DOI: 10.1615/ICHMT.2008.CHT
ISBN Print: 978-1-56700-253-9
ISSN: 2578-5486
EXTENDING THE FRONTIERS OF COMPUTATIONAL HEAT TRANSFER
RÉSUMÉ
Impelled by both practical necessity and scientific interest, the boundaries of computational heat transfer, and also the relative emphases given to its various aspects, have changed significantly in the past decades; but the pace of change has slowed, in some sectors almost to a standstill. It is argued in this paper that movement can be and should be resumed, and that its speed should accelerate.
Three particular directions in which extension of boundaries should be made are advocated, namely;
(1) stress analysis in solids,
(2) multi-phase flow, and
(3) chemically-reacting materials;
and it is argued that, in respect of the last two, a shift of emphasis is desirable towards consideration of distributions in population space.
Some of the obstacles to making these changes are spelled out. They can be classified as psychological, computational and conceptual, the last of which presents the greatest challenge. Means of removing some are proposed and briefly demonstrated.