the problem is handled in FEA.

However, it may be possible to approximate the influx of heat from the solar radiation by using an Internal Heat type of load that is applied to the entire volume instead of the same face.
You would of course want to factor in the efficiency of the panel, since not all of the solar energy is being converted into heat.  This can be done within the dialog for the magnitude. You can also enter trig functions to account for incidence angle. This assumes our 750 W / m^2 average solar incidence, then multiplied by the area:


If the panel is thin, this workaround isn't too bad since the thermal gradient through the thickness isn't as severe for thin bodies compared to thick.


Hope this helps!

[Edit:] A more realistic approach is to try using Heat Source to define the incoming heat, that can be applied to the same face as Radiation that defines the heat exiting.
Best regards,