Thermal Contact Conductance Estimation on Irregular Interfaces Using the Reciprocity Functional Method

Abstract

The Reciprocity Functional method, associated to the Classic Integral Transform Technique, has been successfully applied, obtaining analytical solutions for the inverse heat transfer problem that seeks to estimate the thermal contact conductance (TCC) distribution on the interface of a body composed of two materials. Yet, the theoretical development upon which this approach is based is not limited to the need of this interface to have a regular format. This work proposes to extend the method, thus obtaining an analytical development for the estimation of the TCC distribution on interfaces which are not necessarily regular. Several test problems were solved using the techniques described in this work, leading to very good results, with low CPU time usage by the computational implementation. The stability of the method was also verified, via a Monte Carlo analysis considering uncertainties in geometrical and thermophysical properties. The method presented good estimates even when noises were present in the measured temperatures, thermal conductivities, and geometrical dimensions.

Acknowledgements

This work was partially funded by CNPq (agency for fostering of science from the Brazilian Ministry of Science), FAPERJ (agency for fostering of science from the Rio de Janeiro State), ANP/PRH8 (Brazilian National Agency of Oil, Gas and Biofuels), and Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) - Finance Code 001. Prof. Colaço also express his deep gratitude to Mr. Carlos Eduardo Polatschek Kopperschmidt and Mr. Bruno Henrique Marques Margotto, who provided an immensurable help editing some of the figures in this paper.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Guilherme C. Freitas

Guilherme C. Freitas holds a bachelor’s degree in Telecommunications Engineering from the Federal University of Niteroi (2001), and a master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (2019). He is a senior researcher at Petrobras Research Center, the Brazilian Oil State company.

Marcelo J. Colaço

Marcelo J. Colaço graduated in Mechanical Engineering at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro in 1996. PhD in Mechanical Engineering (2001), Professor (2004), and Full Professor (2017) at the Department of Mechanical Engineering of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. His research activity, both numerical and experimental, is focused mainly on thermodynamics and fluid mechanics problems. He has developed optimization techniques, algorithm and solution methods for inverse heat transfer problems and has published scientific articles in the most important international journals related to inverse problems as well as heat and mass transfer and computational fluid dynamics. He is also a visiting professor at University of Parma since 2020.

Ramon A. Andrade

Ramon A. Andrade holds a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (2021).