Two new thermal elements, SOLID278 and SOLID279, are now available for 3-D steady state and transient analyses. SOLID278 is a 8-node brick element with 3-D thermal conduction capability. SOLID279 is a 20-node brick element that exhibits quadratic thermal conduction behavior. Two forms are available for these new elements: homogeneous (nonlayered) thermal solid and layered thermal solid. The layered solid form can model heat conduction in layered thick shells or solids. For thermal-structural analysis, SOLID278 and SOLID279 are designed to be companion elements for structural solid elements SOLID185 and SOLID186, respectively. For more information, see SOLID278 and SOLID279 in the Element Reference.

The 8-node thermal element PLANE77 now has a plane thickness option (KEYOPT(3)).

A two-extra-node option is now available for 2-D thermal surface effect element SURF151 (KEYOPT(5) = 2). This new option offers greater accuracy than the one-extra-node option. FLUID116 nodes can be mapped to SURF151 elements using the MSTOLE command.

The SURF151 and SURF152 thermal surface effect elements can now be used to define film effectiveness on a convection surface, providing more accurate simulations of film cooling.

For more information, see Using the Surface Effect Elements in the Thermal Analysis Guide.