Thermal metamaterials with nonconformal geometry

Abstract

Thermal metamaterials have garnered significant attention for their potential to manipulate heat flow, leading to the development of various thermal metadevices such as thermal cloaks, concentrators, and rotators. However, the theoretical study of thermal metadevices with nonconformal geometry remains limited due to design and fabrication challenges. This letter proposes a method for designing and manufacturing nonconformal thermal metamaterials using the conformal discrete theory to simplify the anisotropic thermal conductivity tensors. The method involves 3D printing three thermal metadevices (a thermal cloak, concentrator, and rotator) with complex nonconformal geometry. Simulation and experimental results demonstrate the successful implementation of cloaking, concentrating, and rotating functionalities. Moreover, the thermal metadevices still maintained thermal functionality well under the condition of omnidirectional heat flow. This work provides guidance for the design and manufacture of nonconformal thermal metamaterials, as well as their potential applications in other fields such as electrics/magnetics, electromagnetics/optics, and acoustics.