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Boundary Conditions
Boundary Conditions available for SimSolid.
Thermal Convection
In thermal analysis, define a convective heat exchange condition on faces and spots.
Imported Convection
Apply convection from an external comma separated values (.csv) file. Available only for thermal steady-state analysis.

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View new features for SimSolid 2024.1.
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Information about treatment and properties of geometric entities in SimSolid.
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Summary of available functionality for defining the properties and behavior of parts in the model.
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Boundary Conditions
Boundary Conditions available for SimSolid.
- Available Boundary Conditions for Analyses
  A comparison chart showing the available boundary conditions for each analysis type.
- Immovable Constraints
  Enforce zero translational displacements in all directions on faces, edges, vertexes, and/or spots.
- Slider Constraints
  Enforce zero displacement in normal to the surface direction on faces and areal spots.
- Hinge Constraints
  Allow free rotation about the centerline of cylindrical faces, and constrain movement in radial and axial directions.
- Spring Support
  Set an elastic foundation at selected faces.
- General Constraints
  Constrain displacement of faces, edges, vertices, or spots in Modal analysis.
- Alignment Constraints
- Cable Tightening/Rod Preload
  Apply shortening or change of length for cables/rods.
- Pressure
  Apply positive pressure towards a face or negative pressure outwards from a face.
- Force/Displacement
  Apply uniform loads and/or displacements to faces, edges, vertices, or spots.
- Gravity Load
  Simulate the force of gravity as it affects your model.
- Translational Inertia Load
  Apply a uniformly distributed translational inertia load over the volumes of the parts in an assembly.
- Rotational Inertia Load
  Apply a uniformly distributed rotational inertia load over the volumes of the parts in an assembly.
- Inertia Relief
  Simulate deformations and stresses in cases where you have an unconstrained structure to which an active load is suddenly applied.
- Remote Load
  Apply distributed loads (tractions) to faces, general virtual connector, or spots that are statistically equivalent to a load applied on a single point.
- Remote Displacement
  Apply displacements to faces and/or spots that are statistically equivalent to a load applied on a single point.
- Thermal Load
  Simulate deformations and stresses induced by the temperature changes in your model.
- Bearing Load
  Apply a varying pressure load to full or partial face(s) of revolution.
- Hydrostatic Pressure
  Define pressure exerted by a fluid at equilibrium.
- Distributed Mass
  Apply distributed mass across selected faces.
- Bolt/Nut Tightening Loads
  Available for blind bolts (bolt without a nut), bolt with nut/bolt on threaded rod, nut on generic post or handle.
- Base Excitation
- Volume Expansion/Shrinkage
  Apply volumetric expansion/shrinkage coefficient over seam welds or other parts in the assembly.
- Temperature
  In thermal analysis, limit temperature on the selected faces, edges, vertices, or spots to a prescribed value.
- Thermal Convection
  In thermal analysis, define a convective heat exchange condition on faces and spots.
  - Imported Convection
    Apply convection from an external comma separated values (.csv) file. Available only for thermal steady-state analysis.
- Surface Heat Flux
  In thermal analysis, apply uniformly distributed heat loads to faces and spots.
- Volume Heat Loads
  In thermal analysis, simulate internal heat generation and internal heat absorption in volumes.
- Solar Loads
  Apply heat loads based on the sunbeam’s direction for thermal analysis
- Wind Loads
  Theory of wind load
Post Processing
Run analyses and view a variety of results in SimSolid.
Design Study
Design studies allow you to quickly evaluate and compare the structural performance from different design scenarios.
Verification Problems
Solved verification models.
Frequently Asked Questions
This section provides quick responses to typical and frequently asked questions regarding

Imported Convection

Apply convection from an external comma separated values (.csv) file. Available only for thermal steady-state analysis.

Note: For 2024.1, imported pressure is not supported for composites.

In the Project Tree, open the Analysis Workbench Workbench.
On the workbench toolbar, click Convection → Imported Pressure.
Browse to the desired .csv file in File Explorer and click Open.
The imported loads are mapped at points/parts specified in the .csv.

The .csv file contains one header row and one or more additional data rows.

Imported convection .csv file format fields are as follows:

ID (optional) – Alphanumeric value. Used to identify a specific point.
X, Y and Z – Numeric values. Spatial location is used to map convection to the nearest point on a face.
Ambient_temperature – Numerical value.
Convective_Heat_Transfer_coefficient – Numerical value.
Part_ID (optional) – Numerical value. ID of the part to map the convection. Mapping fails if the part with specified part ID is not present at the spatial location defined in X, Y and Z.
Part_Name (optional) - Alphanumeric value. Name of the part to map the convection. Mapping fails if the part with specified part name is not present at the spatial location defined in X, Y and Z.

Note: If both Part ID and Part Name are defined, Part ID takes precedence.

Example CSV File

ID,X,Y,Z, Ambient_temperature, convective_Heat_Transfer_coefficient,Part_ID,Part_Name
1,216,417,40,100,40,15,square tube
2,216.975,417,40.0961,100,40,15,square tube
3,217.913,417,40.3806,100,40,15,square tube

Note: Ambient temperature and the convective heat transfer coefficient in an imported file follows the input units set in SimSolid. Spatial location values follow model units.