On certain applications of the hyperbolic heat transfer equation and methods for its solution (Q2662933)

The paper follows a pragmatic attitude, being both motivated by current experimental data on intricacies of the heat transfer in realistic studies of switching devices and electric arc processes, and by a number of problems arising in the modeling of substantially nonstationary processes in arcs blown by gas flows. The major goal is to improve the existing (numerically assisted) calculation methods, to increase both their reliability against the experimental data and to increase the efficiency of realistic blast systems for enhancing the heat removal from an electric arc. Technically, the major input comes from the finite heat propagation speed assumption due to Cattaneo and Vernotte, plus A. V. Lykov's argument supporting the modification need of the standard (gradient form) Fourier law by an additional term, responsible for a finite-time approaching towards a local equilibrium. This correction term allows for operating at the level of macroscopic parameters of the medium, when describing the transfer potential processes with some disregard of the underlying molecular physics. On the other hand, it takes into account the discrete structure of the medium. The crucial parameter, named the relaxation time is typically chosen to be a (phenomenologically fitted) constant. The major advance of the present the authors is to replace the constant heat relaxation coefficient \(\tau \) by a function of time \(k = k(t)\) or, possibly \( k = k(t, x)\), where \(k = 0\) sets the parabolicity domain of the second-order mixed (hyperbolic-parabolic) heat transfer operator. The inverse problem is considered as well, of identifying an appropriate \(k = k(t, x)\) from given experimental data. The main body of the paper is devoted to the formulation of finite-difference numerical schemes in two and three space dimensions. Temperature fields for the case of smooth coefficients at various moments of time were numerically evaluated, the stability of the finite-difference schemes was justified as well.