Gap Formation and Interfacial Heat Transfer Between Thermoelastic Bodies in Imperfect Contact

In this paper, the integration scheme is employed to solve a coupling problem of transient heat conduction and displacement due to thermal deformation. Based on the resulting displacement, gap or contact pressure on the interface of two thermoelastic bodies in imperfect contact is estimated. Such information is then used to determine the interfacial heat transfer between the two thermoelastic bodies. This again affects the temperature distribution and thus the thermal deformation. In the course of heat transfer and thermal deformation, effect of thermal rectification also is taken into account. Numerical solutions of transient and steady-state quantities including gap formation, normal stress, and temperature are demonstrated for a pair of stainless steel and aluminum with conforming shapes. Such an analysis of conduction-deformation interaction based on a finite-difference-like scheme has not been studied in the past.