The Ansys preference is not complete for this type of translation, so this is a somewhat convoluted process.
Thermal boundary conditions of convection and temperature are applied in Ansys as surface loads on elements (SFE’s). In Patran, Temperatures (OR convections) must be applied as Pressures to output them in the correct format. This also gives the ability to apply loads to the top and bottom of shell elements. Patran will automatically interpolate element temperature values from field temperature data corresponding to nodes.
The .prp file written from Patran will include structural elements. The element types must be changed to the appropriate thermal element types.
The SFE LAB option needs to be edited from PRES to CONV to apply convection or film coefficients.
The SFE KVAL option should be checked and edited if necessary. A value of 0 or 1 applies convection film coefficients. A value of 2 applies bulk temperatures.
Patran will combine any values on the same element before exporting the .prp file, so convections and temperatures cannot be input as seperate pressure loads. To apply convections where bulk temperatures are applied, the full section of temperatures can be edited directly (if the temperature is constant) or copied into Excel where a column can be edited and a .csv file created. The CSV file can be input into the .prp file or modified for import directly to Ansys.
Now you can run a steady state thermal analysis in Ansys.