Specifies an electrical resistivity model for the charge conservation equation. The
electrical resistivity represents the ability of a material to resist the flow of current.
Electrical resistivity model applies to solid materials only.
Syntax
ELECTRICAL_RESISTVITY_MODEL("name"){parameters...}
Qualifier
User-given name.
Parameters
- type
(enumerated) [=none]
- Type of the electrical resistivity model.
- constant or const
- Constant electrical resistivity. Requires
electrical_resistivity.
- linear_temperature
- Linear temperature dependent resistivity.
- piecewise_linear or
linear
- Piecewise linear curve fit. Requires
curve_fit_values and
curve_fit_variable.
- cubic_spline or spline
- Cubic spline curve fit. Requires
curve_fit_values and
curve_fit_variable.
- user_function or user
- User-defined function. Requires
user_function,
user_values and
user_strings.
- contact_resistance
- Contact resistance between two connected materials. Requires
electrical_contact_resistance.
- electrical_resistivity
(real) [=1.72e-8]
- Constant value of electrical resistivity. When type is
constant.
- linear_temperature_reference_temperature
(real) [=293.15]
- Reference temperature for linear_temperature resistivity
type.
- linear_temperature_reference_temperature_resistivity
(real) [=1.72e-8]
- Resistivity of the material at the reference temperature for
linear_temperature resistivity type.
- linear_temperature_temperature_coefficient
(real) [=0.00393]
- Relative change of resistivity for a given change in temperature for
linear_temperature resistivity type.
- curve_fit_values or curve_values
(array) [={0,0}]
- A two-column array of independent-variable/isotropic electrical resistivity
data values. Used with piecewise_linear and
cubic_spline types.
- curve_fit_variable or curve_var
(enumerated) [=temperature]
- Independent variable of the curve fit for isotropic electrical resistivity.
Used with piecewise_linear and
cubic_spline types.
- user_function or user
(string) [no default]
- Name of the user-defined function. Used with user_function
type.
- user_values
(array) [={}]
- Array of values to be passed to the user-defined function. Used with
user_function type.
- user_strings
(list) [={}]
- Array of strings to be passed to the user-defined function. Used with
user_function type.
- electrical_contact_resistance
(real) [=1.0e-6]
- electrical_contact resistance between two connected
materials. Used with contact_resistance type. Currently
supported only for electric_potential =
battery_joule_heating.
Description
The resistivity model is used for both the charge conservation equation and for the
coupling of charge conservation to the energy equation. A brief description of both
models in the context of electrical resistivity is given below.
Conservation of charge is a fundamental physical principle and is given
by:
(1)
Where
is the current density vector (units:
A/m
2). Typically, it is assumed that the current density is
proportional to the electric field, where the proportionality constant is the
electrical conductivity (
) of the material. The current density can then be
expressed as:
(2)
where
(units: V) is the electric potential field. The
inverse of conductivity
is the electrical resistivity
of the material.
To couple the electrical model into the thermal simulation in
AcuSolve, a source term
(
S) is introduced into the energy equation. The
source term is based on Joule’s first law which says that the heat generated per
unit volume is equal to the product of current density and the electric field (
). For example:
(3)
The available resistivity model is set in the
ELECTRICAL_RESISTIVITY_MODEL command and is referenced by
MATERIAL_MODEL commands. For
example:
ELECTRICAL_RESISTIVITY_MODEL( "my resistivity model" ) {
type = constant
electrical_resistivity = 2.9e-8
}
MATERIAL_MODEL( "my material model" ) {
electrical_resistivity_model = "my resistivity model"
}
The simplest case is type = constant. This
applies a constant resistivity in both the conservation of charge equation and the
source term in the energy equation. An example of a constant electrical resistivity
value is shown above.
The second type is a linear temperature dependent resistivity
(
type=
linear_temperature). For this model
the resistivity is a linear function of temperature given by:
(4)
Where
is the reference temperature resistivity,
the temperature coefficient,
the local temperature and
the reference temperature. The temperature
coefficient describes the relative change of resistivity for a given change in
temperature.
In the input file a linear temperature dependent resistivity would be defined as
follows:
ELECTRICAL_RESISTIVITY_MODEL( "my resistivity model" ) {
type = linear_temperature
linear_temperature_reference_temperature = 293.15
linear_temperature_reference_temperature_resistivity = 1.754e-8
linear_temperature_temperature_coefficient = 0.0039
}
Electrical resistivity models of types piecewise_linear and
cubic_spline may be used to define electrical resistivity as a
function of a single independent variable. These types of electrical resistivity
models are consistent with other material models. Currently the only
curve_fit_variable supported is temperature.
An electrical resistivity model of type user_function may be used to
model more complex behaviors; see the AcuSolve
User-Defined Functions Manual for a detailed description of user-defined
functions.
Electrical Contact Resistance
Electrical contact resistance occurs at the interface between connected electrical
components, for example, welded joints. Contact resistance creates ohmic losses that
lead to thermal hotspots and other undesirable thermal properties.
Contact resistance is enabled through the material model by setting the
type = contact_resistance in the
ELECTRICAL_RESISTIVITY_MODEL and linking this material to a
THERMAL_SHELL. The electrical resistance is then given in
. Currently, this is only supported by
electric_potential =
battery_joule_heating.
An example contact resistance input:
MATERIAL_MODEL("weld") {
type = solid
...
electrical_resistivity_model = "weld"
}
ELECTRICAL_RESISTIVITY_MODEL("weld") {
type = contact_resistance
electrical_contact_resistance = 1e2
}