Modelling heat transfer inside an autoclave: Effect of radiation

Abstract

In this work, computational fluid dynamics simulations are performed to predict the temperature distribution on a part during an autoclave run. Data from an experimental study are used as input to the simulations and also for comparison with the numerical results. A conjugate heat transfer approach was used for the simulations, where best agreement with experiments was obtained from the simulation that included thermal radiation and utilized an experimentally obtained velocity profile as inlet velocity. A yet more detailed inlet velocity profile and more advanced turbulent model could result in an even better agreement.