Multiphysics Solution

Thermal Analysis

A fingerprint scanner is initially kept in cold conditions and then moved to hot conditions, the temperature variation, as well as the structural performance of scanner, is analyzed when it is moved from cold to hot, as well a hot to cold weather conditions.

Use-Case

Human fingerprints are practically unique, thus the application of a fingerprint scanner is enormous. As the weather changes from summer to fall to winter, fingerprint sensors on the devices may start to have troubles. The fact that heat makes things expand and cold makes them contract, it is necessary to evaluate the structural performance after the temperature variations.

Model Files

Before you begin, copy the file(s) used in this example to your working directory.

FEA Model Description

The scanner is surrounded by a bounding box that represents the surrounding air. The temperature of the surrounding air is 293K for cold conditions and it is 313K for hot conditions. Heat source and cooling channel are shown in Figure 1. In this solution, the thermal flow is solved using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) in AcuSolve and Structural Stress Analysis is solved using OptiStruct.
Figure 1. Fingerprint Scanner


Results

Figure 2. Temperature Distribution in Cold and Hot Conditions


Thermal Fluid-Structure Interaction Analysis

Thermal fluid interaction is accurately analyzed using OptiStruct.

Use-Case

A light bulb is a device that produces light from electricity. In addition to lighting a dark space, they can be used to indicate than an electronic device is on, to direct traffic, for heat, and many other purposes. If you want to change or replace a light bulb which has on for a long time, it will very hot to touch.

Electricity flows through a thin tungsten wire in the light bulb called the filament. The filament used in a light bulb has a property called resistance. As a result of this resistance, the filament heats up and starts glowing, converting electrical energy to light energy and this light energy gets transmitted to the glass via air (fluid medium); thus, the glass will get heated too.
Figure 3. Thermal Fluid-Structure Interaction Analysis


Model Files

Before you begin, copy the file(s) used in this example to your working directory.

FEA Model Description

In this model, the air, which is fluid in this analysis, is meshed using SimLab and the filament gives heat generation, due to electricity of 1.2 W/mm3. The fluid mesh is an important step as it will transfer the heat from the filament to the glass. Appropriate material properties are given to the filament (tungsten), air-fluid (Argon gas), and glass. In this solution, CFD thermal flow is solved using AcuSolve and Structural Stress Analysis is solved using OptiStruct.

Results

The temperature of the glass of the bulb reaches 570 K, which is very hot.
Figure 4. Temperature Variation