Thermo-Mechanical Analysis of a Cast Iron Exhaust Manifold: a Comparison Between the Traditional and a New Methodology

Thermo-structural analysis of components is usually carried out by means of two FE models, one that solves the thermal problem and one that, using the results of the thermal model, computes strains and stresses. The interaction between the two models is based on the superposition principle, but it means that the mutual effects and the non-linearities between the two physical problems are neglected. In this paper a multiphysics approach based on the Cell Method is proposed and it is applied to a time dependent thermo-mechanical case study represented by an exhaust manifold simulacrum: the coupled thermal and mechanical problems are solved in an unique run, giving the opportunity to take into account mutual effects. Comparing the results with the traditional FE analysis the advantages in terms of accuracy and computational time achieved through the proposed methodology are highlighted.