Thermo-Electrical Mathematical Model for Prediction of Ni-Cr Hot-Wire Temperature in Free Air and Inside Small Circular Cavities

摘要

A one-dimensional thermo-electrical mathematical model describing the heating and cooling of thin Ni-Cr20% wires is presented. The model is applied for wires in a free air environment and to wires placed in small circular cavities formed by expanded polystyrene material. The basis of the model is a semicoupled solution of the heat conduction equation and the electrical diffusion equation in a one-dimensional (1-D) control volume finite-difference framework. A study on the available natural convection correlations for thin metal wires for Rayleigh numbers in the range of KTMO1 is carried out in order to select an appropriate heat transfer coefficient for the time-dependent heating and cooling of a wire. The model is tested against experimental data and is found to be in a good agreement with previous investigations. Based on the findings, expressions for the heat transfer coefficient of a hot wire inside a small circular cavity are suggested.