Mesoscopic Heat Conduction and Onset of Periodicity

Mesoscopic approach deals with study that considers temporal fluctuations which is often averaged out in a macroscopic approach without going into the molecular or microscopic approach. Transient heat conduction cannot be fully described by Fourier representation. The non-Fourier effects or finite speed of heat propagation effect is accounted for by some investigators using the Cattaneo and Vernotte non-Fourier heat conduction equation: q=−k∂T/∂x−τr∂q/∂t(1) A generalized expression to account for the non-Fourier or thermal inertia effects suggested by Sharma (5) as: q=−k∂T/∂x−τr∂q/∂t−τr2/2!∂2q/∂t2−τr3/3!∂3q/∂t3−…(2) This was obtained by a Taylor series expansion in time domain. Manifestation of higher order terms in the modified Fourier’w law as periodicity in the time domain is considered in this study. When a CWT is maintained at one end of a medium of length L where L is the distance from the isothermal wall beyond which there is no appreciable temperature change from the initial condition during the duration of the study the transient temperature profile is obtained by the method of Laplace transforms. The space averaged heat flux is obtained and upon inversion from Laplace domain found to be a constant for the the case obeying Fourier’s law; 1 − exp(−τ) using the Cattaneo and Vernotte non-Fourier heat conduction equation, and upon introduction of the second derivative in time of the heat flux the expression becomes, 1 − exp(−τ)(Sin(τ) + Cos(τ)). Thus the periodicity in time domain is lost when the higher order terms in the generalized Fourier expression is neglected.