Transient Temperature Profiles Research Articles

Critical diameter for a single-tank molten salt storage – Parametric study on structural tank design

Molten salt thermal energy storage (TES) is a cost-effective option for grid-connected storage in both concentrating solar power (CSP) plants and retrofitted thermal power plants in a multimegawatt scale. Current systems use two tanks (hot and cold), but future systems may use a single tank with a transient temperature profile (hot in the top and cold in the bottom) to reduce costs and space. However, the structural and mechanical design of large-scale molten salt single-tank storages at 560 °C has not been fully explored, and the impact of increasing the operating temperature to 620 °C is still uncertain. The challenge presented by a single tank is the existence of a temperature profile that results in a varying thermal expansion of the tank shell along its height. In the case of larger tanks, this discrepancy can reach a magnitude of centimeters, which in turn gives rise to bending moments. To the best of our knowledge, this study addresses the issue of bending stresses in large-sized high-temperature tanks with thermal stratification for the first time. The modelling approach is applied to single-tank CSP TES systems as a case study to evaluate the constraints imposed by tank size and wall thickness.With the help of experimentally validated numerical methods, it is revealed that a low thermocline thickness can be a limiting factor for large tank diameters. It is shown that the temperature has a major influence on maximum possible tank size: if the operating temperature is raised from 560 °C to 620 °C, the permitted tank diameter is significantly reduced when using the same tank wall material. A possible approach is to use a more heat resistant steel for 620 °C. Results of the parametric study show that designing a single tank below a critical diameter only requires a moderate increase of the wall thickness compared to the two-tank system with constant temperature profiles. Based on this parametric study a formula for the critical tank diameter is developed and presented in this work. The paper concludes with recommendations on how increased wall stresses can be addressed by an appropriate design.

Processing, experimental characterization and thermal analysis for friction stir welded joint of 2219Al alloy

ABSTRACT Present study aimed at thermal modelling and numerical analysis of dynamic heat flow behaviour, for friction stir welded (FSW) joint of 2219Al alloy, further experimentally correlated with microstructural evolution and microhardness profile through different weld zones. FSW was performed on cast 2219Al alloy, with varying process parameters of welding and rotational speed of the tool, and transient temperatures measured at different distances from weld line. From microstructural analysis, three different heat affected weld zones having separate grain morphologies were identified, namely Weld Nugget Zone (WNZ), Thermo-Mechanical Affected Zone (TMAZ) and Heat Affected Zone (HAZ). Vickers microhardness was evaluated at varying distances from weld line, through different weld zones. To investigate transient temperature profiles over the welded plate, a 3-D Finite Element (FE) thermal model was developed, incorporating volumetric heat source as heat generation. Transient temperature profiles computed from FEM analysis, were successfully compared and validated with experimental results, with fairly good accuracy within 4.86 %. Individual influences of welding parameters, on transient temperature profile, weld zones, microstructural and mechanical property were investigated, to optimise and achieve desired weld quality. Present study established structure-property correlation, along with thermal analysis, to validate and optimise the potential application of FSW on 2219Al alloy.

Modeling the thermal behavior of multifunctional syntactic foams containing phase change materials for heat management applications

AbstractSyntactic foams are lightweight porous composites obtained by the addition of hollow glass microspheres (HGMs) to a polymer matrix. This work experimentally and numerically investigates the thermal behavior of epoxy‐based syntactic foams with enhanced multifunctionality produced by incorporating microencapsulated phase change materials (PCMs) as functional fillers, providing thermal energy storage and temperature stabilization due to its large latent heat of melting. Foams are fabricated using varying ratios of HGMs (0–40 vol%) and PCM (0–40 vol%) to achieve tuned densities and thermal properties with a total filler content of up to 40 vol%. A one‐dimensional numerical heat transfer model based on the enthalpy method is presented to simulate the thermal behavior of these materials. The model accurately incorporates the specific heat and thermal conductivity of the foam components, as well as the latent heat absorption during PCM melting (up to 68 J/g). The model is experimentally validated by demonstrating good agreement with the measurements of transient temperature profiles during heating tests on the foam samples. The validated tool is then leveraged to model the thermal response of the foams under a sinusoidally varying heat source, similar to the possible real applicative scenarios. These results can help optimize foam compositions balancing energy storage density, heat transfer properties, and structural support for lightweight energy storage systems. Potential applications include high‐efficiency thermal management in battery packs, electronic cooling, solar energy storage, and sustainable temperature‐controlled buildings.Highlights Foams with 0–40 vol% PCM and 0–40 vol% HGM show up to 68 J/g latent heat. 1D numerical model accurately captures thermal conductivity and PCM phase change. Validated model simulates thermal response under sinusoidal heat, optimizing foam composition. Foams act as thermal reservoirs, maintaining up to 5°C lower surface temperatures than epoxy.

Characterizing and improving the performance of molten-salt-steam heat exchangers in concentrating solar power plants

Shell-and-tube heat exchangers (HXs) for steam generation from molten salts in concentrating solar power (CSP) plants experience thermal fatigue due to significant temperature gradients and inherent transient operation. Molten salt-steam HX design lifespans exceed actual lifespans, and, as a consequence, designers overpredict plant profitability and operators neglect appropriate prescriptions to optimize these lifetimes. This study refines HX lifespan estimates with data benchmarked against thermal-fluid mechanical modeling of stress and accumulated fatigue. Reduced-order thermal models of the molten salt-steam, shell-and-tube evaporator and superheater predict transient temperature profiles along the two HXs salt-steam flow paths. The modeled evaporator and superheater temperature profiles enable assessment of cyclic stresses within the HX tubesheets, where molten-salt HX failures are most common. Evaporator and superheater performance data from a current 110 MWelec commercial CSP plant provide a basis for validating the reduced-order HX models. HX life predictions derived from stochastic failure distributions serve as inputs for simulating and optimizing existing plant operations. The impact of the updated lifespans on overall plant revenue depends on operating scenarios. This study suggests that typical ramping rates for a CSP plant with a high-temperature Rankine cycle result in an evaporator and superheater life of approximately 10 and 25 years, respectively, compared to the design target of 30 years. Reduced HX lifespans decrease operational plant revenue on average by 4.6-5.1%. Furthermore, there may be as many as four HX replacements over the 30-year lifetime of the plant; and, purchase agreement loss due to failure to meet contractual production requirements can have ramifications that include the risk of bankruptcy.

Predicting Long-Time-Scale Kinetics under Variable Experimental Conditions with Kinetica.jl.

Predicting the degradation processes of molecules over long time scales is a key aspect of industrial materials design. However, it is made computationally challenging by the need to construct large networks of chemical reactions that are relevant to the experimental conditions that kinetic models must mirror, with every reaction requiring accurate kinetic data. Here, we showcase Kinetica.jl, a new software package for constructing large-scale chemical reaction networks in a fully automated fashion by exploring chemical reaction space with a kinetics-driven algorithm; coupled to efficient machine-learning models of activation energies for sampled elementary reactions, we show how this approach readily enables generation and kinetic characterization of networks containing ∼103 chemical species and ≃104-105 reactions. Symbolic-numeric modeling of the generated reaction networks is used to allow for flexible, efficient computation of kinetic profiles under experimentally realizable conditions such as continuously variable temperature regimes, enabling direct connection between bottom-up reaction networks and experimental observations. Highly efficient propagation of long-time-scale kinetic profiles is required for automated reaction network refinement and is enabled here by a new discrete kinetic approximation. The resulting Kinetica.jl simulation package therefore enables automated generation, characterization, and long-time-scale modeling of complex chemical reaction systems. We demonstrate this for hydrocarbon pyrolysis simulated over time scales of seconds, using transient temperature profiles representing those of tubular flow reactor experiments.

Nonlinear state estimation of a power plant superheater by using the extended Kalman filter for differential algebraic equation systems

A nonlinear estimator was developed for process monitoring of a power plant superheater system to estimate the transient temperature profiles of the critical measured and unmeasured variables under load-following operations. The model used in the estimator was a detailed, distributed, first-principles, differential–algebraic equation model. The superheater geometry is characterized based on an operating natural gas combined cycle power plant. The model included mass and energy balances for the operating fluids, i.e., steam and flue gas, with due consideration of tube wall temperature dynamics. The dynamic model was used for state and parameter estimation by using a modified extended Kalman filter. When results are compared with the data from a natural gas power plant, the estimator yielded root mean squared error of 0.2 °C for the main steam temperature compared to 1 °C obtained from the first-principles model. While the first-principles model yielded as high as 2.5 °C absolute instantaneous error for the tube temperatures, the estimator reduced the absolute instantaneous error below 0.3 °C for most variables. Performance of the estimator for estimating critical variables like the main steam temperature and flue gas temperature was evaluated in the presence of high model mismatch and noisy measurement data by simulating load-following operation of the plant. The estimator yielded maximum absolute instantaneous error of 3.4 °C for the flue gas and 1 °C for the main steam temperature.

Machine-learning-assisted long-term G functions for bidirectional aquifer thermal energy storage system operation

Optimization of aquifer thermal energy storage (ATES) performance in a building system is an important topic for maximizing the seasonal offset between energy demand and supply and minimizing the building's primary energy consumption. To evaluate ATES performance with bidirectional operation, this study develops an analytical solution-based model to simulate the spatiotemporal thermal response in an aquifer. The model consists of three temperature response functions, similar to the G functions in borehole thermal energy storage (BTES), to estimate the transient temperature profile in the aquifer during seasonally varying injection and extraction of hot/cold water. Applying machine learning (ML) based data classification and regression techniques to the results of a series of finite element (FE) benchmark simulations of typical ATES configurations, model input parameters are linked to the subsurface thermal, hydrogeological, and ATES operational properties. Compared to the benchmark simulation results, the errors of the proposed model in estimating the annual energy storage and locating the thermally affected area are about 3 % and 1 %, respectively. The model was applied to a previous short-term case study, and the error in the transient production temperature estimation is about 1 %. The long-term heat recovery ratio estimated from the model also compares well to those calculated from the previous study and the validated numerical model. Because of its fast computation, the proposed model can be coupled with the individual building system simulation and used for preliminary ATES design, and this will allow for greater exploration of ATES operational space and, therefore, better choices of ATES operating conditions. The proposed model can also be coupled with the district heating and cooling network simulation for computationally efficient city-scale long-term ATES potential assessment.

Measurement and Modeling of Thermo-Hydro-Mechanical Behaviors of Frozen Clays: Frost Susceptibility and Compressibility

The risk of geohazards associated with frozen subgrades is well recognized, but a comprehensive framework to evaluate frost susceptibility from microstructural characteristics to macroscopic thermo-hydro-mechanical (THM) behaviors has not been established. This study aims to propose a simple framework for quantitatively assessing frost susceptibility and compressibility in frozen soils. A systematic THM model was devised to predict heat transfer, soil freezing characteristics, and stress states in frozen soils. Constant freezing experiments and oedometer compression tests were performed on bentonite clays under varying temperatures (−5°C, −10°C, and −20°C) and stress levels to validate the proposed model. Additionally, soil electrical conductivity measurements were employed to assess the temperature- and stress-dependent volumetric and mechanical properties of frozen soils. The model used Fourier’s law to compute the transient soil temperature profile and estimated the volume change and stress states based on the soil freezing characteristic curve. Experimental results showed that frost heave of bentonite reached between 9.0% and 26.6% of axial strain, which was largely predicted by the proposed model. It also demonstrated that the frost heave was mainly attributed to the fusion of the porewater. Additionally, the preconsolidation pressure of frozen soils exhibited a rapid increasing trend with decreasing temperature, which was explained by the temperature-dependent ice morphology in the soil interpore. Furthermore, the findings also demonstrated a remarkable sensitivity in the electrical conductivity in response to the soil temperature during the frost heave process and the stress state under the loading or unloading path.

Active control of thermally induced vibrations of temperature-dependent FGM circular plate with piezoelectric sensor/actuator layers

This study investigates the novel application of active control methods in mitigating thermally induced vibrations of functionally graded material (FGM) circular plates subjected to thermal shock. The top surface of the FGM circular plate is exposed to rapid surface heating, resulting in thermally induced vibrations. To counteract these deflections, two piezoelectric layers, one functioning as a sensor and the other as an actuator, are strategically integrated into the plate opposite sides. This layered configuration effectively distances the direct rapid surface heating from piezoelectric layers. All thermos-electro-mechanical properties of the used materials are considered temperature-dependent. The research employs the Generalized differential quadrature element (GDQE) method and the Crank-Nicolson time marching procedure to solve the nonlinear Fourier-type heat conduction equations for the layered structure. After obtaining the transient temperature profile, the study calculates thermal moments, forces, and pyroelectric terms. These thermally induced effects are then integrated into the motion and electrostatic equations, which inherently exhibit nonlinearity due to the von Kármán large deformations theory. The plate displacements are approximated using the first-order shear deformation theory (FSDT) along the plate thickness, while a quadrature distribution is considered for approximating the electric potential within the piezoelectric layers. The highly coupled electro-mechanical equations are solved using the GDQ method and the Newmark approach, with the Newton-Raphson iterative scheme utilized to address nonlinearity. A significant contribution of this research lies in the exploration of three distinct active control strategies: proportional control, derivative control, and proportional-derivative control. The study thoroughly analyzes the impact of each control type on the plate response, considering various boundary conditions.

Experimental and Hybrid Numerical Analytical Approach of an Earth-to-Air Heat Exchanger

Abstract The primary goal of this paper is to assess the thermal behaviour of Earth-to-Air Heat Exchanger (EAHE) under continuous operation mode during the cooling period in warm climatic conditions. An experimental setup was conducted in Biskra University (Algeria) to test the ability to use EAHE as an alternative solution to conventional air conditioning systems. Besides, a transient numerical approach for the flowing air within the EAHE was developed using energy balance equations, discretised by the implicit finite differences method and solved by Thomas method. Furthermore, the transient temperature profile of the soil around the EAHE was investigated in order to determine the adiabatic radius of the soil as a function of the duration of operation. In this context, a transient semi-analytical model was integrated to the air model to estimate the transient EAHE’s performance deterioration. This deterioration is produced by the thermal saturation of the soil, which is influenced by the heat released from the air inside the pipe. Results showed that continuous operation for a duration of four days has minimal impact on the outlet air temperatures due to the implementation of night purging. Furthermore, the design and thermal efficiency of the EAHE are impacted by factors such as higher air velocity and reduced soil thermal conductivity.

Thermal behavior of aluminothermic thermite reaction for application in thermal sealing of oil wells

Motivated by a groundbreaking proposal to plug depleted oil wells using an exothermic reaction to melt the wellbore components, this work investigates the thermal behavior associated with the longitudinal propagation of a stoichiometric Fe2O3/Al thermite reaction. The primary objective of this study is to develop a reliable macroscopic numerical model capable of accurately estimating the heat generation and propagation during the reaction. A small-scale experiment is used to validate the numerical model, which approaches the experiment as a 2-D axisymmetric geometry within multiple regions. The reaction is modeled with a simplified zero-order kinetic model assuming a constant kinetic rate for all chemical species. A porous model assesses the impact of porosity on the overall heat diffusion, and a source-based phase change model is employed to evaluate the melting of the chemical species and the outer tube. Also, a disruptive model is included to consider the reaction between only condensed phases. The experimental validation demonstrated a good agreement between the numerical results with the disruptive model and transient temperature profiles measured experimentally. Varying the kinetic rate and porosity suggests that a slower reaction and denser mixture can enhance the heat transfer towards surrounding materials, potentially benefiting future applications in well sealing.

Computational modeling of microwave ablation with thermal accelerants

Purpose To develop a computational model of microwave ablation (MWA) with a thermal accelerant gel and apply the model toward interpreting experimental observations in ex vivo bovine and in vivo porcine liver. Methods A 3D coupled electromagnetic-heat transfer model was implemented to characterize thermal profiles within ex vivo bovine and in vivo porcine liver tissue during MWA with the HeatSYNC thermal accelerant. Measured temperature dependent dielectric and thermal properties of the HeatSYNC gel were applied within the model. Simulated extents of MWA zones and transient temperature profiles were compared against experimental measurements in ex vivo bovine liver. Model predictions of thermal profiles under in vivo conditions in porcine liver were used to analyze thermal ablations observed in prior experiments in porcine liver in vivo. Results Measured electrical conductivity of the HeatSYNC gel was ∼83% higher compared to liver at room temperature, with positive linear temperature dependency, indicating increased microwave absorption within HeatSYNC gel compared to tissue. In ex vivo bovine liver, model predicted ablation zone extents of (31.5 × 36) mm with the HeatSYNC, compared to (32.9 ± 2.6 × 40.2 ± 2.3) mm in experiments (volume differences 4 ± 4.1 cm3). Computational models under in vivo conditions in porcine liver suggest approximating the HeatSYNC gel spreading within liver tissue during ablations as a plausible explanation for larger ablation zones observed in prior in vivo studies. Conclusion Computational models of MWA with thermal accelerants provide insight into the impact of accelerant on MWA, and with further development, could predict ablations with a variety of gel injection sites.

Analysis of a thick cylindrical FGM pressure vessel with variable parameters using thermoelasticity

Abstract In this study, a closed-form analytical solution is derived to compute the stress formulations for a thick cylindrical pressure vessel made of functionally graded material (FGM) with varying parameters, which are mechanical and thermal boundary conditions. The assumed mechanical boundary condition is the time-dependent pressure acting on the internal surface of the cylinder, while the assumed thermal boundary condition is the transient temperature distribution over the cylinder thickness. The material properties are considered to be graded exponentially in the radial direction, except Poisson’s ratio which is assumed to be constant. The stress and displacement formulations are evaluated using Mathematica software for the uncoupled thermo-mechanical analysis. The results of radial, hoop, and axial stress are plotted at various times for two FGM cylinders, the SS304-Alumina FGM cylinder and the TZM-SIC FGM cylinder, to study the impact of using different materials for the same boundary conditions on the results. The results obtained in this study are beneficial as these contribute to the design and modeling of cylinders that are exposed to time-dependent internal pressure and transient temperature profiles.

The function of relaxation and retardation phenomena on time-dependent natural convective and oscillatory flowing of dissipative Oldroyd-B fluid via an infinite vertical plate with fixed suction

Constant suction phenomenon has been executed in free convective Oldroyd-B material in an oscillatory flow mode over infinite vertical porous plate. For heat transfer, this study includes the influence of heat dissipation. The resulting governing equations are transferred into a set of dimensionless form of coupled-ordinary differential equations with appropriate non-dimensional variables. MAPLE code is developed for the regular perturbation method and executed to solve the set of non-dimensional couple-ordinary derivative equations. The impact of different embedded parameters on the mean, fluctuating, transient velocities and temperatures on the Oldroyd-B fluid have been discussed and depicted in graphical forms. The influence of some physical terms on the plate mean friction and plate heat mean gradient are computed and demonstrated in a tabular form. The attained results show that as an increase in relaxation time, greater amplitude of temperature fluctuations is observed. Remarkable enhancement is observed in all the parameters (Grashof, Prandtl and Eckert numbers) for transient temperature profiles.

A laser-based Ångstrom method for in-plane thermal characterization of isotropic and anisotropic materials using infrared imaging.

High heat fluxes generated in electronics and semiconductor packages require materials with high thermal conductivity to effectively diffuse the heat and avoid local hotspots. Engineered heat spreading materials typically exhibit anisotropic conduction behavior due to their composite construction. The design of thermal management solutions is often limited by the lack of fast and accurate characterization techniques for such anisotropic materials. A popular technique for measuring the thermal diffusivity of bulk materials is the Ångstrom method, where a thin strip or rod of material is heated periodically at one end, and the corresponding transient temperature profile is used to infer the thermal diffusivity. However, this method is generally limited to the characterization of one-dimensional samples and requires multiple measurements with multiple samples to characterize anisotropic materials. Here, we present a new measurement technique for characterizing the isotropic and anisotropic in-plane thermal properties of thin films and sheets as an extension of the one-dimensional Ångstrom method and other lock-in thermography techniques. The measurement leverages non-contact infrared temperature mapping to measure the thermal response from laser-based periodic heating at the center of a suspended thin film sample. Uniquely, our novel data extraction method does not require precise knowledge of the boundary conditions. To validate the accuracy of this technique, numerical models are developed to generate transient temperature profiles for hypothetical anisotropic materials with known properties. The resultant temperature profiles are processed through our fitting algorithm to extract the in-plane thermal conductivities without knowledge of the input properties of the model. Across a wide range of in-plane thermal conductivities, these results agree well with the input values. Experiments demonstrate the approach for a known isotropic reference material and an anisotropic heat spreading material. The limits of accuracy of this technique are identified based on the experimental and sample parameters. Further standardization of this measurement technique will enable the development and characterization of engineered heat spreading materials with desired anisotropic properties for various applications.

Enhancing the Thermal Dissipation in Batteries via Inclusion of Central Heat Sink

Abstract The generation of heat within the rechargeable batteries during the charge–discharge cycles is inevitable, making heat dissipation a very critical part of their design and operation procedure, as a safety and sustainability measure. In particular, when the heat gets the least possibility to escape from the electrode surface, the boundary of the packaging material remains the sole heat dissipator. In this regard, the heat gets accumulated in the central zone, making it the most critical, since it has the least possibility to escape to the surroundings. Anticipating such a heat trap, a central heat sink component is devised, where the role of its conductivity and the relative scale is analyzed based on the formation of transient and steady-state temperature profiles. Additionally, an analytical solution is attained for the location of the maximum temperature, where its value and correlation with the electrolyte conductivity, heat generation rate, and scale of the cell have been quantified. Due to the existence of the curved boundaries, it is shown that the time versus space resolution for capturing the transient evolution of the temperature is more strict than the flat surface and analytically acquired as ≈33% smaller value. Such enhanced design and subsequent analysis are critical for planning sustainable and cost-effective packaging to avoid the ignition and failure of the respective electrolyte.

On the interfacial deformations and thermal characteristics exhibiting self-similar behavior under the action of a line heat source

Interfacial dynamics resulting from a heating source located near the interface play a crucial role in dictating the heat and momentum transport in the near-interface region. This paper aims toward simultaneous characterization of interfacial deformation and thermal behavior under the action of a line heating source placed below the interface. Experiments have been conducted on aqueous glycerol with a heating wire at different power inputs and depths from the interface. The interfacial deformations are mapped and quantified by employing moon-glade background oriented schlieren, which offers real-time, non-intrusive whole field measurements based on the deflection of light rays from liquid interface. Infrared thermography is used to measure transient interfacial temperature variations. Results show that the interface exhibits a convex-shaped deformation under the influence of the heating wire for all cases of heating power and depth. The maximum interface temperature coincides with the peak interfacial deformation. However, the region of thermal influence is smaller compared to the deformed region. Non-dimensionalization of transient interface deformation and temperature profiles establishes the underlying similarity of the phenomenon as non-dimensional interface perturbation profiles overlap for all cases of height and heating power. These characteristics are also observed for normalized temperature profiles at different wire depths.

Application of a thermal transient subsurface model to a coaxial borehole heat exchanger system

We present an application of a thermal transient model to a coaxial borehole heat exchanger system. We compare two numerical methods. First, a model with a prescribed formation temperature (PFT); secondly, a method with a modeled formation temperature (MFT). In this comparison, several parameters are analyzed, such as the transient temperature profiles, the heat flux along the wellbore, the overall heat transfer rate, the thermal conductivity of the formation, and the type of flow inside the pipe and annulus — laminar or turbulent. The description of the system by the MFT method is more physically consistent. Then we proceed validating this method against two experimental setups, thereby showing good agreement. We perform a sensitivity analysis to the MFT method, varying the direction of the flow, regular and reversed, and the center tube material, with a high (steel) or low (polyethylene) thermal conductivity. It is shown that the reverse circulation has a better heat extraction, while regular flow performs better in the case of heat injection. For the center tube material, polyethylene shows a better thermal performance when compared to steel.

Assessment of transient thermal distribution in a moving porous plate with temperature-dependent internal heat generation using Levenberg–Marquardt backpropagation neural network

ABSTRACT In the present paper, the transient temperature distribution within a moving porous plate is scrutinized by considering the internal heat generation, convection and radiation condition. Furthermore, an effective artificial intelligence technique is proposed for discussing the transient thermal behavior in a moving plate by employing the Levenberg-Marquardt backpropagation network. Using suitable non-dimensional terms, the governing partial differential equation (PDE) is transformed into its non-dimensional form. The transformed equation is then solved using the finite difference method (FDM) and the obtained thermal values (datasets) are used as target values in the process of neural network mapping. This network uses the training, testing, and validation processes to determine the solution of several scenarios established at various process times. The behavior of dimensionless transient temperature profile has been inspected for diverse values of non-dimensional parameters such as heat generation number, radiative parameter, porosity parameter, and conductive parameter with the assistance of graphs. The significant outcomes elucidate that, the transient temperature profile of the porous plate increases with the change in time. Further, it enriches for rise in the magnitude of Peclet number and heat generation number while it drops for enhanced values of porosity parameter.

Single-track thermal analysis of laser powder bed fusion process: Parametric solution through physics-informed neural networks

Modelling the highly localised and rapid phenomena occurring during metal additive manufacturing (MAM) processes such as the laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) demands the adoption of very fine time- and space-discretisation and therefore high computational cost for the classical simulation approaches, namely the finite element method (FEM). Particularly, when the solution is required for a range of scenarios, e.g. in sensitivity or optimisation analyses, computation costs of such simulations are not affordable. As an alternative strategy, this study explores the application of physics informed neural networks (PINNs) as a low-cost physics-based simulation approach for the thermal analysis of the LPBF process, through which reliable transient and steady-state temperature profiles for single-track LPBF depositions are achieved. An unsupervised learning strategy is employed for PINNs to parametrically solve the heat transfer equation for the LPBF process. The trained PINNs calculate the temperature profiles and the melt-pool dimensions evolving during the LPBF process for any given set of material’s thermal properties and process conditions at practically zero computational cost. The reliability of the PINNs outcomes is verified through ground-truth data generated based on several benchmark equivalent finite element simulations.