An analytical model for a multilayer elastocaloric cooling regenerator

Abstract

Layering elastocaloric materials can effectively maximize the average elastocaloric effect along the regenerator with a temperature gradient. An explicit correlation for mapping the performance of the layering elastocaloric regenerator from design parameters was developed by simplifying elastocaloric material property and energy conservation equations. Cooling capacity and coefficient of performance are found to be theoretically inversely linear with temperature span when the nonlinear dependence of elastocaloric heat on temperature is disregarded. The optimum utilization factor, the volume fraction of materials, the number of layers, and the transformation temperature spacing are obtained by confining the materials operating in the vicinity of their transformation temperatures. Performance degradation caused by hysteresis is found to be approximately linear with the hysteretic entropy change normalized by the isothermal entropy change.