TCCbuilder: An open-source tool for the analysis of thermal switches, thermal diodes, thermal regulators, and thermal control circuits

In the area of thermal management, thermal control elements (TCEs) and thermal control circuits (TCCs) are proving to be innovative solutions to the challenges of temperature control and heat dissipation in various applications, ranging from electronic cooling to energy conversion and temperature control in buildings. Their integration promises to improve power density, energy efficiency, system reliability and system life expectancy. With the aim of connecting researchers in the field of thermal management and accelerating the development of TCEs and TCCs, we have developed an open-source TCC simulation tool called TCCbuilder that enables a quick and easy time-dependent 1D numerical analysis of the behavior of TCEs and TCCs. It uses the heat conduction equation to solve temperature profiles in different devices. The TCCbuilder application offers features not previously available with any other TCC modeling tool: a large adjacent library of materials and TCEs as well as a user-friendly graphical user interface (GUI).