Inverse determination of thermal conductivity in lumber based on genetic algorithms

Abstract

Abstract A 3D numerical solution of the heat conduction equation is proposed based on the finite volume method to describe the heating of wood, where the thermal conductivity (ThC) is variable, and the convective heat transfer coefficient is constant. ThC parameters were found through an optimization process based on genetic algorithms. The objective function between measured and simulated curves is determined, and parameters with greatest correspondence between measured and estimated values were obtained. As a result, a new equation for ThC is proposed, which depends on moisture and temperature. The proposed coefficient is validated by experiments, and a good agreement was found between experimental heating curves and those obtained by simulation by means of the new heat conduction equation.