Numerical simulation of thermal conduction and diffusion through nanoporous superinsulating materials

Denis Rochais (1) , Gilberto Domingues (1) , Franck Enguehard (1)

1 CEA Le Ripault - CEA Le Ripault

Nanoporous superinsulating materials have an extraordinary power of thermal insulation. The thermal conductivities of these heterogeneous materials can achieve a few when they are placed under primary vacuum at ambient temperature. In this contribution, we focus on the numerical simulation of the conduction heat flux traveling through a nanoporous material in relation with its nanostructure. We have developed two models in order to study either steady-state conduction heat transfer or transient conduction heat transfer through a fractal representation of a nanoporous material, in order to determine either the effective thermal conductivity or the effective thermal diffusivity of the material. Then, we have applied these models to a study concerning the influence of the nanoparticle volume fraction on the effective thermal conductivity and the effective thermal diffusivity of a nanoporous material.

Domaines: Thermique [physics.class-ph]

Denis Rochais, Gilberto Domingues, Franck Enguehard. Numerical simulation of thermal conduction and diffusion through nanoporous superinsulating materials . 17th European Conference on Thermophysical Properties, Sep 2005, Bratislava, Slovakia. ⟨hal-01287483⟩