Heat Pulse Research Articles

Advanced Technologies in Food Processing—Development Perspective

Research into innovative techniques in food technology is developing dynamically. This is indicated by the significant increase in the number of scientific studies in this field. The aim of this work was to provide a comprehensive, in-depth analysis of the available scientific evidence on new techniques used in food that not only increase efficiency but also enable the creation of products with desirable sensory and nutritional characteristics. Research on techniques including cold plasma, high-pressure processing, ultrasound, pulsed electric fields, sous vide, and microwave heating aims to provide innovative methods of food processing, in the context of meeting growing consumer expectations and optimizing production processes in the food industry. Compared to traditional food processing methods, innovative techniques can provide more efficient solutions in the processing of products. Research on alternative non-thermal methods in food technology suggests their possible benefits, including enhancing sensory and nutritional quality, minimizing environmental impact, and increasing production efficiency, which are a significant challenge in the modern food industry. Despite the many benefits, it is worthwhile to continue research to further improve modern food technologies.

Dynamic Response of Phase Change Heat Exchange Unit with Layered Porous Media for Pulsed Electronic Equipment

Effective heat dissipation challenges transient high-power electronic devices in hypersonic vehicle cabins. This study introduces a Phase Change Heat Exchange Unit with Layered Porous Media (PCHEU–LPM) employing pulsed heat flow at the top and forced convection at the bottom. The primary aim was a comparative parametric study analyzing the thermal response of the heating surface under pulsed heat flow conditions. The geometric model was generated using electron microscopy images of manufactured objects and the numerical model was established based on the enthalpy–porosity method. Numerical simulations explored amplitude and frequency effects on pulsed thermal excitation, evaluating temperature and phase fields. A comprehensive time-frequency transformation assessed the temperature response. The results indicated an initial decrease and subsequent increase in interface temperature fluctuation with pulse heat flux amplitude growth. Temperature field uniformity correlated with natural convection strength in two-phase and liquid-phase regions. At mid and low frequencies, the phase change process increasingly suppressed interface temperature fluctuations. Optimal pulse thermal excitation selection was crucial for minimizing temperature fluctuations while maintaining the interface temperature within the expected phase transition range. In conclusion, a novel design concept is posited herein, aiming to enhance surface temperature uniformity and broaden the applicability of electronic devices through the manipulation of porosity rates.

Evaluation of the equivalent thermal dose and power requirement for pulsed hyperthermia

Subject to various conditions, the temperature may not reach the preset value during heat therapy. In order to ensure the medical quality of the actual treatment and improve its medical effectiveness, a comparable equivalent thermal dose should be determined. The concept of thermal isoefficient dose has been widely applied to assess the safety of that expose patients to heat. It was also reported pulsed heating causes greater cell damage than continuous heating on hyperthermia. This paper considers non-Fourier effect during pulsed hyperthermia and employs the dual phase model to simulate thermal behavior in tissue. The CEM43 model and the modified one were used to calculate thermal isoefficient dose. The amount of heating required in the therapy process was estimated for the thermal dose 305 CEM43. The present results show the model of thermal isoefficient dose significantly affects the estimation of power requirement. Shortening the heating time and increasing the power intensity can create energy saving and reduce thermal impact on the tissue surrounding the heated target while the power intensity required for pulse heating increases exponentially with the reduction of pulse width. The required power intensity reduces with the increase of τq value, and increases with the value of τT increases.

Kinetics of Laser-Induced Thermal Emission of Porous Carbon Materials: Dependence on Laser Wavelength

For the porous carbon material excited by the first and second harmonics of a neodymium laser, the shape of pulsed signals of laser-induced thermal emission is investigated. It is found that the duration of thermal emission pulses significantly depends on the wavelength of the laser excitation, which is caused by the differences in the depth of penetration of laser radiation into the surface layer. The mentioned effect is actual, if the penetration depth of laser radiation exceeds the length of thermal diffusion in the studied material for a time of the order of the laser pulse duration. The computer modeling is carried out for the processes of pulsed laser heating and formation of thermal emission signal. The simulation results showed satisfactory agreement with the measurement results.

Tailor-joining of Ti6Al4V skin with V-shaped assembly error using enhanced PLBW scheme: Keyhole dynamics and metal bridging behavior

Building thin-walled titanium alloy skin using conventional laser beam welding (LBW) frequently suffers from undesirable seam quality due to the V-shaped notch; a typical assembly error occurs after skin rolling with a specific sheet thickness range. This work proposed an improved scheme with metal bridging capacity and liquid film stability to overcome this by executing a pulsed laser beam and spot irradiation in a flat-top mode. Welding was performed on 1.5 mm-thick Ti6Al4V sheets configured in the butt joint with a reserved notch geometry, which is 20 degrees between the groove surface. We also conducted numerical modeling and solutions concerning the heat-flow-phase dynamics using an enhanced ray tracing algorithm. Results show that the as-build weld beads, characterized by middle rippers, slight depression, and edge ridges, present superb continuity and uniformity when applying an average heat input of 40–90 J/mm and a pulse energy of 187.5–750 J. Effective metal bridging across the notch error is achieved at both pulse duration and interval phases due to not only the complete melting of welding side but also the enhanced melt film stability against the surface tension. The cooling of the weld pool starts with a sharp temperature drop at ∼3×105 K/s (on average) during the keyhole collapsing regime, then slows down due to the damped up-down oscillation of the free surface combined with the natural convection-conduction effect. The flow pattern of molten metal changes from squeezing-like to vortexes and finally to a backfilling mode, depending on the evolution of keyhole geometry. Although the keyhole dynamics differs, various process conditions regarding heat input and pulse energy yield effective metal bridging of a single weld spot and sufficient refusion between the adjacent weld spots, ensuring the well-overlapped weld bead formation.

Thermal diffusity in copper benzene-1,3,5-tricarboxylate–reduced graphite oxide mechanical composites

Metal organic frameworks (MOFs) and particularly copper benzene-1,3,5-tricarboxylate (HKUST-1) are excellent materials for gas storage (e.g., CH4, N2, H2 adsorption) and gas separation. In this work, reduced graphene oxide (RGO)–HKUST-1 mechanical mixtures were studied in order to reveal the effect of RGO content on the pressure tolerance of the texture and heat conductivity. HKUST-1 was obtained by two different synthesis routes. Air-dried MOF and RGO were thoroughly mixed prior to the compression. Powder XRD and Raman spectroscopy were used to characterize the response of the crystal structure, while low-temperature nitrogen adsorption was used the follow the adsorption properties of the pellets. Finally, the "flash" heat pulse method was used to assess the thermal properties. The gas adsorption isotherms revealed that the adsorption capacity decreases when RGO is added. Based on Raman and XRD results, we found that the synthesis route has an effect on multiple scales. We experimentally confirmed that evaluation of the thermal diffusivity requires a model more complex than the simple Fourier equation, due to the inherent heterogeneous structure of the material. A good approximation of the Fourier coefficient of thermal diffusivity was obtained using the parameters of the Guyer–Krumhansl equation. The heat pulse experiments also revealed possible size-dependent behavior.

Numerical investigation on thermal protection of wind turbine flanges in extremely cold weather

PurposeThermal protection of a flange is critical for preventing tower icing and collapse of wind turbines (WTs) in extremely cold weather. This study aims to develop a novel thermal protection system for the WTs flanges using an electrical heat-tracing element.Design/methodology/approachA three-dimensional model and the Poly-Hexacore mesh structure are used, and the fluid-solid coupling method was validated and then deployed to analyze the heat transfer and convection process. Intra-volumetric heat sources are applied to represent the heat generated by the heating element, and the dynamic boundary conditions are considered. The steady temperature and temperature uniformity of the flange are the assessment criteria for the thermal protection performance of the heating element.FindingsEnlarging the heating area and increasing the heating power improved the flange's temperature and temperature uniformity. A heating power of 4.9 kW was suitable for engineering applications with the lowest temperature nonuniformity. Compared with continuous heating, the increased temperature nonuniformity was buffered, and the electrical power consumption was reduced by half using pulse heating. Pulse heating time intervals of 1, 3 and 4 h were determined for the spring, autumn and winter, respectively.Originality/valueThe originality of this study is to propose a novel electrical heat-tracing thermal protection system for the WTs flanges. The effect of different arrangements, heating powers and heating strategies was studied, by which the theoretical basis is provided for a stable and long-term utilization of the WT flange.

Fourier Transform Thermoreflectance Method Under Front-Heat Front-Detect Configuration

The thermoreflectance method, which can measure thermal diffusivity in the cross-plane direction of thin films, mainly has two possible configurations; rear-heat front-detect (RF) and front-heat front-detect (FF) configuration. FF configuration is applicable to a wide variety of thin films including thin films deposited on opaque substrates, but this configuration has some problems in determination of the thermal diffusivity. One of the main problems is the effect of the penetration of pump beam and probe beam in thin film, which affects the initial temperature distribution near the sample’s surface after pulse heating. Several studies have tried to analyze the effect but there have been no practical analytical solutions which can solve this problem in FF configuration. In this paper, we propose a new analytical solution which considers the penetration of pump beam and probe beam into thin film, and by applying Fourier expansion analysis which we developed in a previous study to thermoreflectance signals, we have determined the thermal diffusivity of thin film in the thermoreflectance method under FF configuration. We measured platinum thin films with different thickness under both FF and RF configuration and obtained consistent thermal diffusivity values from both configurations.

Thermal and mechanical properties of AlSi7Mg matrix syntactic foams reinforced by Al2O3 or SiC particles in matrix

Materials with complex inner structure can be challenging to characterise in an effective way. The effective material parameters significantly depend on the structure, and thus on the interface properties. In the present paper, we focus on metal matrix syntactic foams, and we attempt to determine their effective thermal parameters. We supplement the results with their mechanical properties as well. For thermal characterisation, we use the heat pulse experiment to study their transient thermal response. We observed deviation from Fourier's law in multiple situations, and thus we propose an evaluation procedure for such experimental data using the Guyer–Krumhansl heat equation. We provide an iterative procedure to efficiently find the effective thermal diffusivity values provided by the Guyer–Krumhansl and Fourier equations based on the measured transient response. Furthermore, we studied the effective parameters, the specific heat, mass density, thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity. We found that the standard estimations significantly overestimate the thermal conductivity. Furthermore, we propose a method for deducing a more reliable thermal diffusivity and thermal conductivity based on the transient temperature history, i.e., we propose to estimate Fourier's thermal diffusivity based on averaging the parameters of the Guyer-Krumhansl equation according to the observed diffusive time scales. We also found that for such metal matrix syntactic foams, even with knowing the constituents, the contact thermal resistance makes more challenging to provide a prior estimate for the effective thermal conductivity, but this difficulty can be resolved using proper effective thermal diffusivity values.

Thermomagnetic responses of a thermoelastic medium containing a spherical hole exposed to a timed laser pulse heat source

The current work aims to investigate the interaction between thermal, magnetic, and elastic phenomena in a homogeneous and unbounded material that includes a spherical cavity. A laser beam with a Gaussian distribution was used to expose the solid thermal medium, thereby bringing a source of heat into the system. The study is grounded in the expanded theory of thermoelasticity without energy dissipation, which considers the interconnection between thermal, elastic, and magnetic phenomena. This theoretical framework serves as a basis for understanding the interactions and behaviors of thermal and mechanical processes within an elastic material. The system was analyzed using a direct approach, employing the Laplace transformation method to provide solutions for the system's equations. This methodology enables the computation and presentation of precise equations for several domains of concern, such as displacement, temperature, and thermal stresses. The discussion and analysis focused on a copper-based material, and graphical representations were used to demonstrate the behavior of the researched physical fields. These graphical representations aid in comprehending the development of displacement, temperature, and thermal stresses within the material caused by the laser beam and the interplay between thermal, magnetic, and elastic processes. The results demonstrate that the laser pulse parameters have a significant impact on the temperature and thermal stress distribution, thereby influencing the thermo-mechanical reactions of the solid medium. Ultimately, this study enhances our comprehension of the intricate behavior and interplay of thermal, magnetic, and elastic phenomena in thermoelastic materials.

Microstructure, hardness, and tribological performance of D2 tool steel fabricated by laser cladding using pulsed wave and substrate heating

D2 steel is a tool grade steel that presents hot cracking problems during the solidification process due to its alloying elements. On the other hand, additive manufacturing processes have great potential to manufacture, repair, and functionalize metal parts due to their low heat input, minimal distortion, and excellent metallurgical bonding. In this work, D2 metallic powder was deposited by the laser cladding process using pulsed wave, without and with preheating of the substrate. Through ANOVA statistical analysis using a complete factorial design 24, the optimal regions were determined to obtain D2 deposits with minimum dilution and depth, and maximum widths, heights and high hardness. Once the optimal parameters of the process were established, the coatings were deposited without and with preheating the substrate where, regardless of the condition, coatings without defects and good metallurgical adhesion were obtained. Coatings with preheating obtained higher cooling rates, where lower laser powers promoted higher rates; while in the coatings without preheating, lower duty functions promoted higher rates. The austenite, martensite and M7C3 eutectic carbides phases were obtained, with austenite being the main phase due to the C content in solid solution due to the cooling rates achieved. The coatings in as-built condition, reached hardness values between 606 and 711 HV (55–60 HRC), where the preheated coatings obtained the highest values. On the contrary, the coatings without preheating showed a better wear resistance (7.672 x10-6 mm3/Nm) due to the formation of tribo-layers due to the formation of oxides due to the higher amount of austenite.

On the dynamic thermal conductivity and diffusivity observed in heat pulse experiments

Abstract Determining the thermal properties of materials with complex structures is still a major engineering challenge today. The well-known heat pulse experiment can be used to determine the thermal diffusivity by measuring the temperature history as a thermal response for a fast excitation. However, the evaluation of the measurements can be challenging, especially when dealing with non-homogeneous samples. The thermal behavior of such heterogeneous materials may exhibit a response including two-time scales. Therefore, the Fourier equation is not necessarily applicable. The simplest possible alternatives are the 2-temperature models the Guyer–Krumhansl and Jeffreys heat equations. In the present paper, we focus on the interpretation of the Jeffreys heat equation; studying its analytical solution, we present a fitting method for determining the unknown parameters. We also discuss its relation with the other two heat equations, and we offer an interpretation of how to characterize the transient response of heterogeneous materials.

Reconstruction of laser-induced microstructures temperature profiles

Metallic microstructures are currently widely used in micro-optoelectronics, sensorics, microfluidics, and other applications. A promising direction in the creation of such microstructures is pulsed laser processing of thin metal films. To improve laser technologies and simulate ongoing processes, data on the temperature fields that arise during laser exposure are needed. The article shows that the temperature distribution on the surface of a material during pulsed laser heating can be obtained from optical, scanning electron or atomic force micrographs. The proposed approach opens up the possibility of estimating temperature fields from archival photographs of various microstructures.

Exceptions to Fourier’s law at the macroscale

The usual basis to analyze heat transfer within materials is the equation formulated 200 years ago, Fourier's law, which is identical mathematically to the mass diffusion equation, Fick's law. Revisiting this assumption regarding heat transport within translucent materials, performing the experiments in vacuum to avoid air convection, we compare the model predictions to infrared-based measurements with nearly mK temperature resolution. After heat pulses, we find macroscale non-Gaussian tails in the surface temperature profile. At steady state, we find macroscale anomalous hot spots when the sample is topographically rough, and this is validated by using two additional independent methods to measure surface temperature. These discrepancies from Fourier's law for translucent materials suggest that internal radiation whose mean-free-path is millimeters interacts with defects to produce small heat sources that by secondary emission afford an additional, non-local mode of heat transport. For these polymer and inorganic glass materials, this suggests unique strategies of heat management design.

Parametric study and design optimization of a thermoelectric generator system for waste heat recovery

This article proposes a transient simulation based on Comsol software to investigate the behavior of a segmented thermoelectric device (S-TEG) exposed to a pulsed heat flux. It is found that thermoelectric generators (TEG) incorporating segmented materials have offered greater thermal and electrical performance. An increase in the electrical output power and efficiency of 60% and 40% were reached respectively. Furthermore, the effect of segmentation is most noticeable for short TE leg lengths and large cross-sectional areas. For the S-TEG with a leg length of 2 mm, there is a 104% increase in output power compared to the TEG with a leg length of 3 mm. The effect of asymmetric TE legs on the improvement of the performance of the segmented TEG was carried out. It was found that when a pulsed heat source is applied, the performance of S-TEGs are maximum when the N-leg area is lower than the P-leg area (AN/AP <1). Therefore, to attain the highest TEG performance, an asymmetric shape of AN < AP is required.

A two-stage insulation method for suppressing thermal crosstalk in microarray sensitive units

Thermal crosstalk between array structures is a key factor in limiting the sensitivity of micro-nano array sensors. We propose a two-stage thermally isolated structure with thermal holes and heat dissipation layer and pulsed voltage heating to reduce thermal crosstalk. Through finite element thermal simulation analysis as well as thermal interference test, the results show that the thermal crosstalk of the two-stage structure is reduced by 12.89% and 39.67%, respectively, in the steady state compared to the structure with no thermal isolation, and pulsed voltage heating leads to the thermal crosstalk of the two-stage structure to be <10%.

Mathematical Model of Current Distribution in a Tungsten Plate during Pulsed Heating

Mathematical Model of Current Distribution in a Tungsten Plate during Pulsed Heating

Effect of inclined magnetic field and chemical reaction on Casson fluid flow over a stretching surface with Cattaneo–Christov double diffusion

This investigation discusses the significance of studying the behavior of non-Newtonian fluids, specifically the Casson fluid, subjected to an electrically conducting and stretching sheet. The study also explores the effects of an aligned magnetic field, Cattaneo–Christov double diffusion, viscous dissipation and chemical reactions on heat and mass transfer, respectively. The partial differential equations governing the flow problem are transformed into ordinary differential equations through the utilization of similarity transformations. Furthermore, the shooting technique is implemented in MATLAB to solve the ODEs. The influence of physical parameters, such as the magnetic field parameter, Eckert number, Prandtl number and chemical reaction parameter, on the velocity profile, temperature distribution, concentration profile, skin friction coefficient, Nusselt number and Sherwood number is studied and presented in graphical and tabular forms. It is found that increasing the Prandtl number causes a drop in the temperature profile. Moreover, the presence of thermal radiation and the Eckert number significantly amplifies the temperature distribution. When the magnetic number undergoes a substantial increase, there is a notable decrease in the velocity profile, and simultaneously, the temperature profile experiences a noticeable rise. Additionally, increase in the chemical reaction parameters leads to a decrease in the concentration profile. The skin friction coefficient, local Nusselt number and Sherwood number exhibit significant reductions as the Casson parameter increases. Additionally, a MATLAB built-in function named bvp4c is incorporated to verify the computed results. The practical implications of the Cattaneo–Christov heat flux model include microelectronics, microfluidic devices, processes involving rapid heating or cooling, such as laser welding or pulsed laser ablation and heat transfer in biological tissues.

Towards an optimized heat transfer process in vaporizing liquid microthrusters using pulsed heating control

The Institute for Microelectronics and Microsystems of the Italian National Research Council (Italy) has designed and fabricated a water-fed MEMS vaporizing liquid microthruster (VLM) in collaboration with the University of Salento (Italy) and KU Leuven (Belgium). Previous studies have demonstrated the device’s functioning and highlighted the presence of a strong thermoelectric-hydraulic coupling that severely affects the heating and propulsive efficiencies and reliability of the device. In this regard, the current work provides a preliminary experimental investigation of a pulsed heating system actively controlled by temperature using PI-D logic (proportional and integrative actions applied to the error; derivative action applied to the output). The overall performance assessment focuses on evaluating power consumption during steady-state operation and analyzing the dynamic response of the VLM undergoing such an actively controlled pulsed heating, which has been built using both manual and data-driven offline adaptive tuning of the PID parameters. Concerning the steady-state operation, results highlight a promising enhancement of the heating efficiency to values above 0.9. The dynamic response analysis shows that operating with a single set of fixed PID parameters is not feasible and that the manual tuning is a trial-and-error approach highly dependent on the operator’s experience, operating conditions, and reference temperature profile. Furthermore, shorter rise and response times require a higher proportional gain, and the overshoot experienced when crossing the saturation temperature cannot be avoided. In this paper, we show that the response of the data-driven adaptive controller solves these issues, exhibiting a reduced maximum settling time from around 59 s to less than 10 s, while the overshoot is avoided thanks to the temporal adjustment of the PID parameters.

Challenges in the thermal modeling of highly porous carbon foams

The heat pulse (flash) experiment is a well-known, widely used method to determine thermal diffusivity. However, for heterogeneous, highly porous materials, neither the measurement nor the evaluation methodologies are straightforward. In the present paper, we focus on two open-cell carbon foam types, differing in their porosity but having the same sample size. Recent experiments showed that a non-Fourier behavior, called ’over-diffusive’ propagation, can be present for such a complex structure. The (continuum) Guyer–Krumhansl equation stands as a promising candidate to model such transient thermal behavior. In order to obtain a reliable evaluation and thus reliable thermal parameters, we utilize a novel, state-of-the-art evaluation procedure developed recently using an analytical solution of the Guyer–Krumhansl equation. Based on our observations, it turned out that the presence of high porosity alone is necessary but not satisfactory for non-Fourier behavior. Additionally, the mentioned non-Fourier effects are porosity-dependent; however, porous samples can also follow the Fourier law on a particular time scale. These data serve as a basis to properly identify the characteristic heat transfer mechanisms and their corresponding time scales, which altogether result in the present non-Fourier behavior. Based on these, we determined the validity region of Fourier’s law in respect of time scales.