Effects of wall thickness and material property on inverse heat conduction analysis of a hollow cylindrical tube

In this study, we examined the effects of a hollow cylindrical tube’s thickness and material properties on estimated time delay and waveform distortion in a one-dimensional inverse heat transfer analysis model using the thermal resistance method and an input estimation algorithm. Results indicated a persistent time delay for various heat flux amounts applied to different tube thicknesses. As the tube thickness increased, the numerically determined temperature data also experienced a time delay, which affected the inverse heat transfer response curve. Results also indicated that the transient heat flux waveform estimated for different material properties showed higher levels of distortion for materials having relatively low thermal conductivity. These materials also exhibited greater time delays. To address these issues, we applied a Fourier number (a dimensionless number representing the tube’s thickness and material properties) and proposed an equation to calculate sharpness, which can subsequently be used to predict probable time delays and heat flux waveform distortion. In conclusion, a correction is required when a low Fourier number is used in inverse heat transfer analysis.