Abstract
The analytical thermal quadrupole method is suitable for the modeling of multidimensional transient heat diffusion in homogeneous media, especially when applied to multilayered media. Here, we propose a new approach in order to extend the quadrupole frame to heterogeneous media. A seminumerical general solution is proposed for transient heat transfer in finite or semi-infinite media in both axial and radial coordinate systems, when the variation of thermal properties is one-dimensional. The presentation of the method is explained with a 2-D two-layer slab case. Some application examples are then presented from this basic case. The analytical expressions allow deep insight about the physical phenomenon.