Investigations on thermal energy transfer between two contrasting media and its application to protect skin burn

Abstract

Thermal energy transfer between two materials with different thermal properties is due to not only the temperature difference of the two objects but also the discrepancy in thermal inertia between the two materials. In this study, composite materials, called syntactic foams, with low thermal inertia feature were introduced as a new type of thermal shield preventing skin burn. Some types of syntactic foams are designed and manufactured by varying the mixing ratio of hollow glass microsphere and epoxy resin. An experimental study on thermal properties ranging from density to specific heat is conducted to deduce the thermal inertia of the composite materials as well. In order to confirm the effect of the composite materials intended to provide prevention to skin burns, a one-dimensional transient heat transfer model with heat generation and absorption is developed to scrutinize the situation when human skin is abruptly in contact with a heat source with or without the composite materials. The numerical results show that all the syntactic foams combined with hollow glass microsphere (HGM) and epoxy resin (ER) have a considerable delay effect on thermal energy transfer to skin tissue, and the HGM80/ER20 was superior to others. Based on the results, even with the equivalent temperature for the heat source, as the thermal inertia of the syntactic foams is lowered, the heat transfer impediment effect becomes higher. It is expected that the skin damage factor (Ω) can be reduced by 34.8% within the designed syntactic foams.