A Note on the Implementation of Temperature Dependent Coefficient of Thermal Expansion (CTE) in ABAQUS

Abstract

When modeling the thermomechanical behavior of electronic packages, engineers often need to include the temperature dependence of coefficients of thermal expansion (CTE) of materials involved in the finite element model. In ABAQUS some input parameters associated with such temperature dependent CTE are not clearly defined, and directions to determine the value of these parameters are not given. Misinterpretation of these variables can result in serious errors in the finite element result. This brief tends to illustrate in detail the implementation steps of the temperature dependent CTE in ABAQUS and presents an error analysis so that a quantitative measure of the error can be obtained. The information presented here is regarded critical to those who are using ABAQUS with temperature dependent CTE.