Thermal response function method: A method for predicting the transient surface temperature of black-box objects

In engineering practice, thermal analysis of objects with unknown internal structure and/or thermophysical properties, and uncertainties in contact thermal resistances, is very challenging and even impossible using the traditional approach of direct solving the heat transfer equation. In this work, a thermal response function method (TRFM) is proposed for predicting the transient surface temperature of ‘black-box’ objects (i.e., unknown internal structure and thermophysical properties). The method relies on an introduced measurable quantity called thermal response function, which characterizes the thermal response characteristics of an object. Using the measured thermal response functions as input parameters, the transient temperature distribution on the surface of a black-box object under arbitrary external heat flux boundary condition can be predicted through linear superposition. Proof-of-concept simulations and experiments are conducted to demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the TRFM method. The predicted surface temperature distribution under various external heat fluxes using TRFM agree well with the reference results. The results show that the TRFM is very promising as a solution of the challenging problem of predicting the transient surface temperature of black-box objects, with potential application for thermal imaging modeling of complex objects.