Firebrands are a leading cause of structure ignitions in wildland-urban interface fires. Understanding the burning rates of firebrands can provide insight on the ability of firebrands to ignite the substrates they land on. Experiments were designed to determine the effects of wood type, air flow speed, and air flow temperature on the burning rates of individual disk-shaped firebrands resting on a flat, non-combustible surface. The experiments showed differences in the burning rates between the wood types and flow speeds, but the effects of air flow temperature were not significant. A simplified burning rate model was developed, and model prediction matched well with experimental results under certain conditions. Additionally, dimensional analysis was used to correlate the experimental data.

Temperature sensitive quantum dots (QDs) (CdTe and CdSe/ZnS) are investigated as internal temperature sensors for the growing field of 3D printed microfluidic devices. Two devices were created, one for using CdTe as the temperature sensor and another for using CdSe/ZnS. The QDs were mixed with poly (ethelyne glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA) resin and a thermal curing initiator, inserted into their devices, and cured in place. The fluorescence-to-temperature correlation was calibrated across the span of 30-90°C and then tested using a 3[rd] order fit of photoluminescence peak intensity (PLPI) to temperature and a feed-forward neural network (FFNN) combining multiple features of the fluorescence into a single temperature. This results in an improved temperature reconstruction accuracy of ±0.13°C for a FFNN of 27 inputs to one output, compared to ±0.29°C for PLPI as the single input.

In classical theory, heat conduction in solids is regarded as a diffusion process driven by a temperature gradient, whereas fluid transport is understood as convection process involving the bulk motion of the liquid or gas. In the framework of ab initio theory, which is directly built upon quantum mechanics without relying on measured parameters or phenomenological models, we observed and investigated the fluid-like convective transport of energy carriers in solid heat conduction. Thermal transport, carried by phonons, is simulated in graphite by solving the Boltzmann transport equation using a Monte Carlo algorithm. To capture convective transport, with phonon distributions deviating significantly from equilibrium Bose-Einstein distribution, we determined phonon interactions using ab initio approaches that go beyond relaxation time approximations. The presence of strong momentum-conserved Normal scatterings in graphite introduces a regime for hydrodynamic phonon transport. Fluid-like features, such as vortex and jet flow, are visualized and compared with classical theories on heat diffusion and fluid convection. Our study on phonon convection enhances fundamental understandings of heat conduction in solids from both atomic scale and quantum aspects, innovating thermal designs for future microelectronic devices and other thermal management applications. This potentially offers solutions for heat dissipation challenges in the post-Moore era.

A model of thermal ablation with application to multi-pulsed laser lithotripsy is presented. The approach is based on a one-sided Stefan-Signorini model for thermal ablation, and relies on a level-set function to represent the moving interface between the solid phase and a fictitious gas phase (representing the ablated material). The model is discretized with an embedded finite element method, wherein the interface geometry can be arbitrarily located relative to the background mesh. Nitsche's method is adopted to impose the Signorini condition on the moving interface. A bound constraint is also imposed to deal with thermal shocks that can arise during representative simulations of pulsed ablation with high-power lasers. We report simulation results based on experiments for pulsed laser ablation of wet BegoStone samples treated in air, where Begostone has been used as a phantom material for kidney stone. The model is calibrated against experimental measurements by adjusting the percentage of incoming laser energy absorbed at the surface of the stone sample. Simulation results are then validated against experimental observations for the crater area, volume, and geometry as a function of laser pulse energy and duration. Our studies illustrate how the spreading of the laser beam from the laser fiber tip with concomitantly reduced incident laser irradiance on the damaged crater surface explains trends in both the experimental observations and the model-based simulation results.

The time-fractional telegraph equation with moving time-harmonic source is considered on a real line. We investigate two characteristic versions of this equation: the "wave-type" with the second and Caputo fractional time-derivatives as well as the "heat-type" with the first and Caputo fractional time-derivatives. In both cases the order of fractional derivative 1 < α < 2. For the time-fractional telegraph equation it is impossible to consider the quasi-steady-state corresponding to the solution being a product of a function of the spatial coordinate and the time-harmonic term. The considered problem is solved using the integral transforms technique. The solution to the "wave-type" equation contains wave fronts and describes the Doppler effect contrary to the solution for the "heat-type" equation. Numerical results are illustrated graphically for different values of nondimensional parameters.

Hydrogels with embedded functional particulates are widely used to create soft materials with innovative functionalities. In order to advance these soft materials to functional devices and machines, critical technical challenges are the precise positioning of particulates within the hydrogels and the construction of the hydrogels into a complex geometry. Inkjet printing is a promising method for addressing these challenges and ultimately achieving hydrogels with voxelized functionalities, so-called digital hydrogels. However, the development of the inkjet printing process primarily relies on empirical optimization of its printing and curing protocol. In this study, a general scaling law is proposed to predict the transport of particulates within the hydrogel during inkjet printing. This scaling law is based on a hypothesis that water-matrix interaction during the curing of inkjet-printed particle-laden polymeric drops determines the intra-drop particle distribution. Based on the hypothesis, a dimensionless similarity parameter of the water-matrix interaction is proposed, determined by the hydrogel's water evaporation coefficient, particle size, and mechanical properties. The hypothesis was tested by correlating the intra-drop particle distribution to the similarity parameter. The results confirmed the scaling law capable of guiding ink formulation and printing and curing protocol.

We are living an extraordinary season of uncertainty and danger, which is caused by SARS-Cov-2 infection and consequent COVID-19 infection. This preliminary study comes from both a mix of entrepreneurial experience and scientific research. It is aimed by the exigency to reach a new and more effective analysis of the risks on the filed and to reduce them inside a necessary cooperation process which may regard both research and some of the economic activities which are damaged by passive protection measures such as indiscriminate lockdowns. This global emergency requires specific efforts by any discipline that regards specific problems which need to be solved urgently. The characteristic airborne diffusion patterns of COVID-19 shows that the airborne presence of viruses depends on multiple factors which include the dimension of microdroplets emitted by a contagious person, the atmospheric temperature and humidity, the presence of atmospheric particulate and pollution, which may act as a transport vehicle for the virus. The pandemic diffusion shows a particular correlation with the air quality and levels of atmospheric pollution. Specific problems need to solved to understand better the virus, its reliability, diffusion, replication, how it attacks the persons and the conditions, which drives to both positive and deadly evolution of the illness. Most of these problems may benefit from the contribution from both heat and mass transfer and the unsteady thermodynamics of living systems which evolves according to constructal law. After the bibliographic research on the virus, emissive and spread modes, and consequent today adopted protection, a detailed analysis of the contributions which may be assessed by research in thermodynamics, heat and mass transfer, technical and chemical physics. Some possible areas of research have been identified and discussed to start an effective mobilization which may support the effort of the research toward a significant reduction of the impacts of the pandemic infection and the economic risks of new generalized lockdowns.

Thermophysical properties of human skin surface and subsurface can reflect the hydration state of the skin and the blood flow rate in the near surface microvessels, which reveals important physiological information related to dermatology and overall health status of human body. Although a few techniques have been developed to measure these signs, complicated devices are required and the subjects need to be completely fixed during the test period. Here, a flexible thermosensor-based 3ω technology was used to monitor thermal conductivity of human skins at different states. Through the analysis of these characteristics, the corresponding physiological state can be established, which can provide a new detection method for the evaluation or prediction of human health status.

Wastewater released from showers, sinks, and washers contains a considerable amount of waste heat that can be recovered by using a heat exchanger. Conventional metal heat exchangers for wastewater heat recovery have common problems of corrosion, fouling and clogging, which makes it necessary to develop a new type of heat exchanger for such low-grade thermal energy recovery applications. This study deals with a novel patented polymer heat exchanger (WO2020049233A1) made of soft polyurethane tubes that are capable of oscillation once subjected to external forces. Laboratory tests coupled with theoretical analyses show a stable global heat transfer coefficient of 100-110 W/m2·K, achieving 67-92% of the performance of titanium-, aluminum-, and copper-made heat exchangers with the same configuration. It further reveals that the performance of the soft heat exchanger can be enhanced by 30% when it is under oscillation. In addition, the external convective thermal resistance appears to be the dominant one instead of heat conduction through the wall material. The special operating condition of heat recovery from a sewer pipeline makes the polymer heat exchanger particularly adapted with its equivalent thermal performance but advantages of high flexibility, modularity, and low cost.

The present paper introduces a successful and general fluid-to-fluid similarity theory for heat transfer to fluids at supercritical pressure, having a high degree of universality. This work shortly follows the recent publication of a "local" successful similarity theory developed for fluids at supercritical pressures in a range of conditions in which the values of their molecular Prandtl number were quantitatively similar, extending its conclusions to the case of different molecular Prandtl numbers. The reason why this further step requested a short time to be elaborated is due to recognising that previous work by the Authors had actually already solved the related problems, though in a slightly different way, now interpreted in a more significant frame owing to a better problem understanding. The present similarity theory is based on first ideas developed more than one and a half decade ago by one of the authors, while addressing flow stability of supercritical fluids in heated channels, which encountered immediate problems to be applied in a straightforward way to heat transfer. These ideas were revised and considerably improved during the PhD thesis of the other author, also overcoming a sort of prejudicial assumption that finally resulted to limit their applicability. More recently, published DNS data triggered further reflections on the role of the Prandtl number, leading to the mentioned "local" form of the successful similarity theory. This led to the present step, by just recognising that the mentioned PhD thesis had already proposed a sufficient rationale to extend this local interpretation to a broader range of conditions. The rather convincing results presented herein, obtained making use of RANS CFD analyses with four different fluids, demonstrate the interesting capabilities of this final form of the theory. The establishment of an effective set of dimensionless numbers for heat transfer problems is hoped to pave the way for the development of the still lacking successful engineering heat transfer correlations for supercritical pressure fluids. It further calls for dedicated experiments needed to confirm the suitability of the present theory beyond any reasonable doubt.

Magnetic cochlear implant surgery requires removal of a magnet via a heating process after implant insertion, which may cause thermal trauma within the ear. Intra-cochlear heat transfer analysis is required to ensure that the magnet removal phase is thermally safe. The objective of this work is to determine the safe range of input power density to detach the magnet without causing thermal trauma in the ear, and to analyze the effectiveness of natural convection with respect to conduction for removing the excess heat. A finite element model of an uncoiled cochlea, which is verified and validated, is applied to determine the range of maximum safe input power density to detach a 1-mm-long, 0.5-mm-diameter cylindrical magnet from the cochlear implant electrode array tip. It is shown that heat dissipation in the cochlea is primarily mediated by conduction through the electrode array. The electrode array simultaneously reduces natural convection due to the no-slip boundary condition on its surface and increases axial conduction in the cochlea. It is concluded that natural convection heat transfer in a cochlea during robotic cochlear implant surgery can be neglected. It is found that thermal trauma is avoided by applying a power density from 2.265 × 10[7] W/m[3] for 114 s to 6.6×10[7] W/m[3] for 9 s resulting in a maximum temperature increase of 6°C on the magnet boundary.

Global warming mitigation efforts have stimulated investigations of a new generation of low-GWP refrigerants. Because some of the proposed low-GWP refrigerants have unfavorable characteristics (e.g., flammability and toxicity), a small refrigerant charge is desirable. Compact heat exchangers with enhanced surfaces facilitate small refrigerant charge by having a large heat exchanger surface area to heat exchanger volume ratio. This paper reviews the current state-of-the-art for pool boiling heat transfer of low-GWP refrigerants on enhanced surfaces. An overview for the enhanced surface manufacturing technique is given along with detailed reviews of the heat transfer measurements and predictions for many of the low-GWP refrigerants, including the hydrofluoroolefin (HFO) class, the hydrocarbon (HC) class, carbon dioxide (CO2), and ammonia (NH3). The overview of the predictive methods includes mechanistic models and correlations for pool boiling on enhanced surfaces. Based on the surveyed literature, existing shortfalls are identified and suggestions for future studies are proposed.

This paper presents a theoretical investigation of the thermal characteristics of flat-micro heat pipes (FMHPs) with multi-heat sources and sinks. Analytical solutions of the pressure and the temperature distributions of FMHPs with multi-heat sources and sinks were obtained based on the modified liquid pressure drop. The solutions were used to identify the key engineering parameters of a mesh wick with microscale length that affect the maximum heat transfer rate of the FMHPs with multi-heat sources and sinks. The effects of the key engineering parameters on the maximum heat transfer rate of the FMHPs were presented for two limits. The first limit is the capillary limit and the other is the allowable maximum temperature limit which is used to ensure that the maximum surface temperature of the FMHP with the maximum heat transfer rate calculated at the capillary limit does not exceed the allowable maximum temperature of the electronic components. Finally, the theoretically results for the optimized wick structure for the corresponding maximum heat transfer rate and the surface temperature distribution of the FMHP were compared for the capillary limit only and for the maximum temperature limit cases, respectively.

Firebrands generated from structures are known to be a source of rapid flame spread within communities in large outdoor fires, such as wildland-urban (WUI) fires, and urban fires. It is important to better understand firebrand generation mechanism to prevent structure ignitions by firebrands. Though the wind plays an important role during the large outdoor fires, little known is the influence of wind speeds on firebrand production. To this end, a series of experiments were performed using mock-ups of full-scale wall assemblies exposed to wind. The objective of this study was to examine if experiments with mock-ups of full-scale wall assemblies may provide insight into firebrand generation from structures. Specifically, generated firebrands were collected and compared with those collected from full-scale components and a full-scale structure. The relationship between projected area and mass of firebrands were compared with previous experimental data. It was found that the projected area of firebrands was proportional to the firebrand mass in this study, which is the same as those from experimental studies performed for full-scale components and a full-scale structure. The slope of the relationship of the projected area and the mass of firebrands was the same under the same wind speed and was affected by the applied wind speed within this experimental range.

Vapor bubble nucleation during subcooled boiling on thin strip wire heaters and the resultant vibrations are studied experimentally. The results show how the subcooled boiling-induced vibrations (SBIV) are intrinsically related to the hydrodynamic flow induced near the heated wires. It is shown that the dominant force responsible for the vibrations in this case is imposed by a localized strong hydrodynamic flow rather than by the vapor recoil force. The dominant frequency of SBIV is the fundamental frequency of the wire, regardless of the individual departure frequencies of the nucleating vapor bubbles. The recorded wire vibrations are used to quantify the hydrodynamic flow. It is shown experimentally and theoretically that the flow fades exponentially with distance from the wire.