Language
Country/Area
No result found
The invisible dance of heat flow: Do you know how the history of conjugate heat transfer affects technological progress?
In the tide of modern technology, the research on heat conduction and convection continues to advance, and the concept of conjugate heat transfer has become a key milestone, especially after the widespread use of digital computers. From the empirical rules of Newton's time to today's mathematical modeling, this process has not only changed the scientific community's understanding of heat flow, but also promoted many technological innovations. When we explore the history of conjugate heat transfer, we can see its profound impact on various engineering applications.
The essence of conjugate heat transfer is to describe how heat interacts between an object and the fluid flowing around it, and this heat transfer is driven by the interaction between the two objects.
In the 1960s, Theodore L. Perelman first proposed the coupled problem involving fluid flow and heat transfer between solids and coined the term "conjugate heat transfer problem". Since then, Perelman and his colleague A.V. Luikov have gradually developed this theory. At the time, many researchers also began to use a variety of different methods to solve simple problems and combine the solutions of solids and fluids at their interface. These groundbreaking studies not only laid the academic foundation for conjugate heat transfer, but also paved the way for subsequent technological advances.
The formulation of the conjugate heat transfer problem involves two separate systems of equations, namely the solid domain and the fluid domain. For the solid part, whether steady or unsteady, the Laplace or Poisson equation for heat conduction must be considered. In the fluid part, depending on the type of flow, the Navier-Stokes equations and the corresponding energy equations need to be used. For laminar flow, the boundary layer must be considered, while for turbulent flow the Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations are used.
Numerical methods have become an effective way to solve conjugation problems. Through iterative methods, assuming boundary conditions on the interface, solutions are gradually obtained.
Numerical simulation methods have become increasingly mature with the improvement of computing power, which provides a solid foundation for the study of conjugate heat transfer. Among them, the comprehensive solution proposed by Patankar can solve the equations of solids and fluids at the same time, ensuring the continuity of boundary conditions. The application of this method greatly improves the heat transfer efficiency during the treatment process, thereby promoting the advancement of medical and engineering technology.
Conjugate heat transfer is not only a scientific theory, but also has a wide range of applications that affect aerospace, nuclear reactors, food processing and other fields.
Since the 1960s, the conjugate heat transfer method has evolved into a powerful tool with a wide range of applications, both in the modeling of engineering systems and in the study of natural phenomena. From simple engineering calculations to complex fluid interactions, its potential applications are constantly expanding. In fact, a review of the literature shows that the method has been applied in over 100 different cases and studies over the past 100 years and is still active in the latest scientific research results.
Today, it is not difficult to find that the theoretical field of conjugate heat transfer continues to combine with information technology, further promoting the development of digitization and automation. As computational fluid dynamics (CFD) technology continues to improve, the accuracy and application of this method will undoubtedly continue to expand.
In the research progress of conjugate heat transfer, are there any potential areas that have not yet been developed in the future? Perhaps such thinking can inspire more innovation and exploration?
