Inverse problem of coupled heat and moisture transport for prediction of moisture distributions in an annular cylinder

This study presents a means of solving the inverse boundary value problem o f coupled heat and moisture transport in an annular cylinder. While knowing the temperature history at any point of the body, the boundary time-varyin g moisture flux can be computed and subsequently the moisture distribution in the body can be determined as well. The surface moisture flux is then de termined to minimize the sum of squares of the deviation between the calcul ated and measured temperatures in the body. The accuracy of the inverse ana lysis is examined by using simulated exact and inexact measurements obtaine d on the surface and in an interior location of the cylinder. Numerical res ults demonstrate that excellent estimations on the moisture distributions c an be obtained for all the test cases considered here. The proposed method is highly promising for designing a moisture sensor for some solids. (C) 19 99 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.