Extension of the FLASH Method to Semitransparent Polymer Foams

2011 ◽  
Vol 133 (11) ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Coquard ◽  
J. Randrianalisoa ◽  
S. Lallich ◽  
D. Baillis

The classical photo-thermal FLASH method is a very practicable method for measurement of the conductive properties of solid materials due to its simplicity, rapidity, and to the limited size of the samples required. It has been applied successfully to a wide variety of materials. However, it is theoretically restricted to purely conductive media. Notably, it could, strictly speaking, not be used to measure the equivalent conductivity of low-density thermal insulators since a significant part of the heat transfer is due to the propagation of thermal radiation. This constitutes a major drawback of the method. Therefore, the present study investigates the possibility to extend the method to this kind of materials by estimating the errors made on the equivalent conductivity when the classical FLASH method is used. To this aim, FLASH experiments have been conducted at different temperatures on several low-density polymer foams whose radiative properties have been estimated from spectrometric measurements. By applying a least-square fit-method associated with a numerical simulation of the 1D coupled heat transfer, we managed to identify the phonic conductivities of the samples and to compute their equivalent conductivities. These values have been compared with the thermal conductivities obtained from classical FLASH method, i.e., assuming that the thermal transfer occurs only by heat conduction. It appears that the discrepancies between the conductivities stemming from the classical FLASH method and the equivalent conductivities computed are quite negligible at ambient temperature even for foams with very low densities. This demonstrates the applicability of the classical FLASH method to this type of materials for building applications. This conclusion is likely to interest foam manufacturers in view of reducing the time required for an accurate measurement of the insulating performances. On the other hand, at elevated temperatures, the errors become significant so that the method could not be considered satisfactory.

2013 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 1093-1106 ◽  
Author(s):  
Soraya Trabelsi ◽  
Wissem Lakhal ◽  
Ezeddine Sediki ◽  
Mahmoud Moussa

Combined convection and radiation in simultaneously developing laminar flow and heat transfer is numerically considered with a discrete-direction method. Coupled heat transfer in absorbing emitting but not scattering gases is presented in some cases of practical situations such as combustion of natural gas, propane and heavy fuel. Numerical calculations are performed to evaluate the thermal radiation effects on heat transfer through combustion products flowing inside circular ducts. The radiative properties of the flowing gases are modeled by using the absorption distribution function (ADF) model. The fluid is a mixture of carbon dioxide, water vapor, and nitrogen. The flow and energy balance equations are solved simultaneously with temperature dependent fluid properties. The bulk mean temperature variations and Nusselt numbers are shown for a uniform inlet temperature. Total, radiative and convective mean Nusselt numbers and their axial evolution for different gas mixtures produced by combustion with oxygen are explored.


Materials ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 696 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefano Bellucci ◽  
Gianluigi Bovesecchi ◽  
Antonino Cataldo ◽  
Paolo Coppa ◽  
Sandra Corasaniti ◽  
...  

Thermal diffusivity of GNPs (graphene nano-platelets) is an important thermo-physical property as it is useful to predict the material behavior in many heat transfer applications. GNP samples were pressed at different loads to obtain different densities, and then thermal diffusivity was measured with the flash method. All samples were coated with a thin layer (~1 µm) of colloidal graphite (Aquadag®) on both sides to reduce reflectance of their surfaces and consequently increase the emissivity. Carrying out measurements on both samples with and without coating, a difference between the two series of measurements was found: This is attributed to a non-negligible transmittance of the uncoated samples due to the porosity of GNPs. Furthermore, assuming a spatial distribution of the light within the samples according to the Lambert-Bougert-Beer law, the extinction coefficient of GNP at different densities has been evaluated processing experimental data with a nonlinear least square regression, (NL-LSF, nonlinear least square fitting), whose model contains the extinction coefficient as unknown. The proposed method represents a further improvement of thermal diffusivity data processing, crucial to calculate the extinction coefficient when data with and without coating are available; or to correct biased thermal diffusivity data when the extinction coefficient is already known. Moreover, reflectance effects have been highlighted comparing asymptotic temperature reached during the tests on coated and uncoated samples at different densities. In fact, the decrease of asymptotic temperature of the uncoated samples gives the percentage of the light reflected and consequently an estimate of the reflectance of the GNP surface.


2008 ◽  
Vol 131 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Coquard Rémi ◽  
Baillis Dominique ◽  
Quenard Daniel

Expanded polystyrene foams are one of the most widely used materials for a building’s thermal insulation. Owing to their very low density, a substantial proportion of the heat transfer is due to thermal radiation propagating through their porous structure. In order to envisage an optimization of their thermal performances, an accurate modeling of their radiative behavior is required. However, the previous studies on this subject used several drastic simplifications regarding their radiative behavior (optically thick material) or their porous morphology (homogeneous cellular material, dodecahedral cells). In this study, we propose a more accurate model based on a detailed representation of their complex morphology allowing us to predict their entire monochromatic radiative properties. We investigated the influence of the different structural parameters on these properties. We checked the validity of our model by comparing the spectral hemispherical reflectance and transmittance measured on slabs of foam samples with values predicted by our model. A good accordance was found globally.


2005 ◽  
Vol 128 (6) ◽  
pp. 538-549 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Coquard ◽  
D. Baillis

Expanded polystyrene (EPS) foams are one of the most widely used thermal insulators in the building industry. Owing to their very low density, both conductive and radiative heat transfers are significant. However, only few studies have already been conducted in the modeling of heat transfer in this kind of medium. This is due to their complex porous structure characterized by a double-scale porosity which has always been ignored by the previous works. In this study, we present a model of one-dimensional steady state heat transfer in these foams based on a numerical resolution of the radiation-conduction coupling. The modeling of the conductive and radiative properties of the foams takes into account their structural characteristics such as foam density or cell diameter and permits us to study the evolution of their equivalent thermal conductivity with these characteristics. The theoretical results have been compared to equivalent thermal conductivity measurements made on several EPS foams using a flux-meter apparatus and show a good agreement.


2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 128-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad Hatami ◽  
◽  
D Jing ◽  

In this study, two-phase asymmetric peristaltic Carreau-Yasuda nanofluid flow in a vertical and tapered wavy channel is demonstrated and the mixed heat transfer analysis is considered for it. For the modeling, two-phase method is considered to be able to study the nanoparticles concentration as a separate phase. Also it is assumed that peristaltic waves travel along X-axis at a constant speed, c. Furthermore, constant temperatures and constant nanoparticle concentrations are considered for both, left and right walls. This study aims at an analytical solution of the problem by means of least square method (LSM) using the Maple 15.0 mathematical software. Numerical outcomes will be compared. Finally, the effects of most important parameters (Weissenberg number, Prandtl number, Brownian motion parameter, thermophoresis parameter, local temperature and nanoparticle Grashof numbers) on the velocities, temperature and nanoparticles concentration functions are presented. As an important outcome, on the left side of the channel, increasing the Grashof numbers leads to a reduction in velocity profiles, while on the right side, it is the other way around.


Polymers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 1094
Author(s):  
Bastian Klose ◽  
Daniel Kremer ◽  
Merve Aksit ◽  
Kasper P. van der Zwan ◽  
Klaus Kreger ◽  
...  

Polystyrene foams have become more and more important owing to their lightweight potential and their insulation properties. Progress in this field is expected to be realized by foams featuring a microcellular morphology. However, large-scale processing of low-density foams with a closed-cell structure and volume expansion ratio of larger than 10, exhibiting a homogenous morphology with a mean cell size of approximately 10 µm, remains challenging. Here, we report on a series of 4,4′-diphenylmethane substituted bisamides, which we refer to as kinked bisamides, acting as efficient supramolecular foam cell nucleating agents for polystyrene. Self-assembly experiments from solution showed that these bisamides form supramolecular fibrillary or ribbon-like nanoobjects. These kinked bisamides can be dissolved at elevated temperatures in a large concentration range, forming dispersed nano-objects upon cooling. Batch foaming experiments using 1.0 wt.% of a selected kinked bisamide revealed that the mean cell size can be as low as 3.5 µm. To demonstrate the applicability of kinked bisamides in a high-throughput continuous foam process, we performed foam extrusion. Using 0.5 wt.% of a kinked bisamide yielded polymer foams with a foam density of 71 kg/m3 and a homogeneous microcellular morphology with cell sizes of ≈10 µm, which is two orders of magnitude lower compared to the neat polystyrene reference foam with a comparable foam density.


2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 ◽  
pp. 1-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gautham Krishnamoorthy ◽  
Caitlyn Wolf

This study assesses the required fidelities in modeling particle radiative properties and particle size distributions (PSDs) of combusting particles in Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) investigations of radiative heat transfer during oxy-combustion of coal and biomass blends. Simulations of air and oxy-combustion of coal/biomass blends in a 0.5 MW combustion test facility were carried out and compared against recent measurements of incident radiative fluxes. The prediction variations to the combusting particle radiative properties, particle swelling during devolatilization, scattering phase function, biomass devolatilization models, and the resolution (diameter intervals) employed in the fuel PSD were assessed. While the wall incident radiative flux predictions compared reasonably well with the experimental measurements, accounting for the variations in the fuel, char and ash radiative properties were deemed to be important as they strongly influenced the incident radiative fluxes and the temperature predictions in these strongly radiating flames. In addition, particle swelling and the diameter intervals also influenced the incident radiative fluxes primarily by impacting the particle extinction coefficients. This study highlights the necessity for careful selection of particle radiative property, and diameter interval parameters and the need for fuel fragmentation models to adequately predict the fly ash PSD in CFD simulations of coal/biomass combustion.


1995 ◽  
Vol 387 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Y. Wong ◽  
Ioannis N. Miaoulis ◽  
Cynthia G. Madras

AbstractTemperature measurements and processing uniformity continue to be major issues in Rapid Thermal Processing. Spatial and temporal variations in thermal radiative properties of the wafer surface are sources of non-uniformities and dynamic variations. These effects are due to changes in spectral distribution (wafer or heat source), oxidation, epitaxy, silicidation, and other microstructural transformations. Additionally, other variations are induced by the underlying (before processing) and developing (during processing) patterns on the wafer. Numerical simulations of Co silicidation that account for these factors are conducted to determine the radiative properties, heat transfer dynamics, and resultant processing uniformity.


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