A fast compact model to simulate the heat exchanges in a bundle of electric wires

Abstract

The challenges of improving wiring harness designs in automotive, aerospace or transport fields are safety, ecology, weight, and cost. To this end, harnesses require superior thermal management, which involves considering several thermal sources with an uncontrolled layout. To date, the primary methods employed for thermal resolution are based on commercial softwares with meshing capabilities because evaluating temperature evolution influenced by several sources in an uncontrolled wire layout is difficult. This study presents a faster alternative method in which an equation based on the Infinite Line Source (ILS) model is used to create a nodal network. A more efficient matrix mathematical application is adapted to solve faster the ILS model. The ILS model relies on a fully connected node network. The wire bundle is a complex system with a variable environment and an uncontrolled wire layout. This work improves and adapts a fast mathematical model to complex geometries. Thus, the adaptation required by the model involves many assumptions. This new approach was tested on 2-wire and 10-wire layouts and then compared with results obtained by using a commercial software: Ansys Fluent. Some gaps exist between these methods. We propose a corrective model that uses equivalent conductivity to solve that issue.