In this thesis, an inverse problem (IP) is formulated to estimate the spatial variation of the thermal contact resistance along an interface in a two-dimensional configuration. Temperatures measured at discrete locations using embedded sensors appropriately placed in proximity to the interface provide the additional information required to solve the inverse problem. A superposition method serves to determine sensitivity coefficients and provides guidance in the location of the measuring points. Temperature measurements are then used to define a regularized quadratic functional that is minimized to yield the contact resistance between the two mating surfaces. A boundary element method analysis (BEM) provides the temperature field under current estimates of the contact resistance in the solution of the inverse problem when the geometry of interest is not regular, while an analytical solution can be used for regular geometries. Minimization of the IP functional is carried out by the Levenberg-Marquadt method or by a Genetic Algorithm depending on the problem under consideration. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)
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