I am conducting tests on a simplified cylindrical/rod-shaped object (length l = 1 m, cross-sectional area A = 1 m², and thermal conductivity kappa = 1 W/mK) using the heat equation solver. The temperature at the bottom is fixed at 0 K, while the temperature at the top is set to 300 K.
I have an additional boundary parallel to the top and bottom surfaces where I want to define a heater or cooler with a specific power density in W/m². I'm not interested in setting a general heat flux boundary condition as it controls the overall flux through the object, rather than the incoming/outgoing flux.
While searching through the forum, I came across the idea of using 'temperature loads' as a boundary condition. (However, this approach is not documented in the ElmerModelsManual.pdf for the heat equation's boundary conditions section.) Here is an example of my working application:
Code: Select all
! center_core
Boundary Condition 3
Target Boundaries(1) = 2
Temperature Load = REAL -0.486381 !power/number of nodes
center_bd = Logical True !this is for masking scalars
End
However, I am using pyelmer with automated meshing based on several parameters, so manual extraction is not a viable solution.
I am considering implementing nodal statistics of the boundary to make it work, but I'm wondering if Elmer allows for setting a 'load condition' that takes into account the surface size.
Another approach would be use three cylinders, consisting of a very thin center part, and apply a body force. However, this solution does not align with what I was originally seeking.
Any guidance on this matter would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.