Lumped Parameter Thermal Conductor Generation for 3D Geometry

The far-field method – a novel approach for calculating lumped-parameter linear thermal conductances – was originally developed by ESA, and has been implemented in the ESATAN-TMS software by ITP Engines UK. The main strength of the far-field method is that it is a generic technique that can be applied to any geometry. Also, for regular geometries, the computed conductance terms are in agreement with what the thermal engineer would calculate by hand, and directly quantify heat flows. This makes them readily understandable by the engineer, allowing them to be easily verified and modified or extended if required. Previously the focus of ESATAN-TMS was on the geometric modelling of surfaces for the purpose of radiative analysis of spacecraft, and therefore the automatic generation of conductors was initially developed for 2D geometry (shells). The tool has now been extended to model 3D (solid) geometry, and the far-field method generalised accordingly. In addition, a method has been developed to automatically detect the interface where two solid geometric primitives are contiguous, and to compute appropriate thermal conductances across the interface.