Research and design of thermal concentrator with arbitrary shape based on transformation thermodynamics

Abstract

How to control and manipulate the heat flow in a flexible way is a hotspot of current research. According to transformation thermodynamics method, material parameter expressions for thermal concentrator with an arbitrary cross section are derived, and thermal concentrator with special symmetrical profiles, such as circle, ellipse, and pentagon, as well as thermal concentrator with arbitrary conformal/non-conformal cross section are designed on this basis. Full wave simulation results show that these thermal concentrators can bend the isotherm and heat flux towards their compressive regions, making the heat diffuses faster on the side near heat source and slower on the opposite side. Heat concentrated into a tiny region may have potential applications in thermal engineering. In addition, research on layered realization method of cylindrical thermal concentrator is conducted. Results reveal that the thermal concentrator can be realized through alternatively filling isotropic materials into layers along the angular direction. This work has a guiding significance for the design and manufacturing of thermal concentrator.