Transient Thermal Network Modeling Applied to Multiscale Systems. Part I: Definition and Validation

This paper formulates the methodology of transient thermal network modeling (TTNM) for the study of unsteady heat transfer in systems where the presence of multiple length and time scales prevents the analysis by means of current computational or experimental techniques. The TTNM is based on reduced order models (ROMs) and it is established under the essential premise that a transient heat transfer process can be modeled by its division in a succession of stationary states and the division of the geometry in isothermal elements, according to the characteristic time and length scales obtained by scale analysis. The methodology is subsequently validated with canonical examples and considerations are given for the application to practical problems.