Thermal Contact Conductance of Non-Flat, Rough, Metallic Coated Metals

Abstract

Thermal contact conductance is an important consideration in such applications as nuclear reactor cooling, electronics packaging, spacecraft thermal control, and gas turbine and internal combustion engine cooling. In many instances, the highest possible thermal contact conductance is desired. For this reason, soft, high conductivity, metallic coatings are sometimes applied to contacting surfaces (often metallic) to increase thermal contact conductance. O’Callaghan et al. (1981) as well as Antonetti and Yovanovich (1985, 1988) developed theoretical models for thermal contact conductance of metallic coated metals, both of which have proven accurate for flat, rough surfaces. However, these theories often substantially overpredict the conductance of non-flat, rough, metallic coated metals. In the present investigation, a semi-empirical model for flat and non-flat, rough, uncoated metals, previously developed by Lambert and Fletcher (1996), is employed in predicting the conductance of flat and non-flat, rough, metallic coated metals. The models of Antonetti and Yovanovich (1985, 1988) and Lambert and Fletcher (1996) are compared to experimental data from a number of investigations in the literature. This entailed analyzing the results for a number of metallic coating/substrate combinations on surfaces with widely varying flatness and roughness. Both models agree well with experimental results for flat, rough, metallic coated metals. However, the semi-empirical model by Lambert and Fletcher (1996) is more conservative than the theoretical model by Antonetti and Yovanovich (1985, 1988) when compared to the majority of experimental results for non-flat, rough, metallic coated metals.