Overview

Conjugate Heat Transfer (CHT) analysis is a simulation method that simultaneously evaluates fluid flow, heat transfer in fluids, and heat conduction in solids to accurately predict thermal behavior within a system.

In this tutorial, we demonstrate how to perform a conjugate heat transfer analysis of a heat exchanger using NFX CFD. The example covers the complete workflow required to evaluate the interaction between hot exhaust gas, cooling water, and the heat exchanger structure.

What you will learn in this tutorial

• What Conjugate Heat Transfer (CHT) analysis is and why it is important
• How to define fluid and solid domains for a heat exchanger model
• Assignment of material properties for fluid and solid regions
• Mesh generation for multi-region thermal-fluid analysis
• Application of inlet, outlet, wall, and convection boundary conditions
• Configuration of turbulence and heat transfer models
• Monitoring solution convergence during the simulation
• Evaluation of temperature distribution and heat transfer performance
• Interpretation of thermal-fluid analysis results

Conjugate Heat Transfer analysis enables engineers to accurately predict the interaction between fluid flow, convective heat transfer, and solid conduction. It is widely used in heat exchangers, electronics cooling systems, battery thermal management, automotive components, and industrial thermal equipment.

This tutorial is ideal for engineers, researchers, and students who want to learn the fundamentals of heat exchanger thermal-fluid analysis and conjugate heat transfer simulation using NFX CFD.