Numerical study of the gasket thermal conductivity effect on the thermal contact resistance between two solids in contact

Abstract

In this paper, a numerical model investigating the impact of gasket thermal quality on the reduction in the thermal contact resistance (TCR) between two solids is presented and validated analytically. The model proposed is a 2D steady state model. The thermal conductivity of the solid materials ranges from 20 to 390 W/m·K, and the gasket thermal conductivity ranges from 0.16W/m·K (TC of rubber) to and 5W/m·K (TC of thermal paste). As expected, the results obtained clearly confirm that the gasket significantly improves the heat transfer between two solids in contact, and in particular that the TCR is decreased with increasing gasket thermal conductivity. The numerical results are validated by an analytical model which shows that the gasket has a crucial effect on the heat transfer enhancement between the solids in contact.