Complementary Finite Element and Monte-Carlo Methods to Solve Industrial Thermal Problems

Abstract

This paper presents the integration of a Monte-Carlo solver inside SYRTHES, an open-source thermal code, originally based on finite elements method. Insensitive to both the geometric complexity of the model and the fineness of its discretization, this stochastic method is a good complementary option to simulate large configurations with specific locations of interest. Radiation, conduction and convection can be combined to solve thermal problems in complex geometries. The Monte-Carlo method is described before showing its integration in the code SYRTHES. Comparisons against results obtained thanks to finite elements and Monte-Carlo approaches or analytical solutions are presented. Finally, industrial cases illustrate the advantages of using these two complementary approaches.