Thermal Contact Simulation in 2-D and 3-D Mechanisms

Thermal simulation of complex mechanism performance is based on the simultaneous use of analytical methods for simple shaped moving parts and numerical techniques (Finite Element Method) of the others. The method presented called Hybrid method, uses these two techniques for 2-D and 3-D cases. A particular formulation of analytical results insures the compatibility with the Finite Element Method. Large CPU time savings are obtained when compared to a pure numerical analysis.