Thermal Resistance Models for Non-Circular Moving Heat Sources on a Half Space

Abstract

Solutions to stationary and moving heat sources on a half space are reviewed for rectangular and elliptic contacts. The effects of shape, heat flux distribution, and orientation with respect to the direction of motion are examined. The dimensionless thermal resistance is shown to be a weak function of heat source shape if the square root of contact area is used as a characteristic length scale. Simple expressions are developed for calculating total thermal resistances of non-circular moving heat sources by combining asymptotic solutions for large and small values of the Peclet number. Both uniform and parabolic heat flux distributions are examined. A model is developed for predicting average or maximum flash temperatures of real sliding contacts. Comparisons of the proposed model are made with numerical solutions for two cases involving non-circular contacts.