Hello,
I am working on a transient thermal analysis in SimLab 2026.1 (OptiStruct thermal).
My objective is to implement a temperature-controlled heating strategy. More specifically, I would like the applied heating power to be adjusted according to the temperature measured at a given sensor location, similarly to a thermostat or closed-loop controller.
For example:
- if the sensor temperature is below a target value, heating power remains ON,
- if the sensor temperature exceeds the target value, heating power is switched OFF,
- then the simulation continues from the resulting thermal state.
I have not found any native thermal control object or feedback controller in SimLab/OptiStruct that would allow this type of temperature-based power regulation within a transient thermal analysis.
As a workaround, I am considering an iterative workflow:
- Run a transient thermal simulation over a given time interval.
- Read the sensor temperature at the end of the interval.
- Update the heating power based on the control logic.
- Restart the analysis from the previous thermal state.
- Repeat until the full simulation time is completed.
Before implementing such a workflow, I would like to know:
- Is there a native way in SimLab or OptiStruct to perform temperature-based control of a heat source?
- Is there any controller, event, logical condition, optimization feature, or co-simulation capability that could be used for this purpose?
- If not, what is the recommended workflow for implementing thermostat-like behaviour in a thermal transient analysis?
- Is restarting successive analyses from the previous temperature field the preferred approach?
Additionally, while investigating this workflow, I noticed that the "Distributed" option for Initial Temperature appears disabled in my SimLab environment. If a restart workflow is recommended, I would also be interested in understanding the correct method for initializing a new analysis from a non-uniform temperature field obtained from a previous simulation.
Thank you for your help.
