# THERMAL_SHELL

Creates shell elements from surface elements for temperature field only.

AcuSolve Command

## Syntax

THERMAL_SHELL ("name") {parameters}

User-given name.

## Parameters

shape (enumerated) [no default]
Shape of the surfaces in this set.
three_node_triangle or tri3
Three-node triangle.
six_node_triangle or tri6
Six-node triangle.
element_set or elem_set (string) [no default]
User-given name of the parent element set.
surfaces (array) [no default]
List of element surfaces.
surface_sets (list) [={}]
List of surface set names (strings) used in the THERMAL_SHELL command. When using this option, the connectivity, shape and parent element of the surfaces are provided by the surface set container. It is unnecessary to specify the shape, element_set and surfaces parameters directly to the THERMAL_SHELL command. This option is used in place of directly specifying these parameters. In the event that both of the surface_sets and surfaces parameters are provided, the full collection of surface elements will be read, and a warning message will be issued. The surface_sets option is a preferred method to specify the surface elements. This option provides a support for mixed element topologies and simplifies pre-processing and post-processing.
num_shell_layers or layers (integer) >0 [=1]
Number of layers in the shell.
material_models (list) [={}]
List of material model names (strings) for the shell layers. Number of entries in the list must equal num_shell_layers.
shell_thickness_type (enumerated) [=constant]
Type of shell thickness.
constant or const
Constant shell thickness.
shell_thicknesses or thick (array) [={}]
Thicknesses of the shell layers. Number of entries in the array must equal num_shell_layers. Used with constant shell thickness type and for shell medium only.
body_force (string) (string)
User-given name of the volumetric body force to be applied to this element set. If none, no body force is applied. Note that only heat source will be considered.

## Description

This command creates zero physical thickness volumetric shell elements from surface elements. These elements are used for heat conduction analysis as solid medium only. Shell elements can have multiple layers, each with different thicknesses and material models. The THERMAL_SHELL command can also be provided together with two dynamic surface_sets which is used to set thermal boundary conditions on two sides of shells. Surface_set adjacent to the one given by the surface_set parameter is called shell_inner, while surface_set on the other side of the THERMAL_SHELL will be shell_outer.
THERMAL_SHELL( "pipes" ) {
surface_sets = {“pipe wall”}
num_shell_layers = 2
material_models = {"Aluminum",”Iron”}
shell_thicknesses = {0.001,0.002}
body_force = none
}