Coupled-field elements are available for combining various types of physics. A coupled-field element has all necessary degrees of freedom necessary for solving a coupled-field problem. When a coupled-field element is used, the multiple physics are solved simultaneously (in a single analysis with a single mesh and model).
The program handles coupling between the physics by calculating the necessary element matrices or element load vectors.
Coupled-field elements are recommended for strongly coupled physics such as piezoelectric, thermo-electric, and highly nonlinear coupled-field analyses that include material and geometric nonlinearities, temperature-dependent material properties, and multiphysics contact.
The following additional topics are available:
For more information, see the Coupled-Field Analysis Guide.
The following types of coupled-field elements are available:
General purpose coupled-field elements
Coupled pore-pressure-thermal mechanical elements
Thermal-electric link and shell elements
Magneto-structural element
Electromagnetic elements
Fluid elements
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                                 General-Purpose Coupled-Field  | Degrees of Freedom | 
                                
                                
                                 Coupled-Physics  | ||||||||||||||||
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                                 PLANE222 -- Lower-order quadrilateral  | 
                                 UX, UY, TEMP, VOLT, CONC  | 
                                
  | ||||||||||||||||
| 
                                 PLANE223 -- Higher-order quadrilateral  | 
                                 UX, UY, TEMP, VOLT, AZ, CONC  | 
                                
  | ||||||||||||||||
| 
                                 SOLID225 --Lower-order hexahedral  | 
                                 UX, UY, UZ, TEMP, VOLT, CONC  | 
                                
  | ||||||||||||||||
| 
                                 SOLID226 -- Higher-order hexahedral  | 
                                 UX, UY, UZ, TEMP, VOLT, AZ, CONC  | 
                                
  | ||||||||||||||||
| 
                                 SOLID227 -- Higher-order tetrahedral  | ||||||||||||||||||
| 
                                 LINK228 -- Lower-order (or higher order) line  | UX, UY, UZ, TEMP, VOLT | 
                                
  | ||||||||||||||||
| 
                                 SHELL229 -- Lower-order shell  | TEMP, VOLT | 
                                
  | ||||||||||||||||
| 
                                 SOLID5 -- Lower-order hexahedral  | 
                                 UX, UY, UZ, TEMP, VOLT, MAG  | 
                                
  | ||||||||||||||||
| 
                                 SOLID98 -- Higher-order tetrahedral  | 
                                 UX, UY, UZ, TEMP, VOLT, MAG  | 
                                
  | ||||||||||||||||
| 
                                
                                
                                 Coupled Pore-Pressure-Thermal Mechanical  | 
                                
                                
                                 Degrees of Freedom  | 
                                
                                
                                 Coupled-Physics  | ||||||||||||||||
| 
                                 CPT212 --Lower-order quadrilateral  | 
                                 UX, UY, PRES,TEMP, GFV1, GFV2, GFV3  | 
                                
  | ||||||||||||||||
| 
                                 CPT213 -- Higher-order quadrilateral  | ||||||||||||||||||
| 
                                 CPT215 -- Lower-order hexahedral  | 
                                 UX, UY, UZ, PRES, TEMP, GFV1, GFV2, GFV3  | |||||||||||||||||
| 
                                 CPT216 -- Higher-order hexahedral  | ||||||||||||||||||
| 
                                 CPT217 -- Higher-order tetrahedral  | ||||||||||||||||||
| 
                                
                                
                                 Thermal-Electric  | 
                                
                                
                                 Degrees of Freedom  | 
                                
                                
                                 Coupled-Physics  | ||||||||||||||||
| 
                                 LINK68 -- Lower-order line  | 
                                 TEMP, VOLT  | 
                                
  | ||||||||||||||||
| 
                                 SHELL157 -- Lower-order shell  | ||||||||||||||||||
| 
                                
                                
                                 Electromagnetic  | 
                                
                                
                                 Degrees of Freedom  | 
                                
                                
                                 Coupled-Physics  | ||||||||||||||||
| 
                                 PLANE233 -- Higher-order quadrilateral  | 
                                 AZ, VOLT, EMF  | 
                                
  | ||||||||||||||||
| 
                                 SOLID236 -- Edge-based mixed-order hexahedral  | ||||||||||||||||||
| 
                                 SOLID237 -- Edge-based mixed-order tetrahedral  | ||||||||||||||||||
| 
                                
                                
                                 Fluid  | 
                                
                                
                                 Degrees of Freedom  | 
                                
                                
                                 Coupled-Physics  | ||||||||||||||||
| 
                                 UX, UY, PRES  | 
                                
  | |||||||||||||||||
| 
                                 FLUID30 -- Lower-order hexahedral  | 
                                 UX, UY, UZ, PRES  | |||||||||||||||||
| 
                                 PRES, TEMP  | 
                                
  | |||||||||||||||||
| 
                                 FLUID136 -- Low-order and high-order quadrilateral  | 
                                 UX, UY, UZ, PRES  | 
                                
  | ||||||||||||||||
| 
                                 UX, UY, UZ, PRES  | 
                                
  | |||||||||||||||||
| 
                                 TRANS126 -- Electromechanical transducer  | 
                                 UX (UY, UZ), VOLT  | 
                                
  | ||||||||||||||||
| 
                                 CONTA172 -- 2D surface-to-surface contact  | 
                                 UX, UY, TEMP, VOLT  | 
                                
  | ||||||||||||||||
| 
                                 CONTA174 -- 3D surface-to-surface contact  | 
                                 UX, UY, UZ, TEMP, VOLT  | |||||||||||||||||
| 
                                 CONTA175 -- 2D / 3D node-to-surface contact  | 
                                 UX, UY, (UZ), TEMP, VOLT  | |||||||||||||||||
Use the following table to select coupled-field elements:
See Elements for Acoustic Analysis for more information
See Elements for Thermal Analysis for more information
For related information, see Selecting Elements for Your Analysis.