Identifying inclusions in a non-uniform thermally conductive plate under external flows and internal heat sources using topological optimization

Abstract

We propose applying topological optimization methods based on measuring temperature and heat fluxes to estimate the thermal conductivity of inhomogeneous thermally conductive plates and determine the shape and location of foreign inclusions. Examples of plates subjected to external heat fluxes and heat sources are considered. The solutions are obtained with the help of the finite element method combined with the method of moving asymptotes. The results show that identification accuracy depends on the defined boundary conditions, the source intensity value, heat fluxes, temperature distribution and the shape of the inclusions. For the problem of 18 circular inclusions under different heat fluxes, identification accuracy increases with increasing source intensity values.