3-D 10-Node
Tetrahedral Diffusion Solid
SOLID240 Element Description
SOLID240 is a 3-D, 10-node diffusion element. It is well suited to model irregular meshes (such as produced from various CAD/CAM systems). The element has one degree of freedom, concentration (CONC), at each node.
This element is applicable to the steady-state and transient diffusion analyses. The element can also account for transport effects from a velocity field. See SOLID240 - 3-D 10-Node Tetrahedral Diffusion Solid in the Mechanical APDL Theory Reference for more details about this element.
SOLID240 Input Data
The geometry, node locations, and the coordinate system for this element are shown in Figure 238.1: PLANE238 Geometry. The element is defined by 10 nodes and the material properties.
Orthotropic material directions correspond to the element coordinate directions. The element coordinate system orientation is described in Coordinate Systems. Properties not input by default are as described in the Material Reference. When saturated concentration (MP,CSAT) is specified, the meaning of the CONC degree of freedom is normalized concentration. The actual concentration is evaluated at the element centroid and output as SMISC,1. When unspecified, the saturated concentration (MP,CSAT) defaults to 1.0 and the nodal degree of freedom CONC is actual concentration. See Diffusion in the Mechanical APDL Theory Reference for more information on the diffusion analysis.
Nodal loads are defined with the D (Lab
= CONC) and F (Lab = RATE) commands. The
temperature (for material property evaluation only) body loads may be input based on their value
at the element's nodes or as a single element value (BF,
BFE). Generally, unspecified nodal values of temperatures default to the
uniform value specified via the BFUNIF or TUNIF commands.
The transport velocity components (in the global coordinate system) are input with the
BF (Lab = VELO) command.
The material properties (DXX, DYY, DZZ, CSAT) and loads (DFLUX, DGEN, VELO) can be input as numerical values or as functions of primary variables by using tabular input. The possible primary variables are time (TIME), x, y, and z location (X, Y, and Z) in local or global coordinates, temperature (TEMP), and the concentration (CONC) degree of freedom. For more information and examples of using tabular input, see Defining Materials Using TABLE Type Array Parameters in the Mechanical APDL Basic Analysis Guide, Applying Loads Using TABLE Type Array Parameters in the Mechanical APDL Basic Analysis Guide, and the *DIM command in the Command Reference.
A summary of the element input is given in "SOLID240 Input Summary". A general description of element input is given in Element Input.
SOLID240 Input Summary
- Nodes
I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R
- Degrees of Freedom
CONC
- Real Constants
None
- Material Properties
MP command: DXX, DYY, DZZ, CSAT
- Surface Loads
- Diffusion Flux (DFLUX) --
Face 1 (J-I-K), face 2 (I-J-L), face 3 (J-K-L), face 4 (K-I-L)
- Body Loads
- Temperature (TEMP)--
T(I), T(J), T(K), T(L), T(M), T(N), T(O), T(P), T(Q), T(R)
- Diffusing Substance Generations (DGEN) --
DG(I),DG(J), ..., DG(Q), DG(R)
- Transport Velocity --
VELO (input transport velocity components with the BF command)
- Special Features
- KEYOPT(1)
Diffusion damping matrix:
- 0 --
Consistent
- 1 --
Diagonalized
- KEYOPT(2)
Implementation of transport effects:
- 0 --
Matrix implementation; produces an unsymmetric matrix. In a linear analysis, a response to transport effects is achieved after one iteration.
- 1 --
Load vector implementation; produces a symmetric matrix. Requires at least two iterations to achieve a response to transport effects.
SOLID240 Output Data
The solution output associated with the element is in two forms:
Nodal concentrations included in the overall nodal solution
Additional element output as shown in Table 240.1: SOLID240 Element Output Definitions
The element output directions are parallel to the element coordinate system. A general description of solution output is given in Solution Output. See the Basic Analysis Guide for ways to view results.
The Element Output Definitions table uses the following notation:
| A colon (:) in the Name column indicates that the item can be accessed by the Component Name method (ETABLE, ESOL). The O column indicates the availability of the items in the file Jobname.OUT. The R column indicates the availability of the items in the results file. |
| In either the O or R columns, “Y” indicates that the item is always available, a number refers to a table footnote that describes when the item is conditionally available, and “-” indicates that the item is not available. |
Table 240.1: SOLID240 Element Output Definitions
| Name | Definition | O | R |
|---|---|---|---|
| EL | Element Number | Y | Y |
| NODES | Nodes - I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R | Y | Y |
| MAT | Material number | Y | Y |
| VOLU: | Volume | Y | Y |
| XC, YC, ZC | Location where results are reported | Y | 2 |
| TEMP | Temperatures T(I), T(J), T(K), T(L), T(M), T(N), T(O), T(P), T(Q), T(R) | Y | Y |
| LOC | Output location (X, Y, Z) | 1 | - |
| CG:X, Y, Z, SUM | Concentration gradient components and vector magnitude | - | 1 |
| DF:X, Y, Z, SUM | Diffusion flux components and vector magnitude | - | 1 |
| CONC | Element concentration [3] | - | 1 |
The solution value is output only if calculated (based on input data). The element solution is at the centroid.
Available only at centroid as a *GET item.
Actual concentration obtained by multiplying the saturated concentration (MP,CSAT) and the normalized concentration evaluated at the element centroid. For more information, see the Normalized Concentration Approach in the Mechanical APDL Theory Reference.
Table 240.2: SOLID240 Item and Sequence Numbers lists output available through the ETABLE command using the Sequence Number method. See The General Postprocessor (POST1) in the Mechanical APDL Basic Analysis Guide and The Item and Sequence Number Table in this reference for more information. The following notation is used in Table 240.2: SOLID240 Item and Sequence Numbers:
- Name
Output quantity as defined in Table 240.1: SOLID240 Element Output Definitions.
- Item
Predetermined Item label for ETABLE command.
- E
Sequence number for single-valued or constant element data.
SOLID240 Assumptions and Restrictions
The element must not have a zero volume or a zero length side. This occurs most frequently when the element is not numbered properly. Elements may be numbered either as shown in Figure 240.1: SOLID240 Geometry or in an opposite fashion.
An edge with a removed midside node implies that the concentration varies linearly, rather than parabolically, along that edge. See Quadratic Elements (Midside Nodes) in the Mechanical APDL Modeling and Meshing Guide for more information on the use of midside nodes.
CSAT cannot be temperature-dependent.