An Inverse Heat Transfer Based Technique for Estimating Thermal Contact Conductance and its Validation with Experiments

The accurate estimation of thermal contact conductance (TCC) at material contact interfaces is cru cial for determining the temperature distribution in a system, particularly in vacuum conditions such as outer space. Improper estimates of TCC, especially in vacuum environments, may result in under design of thermal management systems resulting in the formation of hot spots, leading to material and system failure. This study introduces two inverse techniques for determining the TCC at the contact interface. The validity of the proposed inverse methods is established by comparing TCC values at the interface with those obtained from experiments performed using the ASTM D5470-17 standard, which is applicable under the assumption of one-dimensional heat transfer. Experiments are meticu lously conducted to ensure the validity of the one-dimensional heat transfer assumption. The variation observed in the TCC estimates obtained from experiments and the inverse methodology is discussed to establish the validity of the proposed inverse techniques. Consequently, these techniques offer ap plicability in scenarios where one-dimensional heat transfer is compromised due to factors such as asperity distribution, vacuum conditions, or low thermal conductivity of the specimen.