Design of plate directional heat transmission structure based on layered thermal metamaterials

Z F Yu,J Huang,L K Sun

doi:10.1063/1.4941443

Abstract

Invisibility cloaks based on transformation optics are often closed structures; however, such a structure limits the kinds of objects that can be placed in the cloak. In this work, we adopt a transformation thermodynamics approach to design an “open cloak”, called a plate directional heat transmission structure, which is capable of guiding heat fluxes to the flank region of the metamaterial device. The most fascinating and unique feature of the device is that the lower surface can remain at a lower temperature compared with the SiO2 aerogel thermal insulation material. Our results are expected to markedly enhance capabilities in thermal protection, thermal-energy utilization, and domains beyond. In addition to the theoretical analysis, the present design is demonstrated in numerical simulations based on finite element calculations.

Highlights

Invisibility cloaks based on transformation optics are often closed structures; such a structure limits the kinds of objects that can be placed in the cloak
We adopt a transformation thermodynamics approach to design an “open cloak”, called a plate directional heat transmission structure, which is capable of guiding heat fluxes to the flank region of the metamaterial device
Xiao He21 designed a two-dimensional open cloak which consisted of a portion of a finite closed cloak and an open window, but because the function of the window was to control the temperature of the cloak region, the choice of object that could be placed in this open cloak was limited as in closed cloaks

Summary

Introduction

Invisibility cloaks based on transformation optics are often closed structures; such a structure limits the kinds of objects that can be placed in the cloak. The most fascinating and unique feature of the device is that the lower surface can remain at a lower temperature compared with the SiO2 aerogel thermal insulation material. The interactions of the designed structure and the adiabatic SiO2 aerogel material with the incident heat flux are studied based on the finite element method.

Results

Conclusion