Transformation Thermodynamics with Arbitrarily Shaped Non-Conformal Objects and Coatings

¹ Center for Composite Materials, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150001, China
² Institute of Advanced Structure Technology, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, 100081, China

Abstract

In this paper we apply transformation optics theory to thermodynamics and design thermal cloaks and concentrators with arbitrarily shaped non-conformal objects and coatings. Expressions of the required material parameters are derived analytically and then validated by numerical simulations. We apply this method to design a thermal cloak which can guide the heat flow around the inner domain without perturbation to external thermal fields. In this way, the object inside the inner domain is protected from the invasion of external heat fluxes. In contrast, a concentrator is designed to concentrate heat flows into a small region without disturbing outside temperature fields, which can considerably enhance the heat density in the designed domain. The proposed method extends the design flexibility in manipulating heat flux and will find wide applications in thermal protection systems, solar cells and so on.