26.5.1 Electrical conductivity
Products: Abaqus/Standard Abaqus/CAE
References
Overview
A material's electrical conductivity:
must be defined for “Coupled thermal-electrical analysis,” Section 6.7.3;
must be defined for “Fully coupled thermal-electrical-structural analysis,” Section 6.7.4;
must be used to define the electromagnetic response of a conductor for “Eddy current analysis,” Section 6.7.5;
can be linear or nonlinear (by defining it as a function of temperature);
can be isotropic, orthotropic, or fully anisotropic;
can be specified as a function of temperature and/or field variables; and
can be specified as a function of frequency for “Eddy current analysis,” Section 6.7.5.
Directional dependence of electrical conductivity
Isotropic, orthotropic, or fully anisotropic electrical conductivity can be defined. For non-isotropic conductivity a local orientation for the material directions must be specified (“Orientations,” Section 2.2.5).
Isotropic electrical conductivity
For isotropic electrical conductivity only one value of electrical conductivity is needed at each temperature and field variable value. Isotropic electrical conductivity is the default.
| Input File Usage: | *ELECTRICAL CONDUCTIVITY, TYPE=ISOTROPIC |
| Abaqus/CAE Usage: | Property module: material editor: Electrical/Magnetic |
Orthotropic electrical conductivity
For orthotropic electrical conductivity three values of electrical conductivity (
, 
, 
) are needed at each temperature and field variable value.
| Input File Usage: | *ELECTRICAL CONDUCTIVITY, TYPE=ORTHOTROPIC |
| Abaqus/CAE Usage: | Property module: material editor: Electrical/Magnetic |
Anisotropic electrical conductivity
For fully anisotropic electrical conductivity six values (, 
, 
, 
, 
, ) are needed at each temperature and field variable value.
| Input File Usage: | *ELECTRICAL CONDUCTIVITY, TYPE=ANISOTROPIC |
| Abaqus/CAE Usage: | Property module: material editor: Electrical/Magnetic |
Frequency-dependent electrical conductivity
Electrical conductivity can be defined as a function of frequency in an eddy current analysis.
| Input File Usage: | *ELECTRICAL CONDUCTIVITY, FREQUENCY |
| Abaqus/CAE Usage: | Property module: material editor: Electrical/Magnetic |
Elements
Electrical conductivity is active only in coupled thermal-electrical elements, coupled thermal-electrical-structural elements, and electromagnetic elements (see “Choosing the appropriate element for an analysis type,” Section 27.1.3).