The numerical estimation of thermal contact resistance in contacting surfaces

Abstract

For some manufacturing processes, the heat transfer between the components, the tools and the environment has an effect on tool-life and the accuracy of the formed component. Consequently, the measurement of Thermal Contact Resistance (TCR) is of increasing interest to researchers and industrial engineers participating in the manufacture of high-precision components. A new transient method and measurement apparatus are used in which the measurements are conducted on specimens, which are retained under pressure. An apparent advantage of this method is the ability to estimate the TCR under specifically controlled conditions. The other advantage is that no prior information is needed on the variation of the TCR, since the solution automatically determines the functional form over the domain specified. Therefore, in this research, a new method of determining TCR has been successfully used to measure the dependence of TCR on the pressure and the specimen texture. © 2008 Science Publications.