Finite element methods for the temperature in composite media with contact resistance (Q2353359)

The thermal contact resistance phenomenon in a heat diffusion problem inside a composite medium is described. A finite element discretization approach of the problem governing the medium's temperature is considered; first, a variational formulation of the problem is proposed and its well-posedness is proved, then two finite element discretizations are analyzed in this context. Numerical experiments support the theoretical aspects of the paper.