How to Add Heat Sources in SOLIDWORKS

SolidProfessor - Sam Sanchez | August 29, 2016 | Comment

In the tutorial video above, we’re nearly ready to run a study, but first we need to add the heat source. We need to tell Flow that these four burners on the stove are giving off 1,000 watts of heat.

 

stove

 

Adding a heat source is just like adding a boundary condition, except we can only add flow openings, pressure openings or walls.

To add the heat source, we’ll first need to show heat sources within the project.

To start, we’ll right click on the project and select “Customize Tree.” Next, we need to check the box next to “Heat Sources” to add it to the tree.

 

HeatSourcesAdded

 

Next, we’ll right-click on Heat Sources and select “Insert Surface Source…” For the selection, we’ll choose the four burner faces mentioned earlier.

For our heat source, we can specify either a “Heat Transfer Rate” or a “Heat Flux.” We’ll choose Heat Transfer Rate and enter 1,000 watts for the value. Once we click the green check, the heat source is added.

If we zoom out, we can see the total project setup, the three boundary conditions and the heat source along with their current values displayed in the flags.

 

FulSetup

 

Looking closer at our project, the little arrows show the direction that the boundary conditions are applied in. It’s recommended to take a second to look all this over before running the study, just as a sanity check to make sure everything makes sense.

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About the Author


Sam Sanchez is an Applications Engineer with SolidProfessor and a CSWP. Sanchez is an alumni of UC San Diego, and in her free time enjoys 3D printing and hanging out with her dog Ruby. You can see more training videos on a wide range of CAD, CAM & BIM topics at www.solidprofessor.com.