A Novel Application of the Thermal Probe: Nonlinear and Phase Change Problems

Abstract

This paper reports on a new application of the thermal probe in nonlinear systems. Whereas the thermal probe has been originally developed to determine the thermal conductivity in linear cases (where the thermophysical properties are considered independent of the temperature), the method used here exploits a direct nonlinear numerical model associated with a parameter estimation technique to determine temperature dependent thermal conductivities. It has been applied to a water-agar gel during phase change and the thermal conductivities within the corresponding temperature interval could be determined.