Analysis of the Effect of the Orthotropic Thermal Conductivity Tensor During Microwave-Based Heat Treatment of a Core¿Shell Spherical System Academic Article in Scopus uri icon

abstract

  • © 2020, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.In this article, we propose a numerical analysis of the effect of the orthotropic tensor of thermal conductivity during microwave heating of a heterogeneous core¿shell morphology. The core is made of a material with high thermal conductivity, whose dielectric loss coefficient guarantees high microwave energy to heat conversion. This type of morphology has a high potential for use in the ablation of tumors, chemotherapy, drug release, and enhancing nano-catalysis, among other applications. Nonetheless, the effect of orthotropic thermal conductivity has not been extensively studied. The system under analysis is a core surrounded by two shells, which are made of materials whose thermal conductivities vary orthogonally. The thermal model consists of a system of three time-dependent coupled parabolic partial differential equations. Such a model is numerically solved using finite elements, and assuming a thermal conductivity tensor for each layer. A strong effect of this type of anisotropy was observed on temperature profiles compared to traditional isotropic materials. Besides, the symmetric release of its internally generated energy was seriously affected. Selected simulated experimental scenarios are presented.

publication date

  • June 1, 2020