High Temperatures-High Pressures, Vol. 39, pp. 83101 2010 Old City Publishing, Inc.

Reprints available directly from the publisher Published by license under the OCP Science imprint,
Photocopying permitted by license only a member of the Old City Publishing Group

Study of the concept of thermal

contact resistance

Mohamed B. H. Sassi*,1 Celso R. B. Filho2

Zaqueu E. DA Silva3, Carlos A. C. Dos
Santos3, Jose P. A. Junior3
1
INSAT, Departement de Physique et Instrumentations,
Universit 7 Novembre Carthage, Tunisia
2
Universidade Federal de Campina Grande, Bodocongo,
Departamento de Engenharia Mecnica,
Campina Grande PB, Brazil
3
Universidade Federal da Paraiba, Departamento de Engenharia
Mecnica, Cidade Universitria, Joo Pessoa PB, Brazil

Received: December 4, 2008. Accepted: August 4, 2009.

In this paper theoretical and experimental analysis are investigated to

study the concept of thermal resistance of two contacting solids. We begin
our study with a comparison between electric and thermal diffusion phe-
nomena in solids. The goal throughout this comparison is to understand if
the concept of a const thermal resistance with zero capacitance consider-
ation is available or not in periodic regimes. The experimental apparatus
consists of two metallic blocks closed together, one is heated with a sinu-
soidal electric power and the other is cooled with water. Then the resis-
tance is estimated using transient temperatures measurements with add
of theoretical model.
Keywords: Thermal contact resistance, transient regime, heat transfer.

1 INTRODUCTION

Heat transfer across a solid-solid contact appears quite often in many inter-
esting engineering situations and have a main role in there process success.

*Corresponding author: mohsassi@yahoo.fr

83

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 84 M. B. H. Sassi et al.

For example, the dynamic characterization of electronic packages shows

that heat dissipation is the most critical problem that limits the performance,
power, reliability and further miniaturization of microelectronics [1]. In
casting the solidification rate is mainly controlled by the heat flow extracted
through the contact of the solidified material and the mould. The single roll
planar-flow melt-spinning process used to produce thin metallic ribbons or
foils with microcrystalline or amorphous structures is successful if all the
solidification having taken place during contact with a wheel considered as
the heat sink [2]. It is well known that in steady-state conduction within and
outside solids, or between two contacting solids, the heat transfer can be
handled by means of thermal resistance. In literature, many authors use the
concept of thermal resistance in transient regime and many others look to the
sensible heat as similar as an electric capacity one. These considerations are
found in several works, manly that used the notion of thermal impedance
[1,3,4]. In this paper, our analysis is focused on the heat transfer through a
heat flux tube covering two contacting solids. One limit boundary is a heat
source that varies periodically and the second is a const sink. At the contact
surface, the thermal resistance is defined as the ratio of the jump of tempera-
ture across the contact surface to the heat conduction flux crossing it. The
purpose is to find the constraint that makes this definition available as in
steady-regime.
Since 19th century mathematicians and physicians are interested by
developing a similitude between electromagnetism phenomena and fluid
mechanics one [5,6,7,8]. The reason is to understand the physical sense of
the potentials on witch the Maxwells equations are based and to understand
many physical points that are evident in one area and not in the other. In the
first section a brief introduction to electromagnetism is given in order
to make a similitude between electric and thermal diffusion phenomena
in solids and eventually to understand the limit of using the thermal resis-
tance one.

2SIMILITUDE BETWEEN ELECTRIC AND HEAT

CONDUCTION PHENOMENA

Surfaces are never perfectly flat and the interface at the contact comprises
point contacts and asperities (see figure 1). In practice many materials can be
added to full the asperities in order to make better contact. Note too that the
geometries of the contact details can vary in time under different physical and
chemical factors. The impact of pressure and thermo-elasticity on the contact
zone between two solids is widely studied in literature and can be found in
[9,10,11,12,13,14]. In our study we make the assumption of local thermody-
namic, equilibrium, so that two microscopic points in contact together at the
interface should have the same temperature.

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 Study of the concept of thermal contact resistance 85

FIGURE 1
(a) macroscopic details of contact and (b) microscopic details ones.

2.1 General theory and physical similitude

We beguine by considering
the well-known Maxwells equations governing
the electric field E and the magnetic one B :

B
E + =0 (1)
t

1 E
B - =J (2)
t

.E = (3)


.B = 0 (4)

Where is the curl operator, (, J ) are respectively the density of charge
and the current vector. and are respectively the electric permittivity and
permeability of the medium.
The electric and the magnetic filed ( E , B) are determined since the distri-
bution of charge and current (, J ) are given. The equation of charge conser-
vation can be easily derived from the above system:

+ .J = 0 (5)
t
The general form of the electric and magnetic field respecting Maxwell equa-

tions consists of the use of a potential scalar and vector (V , A) as follows:

B = A (6)


A
E = - -V (7)
t

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 86 M. B. H. Sassi et al.

These potentials are not unique but they are additive ones:

A = A0 + (8)

V = V0 - (9)
t
In addition they are chosen with respect of the constraint called Lorentz
gauge:

1 V
. A + 2 . =0 (10)
c t

Now, to make a similitude between heat conduction and electric phenomena,

we consider the Fourier law:

q = .T (11)

q is the density of heat flux, is the conductivity of the medium and T is the
temperature. This low means that the heat conduction flux (vector) derives
from the scalar potential temperature T. Thus, from the Maxwell equations,
the only way that we have found to make the similitude between electromag-
netism and heat conduction if it exits is:

qE (12)

T V (13)

When the energy balance is set, the heat conduction equation is obtained:
T
.q = T = c (14)
t
While the divergence of the electric field hasnt the same form:

.E = - . A + V = (15)
t 0 r
When the two last equations are compared, the conclusion is that in general
cases the above similitude is still not correct. In periodic regime of a period

of the electric sources (, J ) , the averaged potentials values over the electric
resource area can be estimated from the Lorentz gauge:

. A A
l 1
1 V V 2 (16)
. c
c 2 t

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 Study of the concept of thermal contact resistance 87

or
A l
2 (17)

V c
1
Where l is the mean space dimension of the studied electric devise, c =
is the velocity of the electromagnetic wave in the studied medium.
So that, one can compeer the two terms constituting the electric field
within the conductor:

A
t
Al
2
l (18)


V V c

l
When electro-magnetic waves are considered under condition e = << 1
l c.
or in term of the time retardation p = << , it is called to be in quasi-
c
stationary approximation regime (QSAR). One can guess the largest domain
of frequency at witch the (QSAR) is valid (for ordinary electric apparatuses

l~1m and f~1GHz). In this assumption of QSAR the potentials (V , A)
respect the same equations as in steady regime:

1 (S , t )
V (M, t) = dV (19)
4 D SM

J (S , t )
A(M, t) =
4 D SM
dV (20)

Where SM is the distance between source and field point. The magnetic

field is B = A andwe have .J = 0 as in steady regime. But, the electric
A
field respects E = - -V that is still not similar to the Fouriers Low.
t

2.1.1 Propagation within a homogeneous linear isotropic medium

It is obvious that for vacuum we have no charge so that =0. For conductor,
when Ohm low, Maxwell-Gauss equation and the charge conservation one
are used, we obtain:
t
= 0 .exp - (21)
d

Where d = is a relaxation time. For a good conductor as copper we have

the theoretical value d=1.6 10-19s<<c, but in practice and at ambient

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 88 M. B. H. Sassi et al.

temperature its 4.10-14s. For a bad conductor like the water of the sea: 0.23
m/s and r=81, we found d=1.7 10-10s. The volume density of charges
decreases exponentially and it can be taken zero with a good approximation
when d<<.
In the case of an electric conductor, the local Ohm law is:

J = E (22)
According to the Drde model describing the movement of electrons in a
conductor, this law is available under condition c<<. c is the relaxation
time (time of collision) given by:
m
c = (23)
nq 2
Where, m and q are respectively the electron masse and charge. For example
for cupper we have c10-14s.
In the case of a linear isotropic conductor and in the QSAR assumption
we have:

E
t = 0 << 1 (24)
E .

So that the electric field and the magnetic field intensity
respect the diffusion equation:
(E, H = B )

E
E - =0 (25)
t
In vacuum, we have =0, so that they respect the wave equation:

2 E
E - 0 0 2 = 0 (26)
t
For the transient diffusion of electric field in one dimensional conductor
system, one can set the analogies between T and E or T and B. But we dont
found any electric variable that is similar to the heat flux, so it rests only
mathematical comparison. Unless, inthe assumption of negligible induction
A
phenomena within the conductor 0 . This corresponds for a periodic
t
regime and in complex notation to j A = 0 . Obviously the general case
that respects the last assumption is the steady regime =0. In such a case

the physical similitude presented above (T , q ) (V , E ) is mathematically
convenient and valid for steady regimes. Otherwise, the assumption of neg-
ligible induction within the conductor medium leads to that the only electric
and thermal parameters to be in similitude are resistances. The thermal one

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 Study of the concept of thermal contact resistance 89

is calculated in terms of the thermal conductivity and a shape factor S as

S
R = . The magnitudes of electric fields and current decrease exponen-

tially with the penetration into a conductor. Let e be the depth of penetration
1
(or skin depth) e = . In steady regime f0 and the skin depth is
f
infinitely large compared to the mean large of the domain e>>. When
frequency increases, the repartition of the current within the conductor will

change significantly compared to a steady regime at the limit e 1 . This
1
limit corresponds to the electric frequency f0 2 . Therefore, below

this frequency one can take the value of the resistance as in steady regime
with a good approximation. Thus, the concept of a const electric resistance
is valid in transient regime under conditions p<<, d<<, c<< and
1
for frequencies f < f0 2 . One can calculate the circulation of the

electric vector a long the flux tube and found the expression of the electric

Jdl dl S
resistance with same way as the thermal one R = = .
A
JdA
Note that the internal impedance can be neglected for very low frequencies
f<<f0.
It is important to note that since we have .J = 0 in the (QSAR) and
when a flux tube is considered in a conductor, the inlet current I is equal to
the outlet one in transient regime. But in thermal transient conduction regime
we can not deal with only one heat flux in the inlet side and the outlet one,
this because of the sensible heat dissipation inside the flux tube
T

q1 - q2 = c
V
t
dV . Only in permanent regime we have .q = 0. So that

q1=q2=q and one can define the concept of the thermal resistance at a flux
tube t=Rc.q.

2.1.2 Propagation through a composite medium

We consider now the case of two contacting solids. Accounting heat con-
duction flow from the heat source at the boundary of the first to the sink
boundary of the second, this composite medium is composed of three ther-
mal zones the two solids and the macro-constriction one at the contact.
To make a similitude with the electric phenomena, as it is seen in the
above section, the circuit mustnt include inductance elements, only resis-
tances and capacitive elements should be used. However, the Kirchhoffs
current and voltage lows are available in the QSAR assumption, so that the
N
algebraic sum of currents flowing out of a junction is zero I (t ) = 0 .
n =1
n

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 90 M. B. H. Sassi et al.

Considering only one branch containing one ideal capacitor related to

ground, we get:

V
I (t ) = C t
n (27)

When integrating the heat equation over a sample of the composite medium,
we obtain a result that is in an apparent analogy with the above one:
T
q n = c
t
dV (28)
V

It has the form used in numerous engineering to solve transient conduction

problems. When extending the volume to zero, the capacitance term of the
T
above equation tends to c dV and its not null as generally considered at
t
the interface of two contacting solids. In the previous section, we shall study
the limit of this assumption in periodic regime.

3 APPARATUS AND HEAT CONDUCTION MODEL

3.1 Derivation of equations

In the above section the electric resistance was been found a function of elec-
trical properties of the medium, the geometry of the sample and the used
electric frequency. In the case of using a frequency that permits to neglect the
skin effect, the resistance per unit length can be taken as the one of steady
regime. In this section we are concerned to verify if this remark is available
or not for the concept of contact thermal resistance when considering zero
capacitance at the interface. The experimental analysis was conducted using
an apparatus that belongs to the CETHIL of INSAT de Lyon. The experimen-
tal measurements are made under the direction of Pr. M. Raynaud and M.
Laurent. It consists of making two cylindrical slaps one closer to the other,
see figure 2. The first is heated at one surface with electrical resistance deliv-
ering a sinusoidal power Pe:
Vm2
Pe =
2 Re
(1 + cos (2t )) (29)

Where Re is the electric resistance, Vm is the electric tension and is the

electric pulsation. In practice we have used an averaged electric power
Vm2
= 141 Watt . Vacuum is assured by a pump and the pressure between the
2 Re
two samples too. The temperature T at the back surface of the second sam-
ple is imposed by circulation of water with a great flow rate. It has the same

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 Study of the concept of thermal contact resistance 91

FIGURE 2
Samples used to thermal resistance determination.

value then the initial one of both samples. Thermocouples type K at different
position along them are implanted to measure transient temperature needed
for the resistance estimation. An electronic cart AIM7 is used for the acquisi-
tion. It has a resolution of 1.5V/C.
This study considers one-dimensional heat conduction with zero thermal
capacitance at the contact interface. The mathematical model using the vari-
able i (x,t)=Ti (x,t)-T is:
2i 1 i
= i = 1, 2 (30)
x2 a t

1 (0, t )
1 (0, t ) - 2 (0, t ) = -R (31)
x

1 (0, t ) 2 (0, t )
= (32)
x x

1 (-L1 , t )
(1 - F ) 1 (-L1 , t ) - F = .(1 + cos t ) (33)
x

2 ( L2 , t ) = 0 (34)

1 ( x, 0) = 0 (35)

2 ( x, 0) = 0 (36)

Where = (1 - F )T0 + F0

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 92 M. B. H. Sassi et al.

The coefficient F is introduced to avoid the uncertainty of imposing tem-

perature or flux with the electric resistance. However it will be seen that the
resistance can be obtained independently of this parameter. The solution of
qi(x,t) is composed of three terms: permanent (qp), transient (qt) (related to the
initial condition) and a sinusoidal one (qs) as follows:

i ( x, t ) = pi ( x ) + ti ( x, t ) + si ( x, t ) (37)

In an established regime that corresponds to a great Fourier number

at
( F0 = 2 >> 1) the transient one is settled equal to zero qt=0 and the final
L
temperature expression is qi(x,t)=qpi(x)+qsi (x,t). The permanent tempera-

tures pi respects equations 30, 31, 32, 33 and 34 with setting = 0 and cos
t
wt=0. It is easy to see that these temperatures are in the form qpi(x)=Aix+Bi.
The constants Ai and Bi are given by:

-
A1 = A2 = (38)
[(1 - F )L1 + F] + (1 - F ) R + L2

.[ R + L2 ]
B1 = (39)
[(1 - F )L1 + F] + (1 - F ) R + L2

.L2
B2 = (40)
[(1 - F )L1 + F] + (1 - F ) R + L2

Let xr be a position of one reference sensor implanted in the first sample and
x the position of a second one. Introducing the temperature ratio at these posi-
p1 ( x ) p 2 ( x)
tions: Fa1 = if x belongs to the first sample or Fa 2 = if
p1 ( xr ) p1 ( xr )
x belongs to the second one. Utilizing equations 38, 39 and 40, then we
obtain the thermal resistance in terms of the measured temperature ratio as
follows:

1 x - L2
R = - L2 - xr + (41)
Fa 2

1 1
R = - L2 + ( xr Fa1 - x) (42)
1 - Fa1
The sinusoidal temperature qs is determined by considering the complex
temperature Wi(x,t)=qsi(x,t)+j.Ui(x,t). Where j = -1 and W respects:

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 Study of the concept of thermal contact resistance 93

2Wi 1 Wi
2 = i = 1, 2
x a t
W1 (-L1 , t )
(1 - F )W1 (-L1 , t ) - F = .e jt
x
W1 (0, t )
W1 (0, t ) - W2 (0, t ) = -R (43)
x
W (0, t ) W (0, t )
1 = 2
x x
W ( L , t ) = 0
2 2

The solution of the above system is in the form Wi(x,t)=Zi(x).e j. The result
of substituting in 43 is:

2
Z1 ( x ) = . ( MR cosh ( ML2 ) cosh ( Mx ) - sinh M ( x - L2 ) ) (44)
D
2
Z 2 ( x) = - .sinh M ( x - L2 ) (45)
D
j
Where M 2 = and D is a complex number independent of x and time:
a
D = (1 - F) {MR {cosh [M 02 ] + cosh [M 01 ]} + 2 sinh [ M 01 ]}
(46)
- F M {MR {sinh [ M 02 ]- sinh [M 01 ] } - 2 cosh [M 01 ] }

Where 01=L2+L1 and 02=L2-L1. When D is written in its equivalent

form D=D0e-j0, we have:

2 2
Zi ( x) = ( fiR ( x ) + j fiI ( x )) = Mi ( x ) e- j(i ( x)-0 ) (47)
D D0

Where:

Mi ( x) = fiR2 + fiI2 (48)

f
i ( x ) = arctg iI (49)
fiR

The sinusoidal temperature is the real part of the complex W one:

2
si ( x, t ) = Re [Wsi ( x, t ) ] = Mi ( x ) cos t - (i ( x ) - 0 ) (50)
D0

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 94 M. B. H. Sassi et al.

The Analytic expression of the amplitude M and the phase one are deter-
mined as functions of the position x and the resistance R. Using

M= (1 + j ) , the different values of the above variables f are derived
2a
1
for both solids in terms of the thermal penetration depth m = = as
follows: 2 a t

f1R (x) = 2 mR {cos [ m1 ] cosh [ m1 ]- sin [ m1 ]sinh [ m1 ] +

cos [ m2 ] cosh [ m2 ]- sin [ m2 ]sinh [ m2 ]} + 4 cos [ m2 ]sinh [ m2 ] (51)
= ( x ). R + b ( x )

f1I ( x ) = 2 mR {sin [ m1 ]sinh [ m1 ] + cos [ m1 ] cosh [ m1 ] +

sin [ m2 ]sinh [ m2 ] + cos [ m2 ] cosh [ m2 ]} + 4 sin [ m2 ] cosh [ m2 ] (52)
= ( x ). R + ( x )

Where 1=L2+x and 2=L2-x. For the second sample we have

f2R(x)=b(x) and f2I(x)=t(x).
The amplitude ratio between two sensor positions xr and x is:
1
Mi ( x) ( f ( x ))2 + ( fiI ( x ))2 2
Fai ( x ) = = iR (53)
M ( xr ) ( f1R ( xr ))2 + ( f1I ( xr ))2

And their phase differences are given by:

f (x ) f ( x)
Fi ( x ) = ( xr ) - i ( x ) = arctg 1I r - arctg iI
f (x ) f ( x) (54)
1R r iR
Note that Fai(x) and Fi (x) are independent of the factor F. Thus one can
determine the thermal resistance with two ways, Ra using the ratio of ampli-
tudes of two measured temperatures and R using the difference of there
phases.
For a position x, the permanent temperature is obtained from the tempera-
ture measurements as follows:

1
0
pi ( x ) = i ( x, t )dt (55)

2
Where = is the temporal period. So the sinusoidal temperature is

deduced from the measured temperature by elimination of the permanent
one:

1
0
si ( x ) = i ( x, t ) - i ( x, t )dt (56)

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 Study of the concept of thermal contact resistance 95

Since the sinusoidal temperature is calculated, then the amplitude is deter-

mined using:

2
0
Mi2 ( x ) = si2 ( x, t )dt (57)

Then the phase is easily concluded and finally Fai(x) and Fi(x) are calcu-
lated.

3.2 Expression for Arbitrary Frequency of the Thermal Resistance

According to the results above, the thermal resistance can be determined
using the follows equations:

Expression of R as a function of the amplitude ratio, x belongs to the cylin-

der 1

( 2 + 2 ) - ( 2 + 2 ) F 2 R 2 + 2 (b + ) - ( b + ) F 2 R
r r a1 r r r r a1
(58)
+ (b + ) - (br + r ) Fa1 = 0
2 2 2 2 2

tg( x ) - tg( y)
Using the mathematical identity tg( x - y) = , the Expres-
1 + tg( x ).tg( y)
sion of R as a function of phase difference, x belongs to the cylinder 1:

(r - r ) - (r + r ) tg(-F1 ) R 2 + (br + r - r - b r ) -

(br + br + r + r ) tg(-F1 ) R + (59)
(br - b r ) - (bbr + r ) tg(-F1 ) = 0

Expression of R as a function of the amplitude ratio, x belongs to the cylin-
der 2
( 2 + 2 ) F 2 R 2 + 2 ( b + ) F 2 R
r r a 2 r r r r a 2
(60)
+ (br + r ) Fa 2 - (b + ) = 0
2 2 2 2 2

Expression of R as a function of phase difference, x belongs to the cylin-

der 2
(r - b r ) - (br + r ) tg(-F 2 ) R + (br - b r ) -
(61)
(bbr + r ) tg(-F 2 ) = 0
3.3 Low-Frequency expression of the thermal resistance
L
Let L denotes 1 or 2, when using low frequency such as mL = << 1 ,
2a t
in another word << 2 , we have:
L

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 96 M. B. H. Sassi et al.

f1R (x) f1I (x) 4 m ( R - (x - L2 )) (62)

f 2 R ( x ) f 2 I ( x ) 4 m ( L2 - x ) (63)

F1 ( x ) = F 2 ( x ) = 0 (64)

In such a case the thermal resistance respects the same formula as in station-
ary regime:

1 x - L2
R = - L2 - xr + (65)
Fa 2 ( x)

1 1
R = - L2 + ( xr Fa1 ( x ) - x ) (66)
1 - Fa1 ( x )

3.4 High-Frequency expressions of the thermal resistance

1 2a
At first we introduce the thermal-wave resistance Rt = t = that is a

characteristic of the heat wave frequency and the thermal properties of the
1.576 10-5
medium. For cupper we have Rt ( f ) = [m2K/W]. For high fre-
f
L 2a
quency such as mL = >> 1 , in another word >> 2 , two interesting
t L
2
cases can be considered. The first corresponds to R >> = 2 Rt , in such a
case we have: m

( x - xr )
-
(67)
Fa1 ( x ) = e t

( x - xr )
2 . Rt - (68)
Fa 2 ( x ) = e t

R
2
The second corresponds to R << = 2 Rt , in such a case we have:
m
( x - xr )
-
Fa1 ( x ) = Fa 2 ( x ) = e t (69)

It is important to note that for high frequencies the thermal resistance doesnt
respect the formula of stationary regime. From the forgoing results and at
the range of high frequencies, Fa1 is independent of the thermal resistance
to be estimated. So, it is recommended to use two sensors one in each sam-
ple. Otherwise, the estimation is not viable for high frequencies when the

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 Study of the concept of thermal contact resistance 97

thermal resistance is little compared to the thermal-wave one. At the range

of low frequencies, the estimation of the thermal resistance is delicate
when using the difference of phases because they vanish to zero at this
range. The sensitivity coefficient of the ratio of amplitudes to the thermal
resistance is:

x - xr
F 2 Rt - t
R a2 = e (70)
R R

It means that the positions of the reference sensor and the one in the second
sample should be as near as possible to the contact interface. However, for
practical reasons and precision they can not be in the macro-constriction
zone. This coefficient shows that the error made to calculate the thermal
resistance increase exponentially with the relative distance between the sen-
sors to the contact interface.
The measurements are made using many cupper samples and having
different smoothed surfaces. Their lengths and roughness are given in
table 1.
The figures 3, 4, 5 and 6 present the Thermal resistance of two samples
under different pressure. From this figures, it is easy to see that using high
pressures permit to reduce the thermal contact resistance. The obtained ther-
mal resistances are minimal for the samples having the minimum of RMS
surface roughness. The estimated resistance Ra and R are different and fre-
quency dependent. The difference between Ra and R increases when the
frequency increases and it attains 40% at high frequencies. Both of them
are decreasing with a regular manner when the frequency is increased. For
the different samples, Ra is approximately constant for low frequencies
f<0.02Hz. That is in accordance with the mathematical analysis presented
above. The figure 7 presents the evolution of Ra with time for the third sam-
ple, during this experience the frequency is varied and it is found that the
thermal resistance is function of the used frequency and it depends too of the
transient temperature history in the sample. These remarks confirm that we
can not consider zero capacitance at the interface in transient regime and the
concept of a const thermal resistance can be sufficient only when using low
frequencies.

TABLE 1
Roughness of the different samples.

Sam L1(mm) L2(mm) xr(mm) x(mm) 1(m) 2(m) (m)

1 9.49 90.00 -2.50 2.72 2.827 3.410 4.429
2 11.80 85.20 -3.85 3.71 0.977 0.871 1.309
3 49.10 49.22 -5.11 5.98 14.58 0.0139 14.58

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 98 M. B. H. Sassi et al.

FIGURE 3
Thermal resistance (sample 1), P=2.21 MPa.

FIGURE 4
Thermal resistance (sample 1), P=5.79 MPa.

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 Study of the concept of thermal contact resistance 99

FIGURE 5
Thermal resistance (sample 2), P=2.12 MPa.

FIGURE 6
Thermal resistance (sample 2), P=5.80 MPa.

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 100 M. B. H. Sassi et al.

FIGURE 7
Thermal resistance (sample 3), P=2.12 MPa.

4 CONCLUSION

The physical-mathematical similitude between electric phenomena and heat

conduction one within homogenous conductor is correct in steady regime or
in periodic regime when neglecting induction phenomena. In transient regime
accounting composite mediums such as the case of two contacting solids, the
similitude is possible using resistances and capacitors elements. From the
mathematical model presented above and the practical measurements, the
zero capacitance assumption at the contact interface is available only for low
frequencies. One important point is that in transient regime, the heat conduc-
tion fluxes at the contact depends of the temperature fields in both solids and
obviously of the boundaries conditions of them. So that they can not be set
equals as we do in the thermal transfer models across a solid-solid contact in
general. Finally, our analysis is applicable to a contact fluid-solid and the
convective coefficient used in the Newtons law can be available only for heat
transfer regimes having low frequencies.

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 Study of the concept of thermal contact resistance 101

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