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Thermal Conductor

Lumped thermal element transporting heat without storing it

Description

The Thermal Conductor component models a heat transfer element that transports heat without storing it. Its equation is

 ${Q}_{\mathrm{flow}}=G\cdot \left({T}_{2}-{T}_{1}\right)$

It may be used for complicated geometries where the thermal conductance, G (that is, the inverse of the thermal resistance), is determined by measurements and assumed to be constant over a range of operations. If the component mainly consists of one media type and has a regular geometry, the thermal conductance may be calculated using one of the following equations:

Conductance for a box geometry under the assumption that heat flows along the box length.

 $G=\frac{kA}{L}$

Conductance for a cylindrical geometry under the assumption that heat flows from the inside to the outside radius of the cylinder.

Typical values for $k$ at 20 $°C$ in $\frac{W}{m.K}$:

 Medium Value aluminum 220 concrete 1 copper 384 iron 74 silver 407 steel (V2A) 15 ... 45 wood 0.1 ... 0.2

Connections

 Name Description ${\mathrm{port}}_{a}$ Input port a ${\mathrm{port}}_{b}$ Input port b

Variables

 Symbol Units Description ${T}_{1}$ - Input temperature ${T}_{2}$ - Output temperature $k$ - Thermal conductivity (material constant) $A$ - Area of the box $L$ - Length of the box or cylinder - Outer radius of  the cylinder $r{}_{\mathit{in}}$ - Inner radius of the cylinder

Parameters

 Symbol Default Units Description Modelica ID $G$ - $\frac{W}{K}$ Constant thermal conductance of the material G

Initial Conditions

 Symbol Units Description Modelica ID ${Q}_{\mathrm{flow0}}$ W Heat flow rate from to ${\mathrm{port}}_{b}$ Q_flow ${\mathrm{ΔT}}_{\mathit{0}}$ $K$ Initial temperature difference dT