Boundary element method analyses of transient heat conduction in an unbounded solid layer containing inclusions

The boundary element method (BEM) is used to compute the three-dimensional transient heat conduction through an unbounded solid layer that may contain heterogeneities, when a pointwise heat source placed at some point in the media is excited. Analytical solutions for the steady-state response of this solid layer when subjected to a spatially sinusoidal harmonic heat line source are presented when the solid layer has no inclusions. These solutions are incorporated into a BEM formulation as Green's functions to avoid the discretization of flat media interfaces. The solution is obtained in the frequency domain, and time responses are computed by applying inverse (Fast) Fourier Transforms. Complex frequencies are used to prevent the aliasing phenomena. The results provided by the proposed Green's functions and BEM formulation are implemented and compared with those computed by a BEM code that uses the Green's functions for an unbounded media which requires the discretization of all solid interfaces with boundary elements. The proposed BEM model is then used to evaluate the temperature field evolution through an unbounded solid layer that contains cylindrical inclusions with different thermal properties, when illuminated by a plane heat source. In this model zero initial conditions are assumed. Different simulation analyses using this model are then performed to evaluate the importance of the thermal properties of the inclusions on transient heat conduction through the solid layer.