SS-V: 5000 Coupled Analysis - Bimetallic Beam Under Thermal Load

Test No. VNL01Find temperature at the material interface and maximum deflection of the beam.

Definition

A bimetallic beam consists of two layers of materials with different coefficients of thermal expansion. The beam is loaded with uniform temperature applied to its top and bottom surfaces (Figure 1). Sides and ends of the beam are insulated. One end of the beam is supported by a hinge, the other end is supported by a sliding hinge.


Figure 1.

The layers of materials are: 0.05 x 0.5 x 10 inch

The material properties are:
Properties: Material 1
Value
Modulus of Elasticity
1.e+7 psi
Poisson's Ratio
0
Coefficient of Thermal Expansion
14.5e-6 1/F
Thermal Conductivity
5 BTU/(hr-in-F)
Properties: Material 2
Value
Modulus of Elasticity
1.e+7 psi
Poisson's Ratio
0
Coefficient of Thermal Expansion
2.5e-6 1/F
Thermal Conductivity
5 BTU/(hr-in-F)

The temperature at the top and bottom surfaces is 400 degrees F.

Results

Layers of different materials are simulated by solids. Hinged supports are simulated by applying immovable edge constraint at contact surface at one end of the bar (Figure 2a) and sliding edge support at the other end (Figure 2b).


Figure 2. Hinged supports


Figure 3. Deformed shape of the beam


Figure 4. Sliding of the simply supported end of the beam. due to nonlinear deformation
  Ref Solution* SimSolid % Difference
Temperature at Contact [def-F] 400.00 400.00 0.00%
Max Deflection [in] 0.90 0.89

-0.88%

* Ref Solution is 1D model

1 B.A. Boley, J.H. Weiner, Theory of Thermal Stress, R.E. Krieger Publishing Co, Malabar, FL, 1985, pg.