'CHT'01 - Advances in Computational Heat Transfer II. Proceedings of the Second Symposium
A STATISTICAL MODEL OF THERMAL CONTACT CONDUCTANCE
pages 503-510
ABSTRACT
Thermal contact conductance of nominally flat surfaces in contact is considered and the development of a statistical mechanics and thermal model to evaluate this parameter is reported. An empirical equation is proposed for the thermal contact conductance of multiple contact spots in vacuum. Comparisons demonstrate that the model agrees well with both experimental and numerical published data. The last part of the paper is devoted to the evaluation of the effect of interstitial gaseous medium on the thermal contact conductance. This effect is not negligible as the pressure diminishes and the conductivity of the interstitial gaseous medium increases.