Simultaneous reconstruction of space-dependent heat transfer coefficients and initial temperature (Q2309265)

The problem solver in the paper is a superposition of two others that are both complicated themselves. The first is an inverse problem of the determination of heat transfer coefficients due to a known temperature field and the second is a so-called back heat conduction problem (i.e., the initial data determination for the heat transfer equation). More precisely, based on the known temperature field in the domain \(\Omega\) at moments of time \(t_{1}\) and \(f_{f}>t_{1}\), the authors reconstruct three space-dependent values: the surface heat transfer coefficient (HTC) \(\alpha\), the domain HTC \(q\) and the initial temperature \(\varphi\) (that is the temperature at the moment \(t_{0}<t_{1}\)). Problems of such type arise while designing different technical devices such as a car or aircraft details. The authors prove the uniqueness of the problem's solution using the max-min principle for parabolic equations. The proof scheme gives a three-step algorithm for determining the seeked values: first \(\alpha\), then \(q\) and, finally, \(\varphi\). As a by-product, the space-time distribution of the temperature in the entire domain \(\Omega\) is obtained. As the starting data is noisy, the problem is reformulated in a variational manner. Finally, the problem is reduced to the minimization of a Tikhonov-type integral functional by means of the conjugate gradient method. To examine the accuracy of the algoritm developed, three tests are established for one- and two-dimensional domains. In these tests, the numerical solutions are compared with known analytical ones. For a one-dimensional domain, the case of the discontinuous domain HT is examined, too.