Transient heat conduction in a plate with variable thermal conductivity and non-linear boundary conditions by network simulation method

The thermal response of a plate is predicted using an analysis based on the network simulation method. One side of the plate is exposed to a time-depe ndent radiative heat flux on the surface, simulating solar incident radiati on flux, and polynomial temperature dependent thermal conductivity is assum ed. A general network model is proposed for this process, whatever the poly nomial degree and including initial and boundary conditions. With this netw ork model and using the electrical circuit simulation program, PSPICE, time -dependent temperature and heat flow profiles can be obtained at any locati on.