Thermal modelling is a crucial tool used in various engineering disciplines to analyse and predict the temperature distribution and heat transfer within a system. Optimizing a buildings energy efficiency provides valuable insights and helps engineers make informed decisions.

What is Thermal Modelling?
At its core, thermal modelling involves creating a mathematical representation of a physical system, incorporating its thermal properties, boundary conditions, and heat sources. This model is then used to simulate the system’s behavior under different conditions, allowing engineers to:

Predict temperature distributions: Understanding how temperature varies within a system is crucial for ensuring safe operation and avoiding thermal failures.
Analyse heat transfer mechanisms: Thermal modelling helps identify the dominant modes of heat transfer (conduction, convection, radiation) and their impact on the system.
Optimize design parameters: By simulating different design variations, engineers can identify the optimal configuration for maximizing efficiency, minimizing heat dissipation, or achieving desired temperature profiles.
Evaluate performance under extreme conditions: Thermal modelling allows engineers to understand how a system will behave in extreme environments, such as high temperatures or rapid temperature changes.

Key Components of Thermal Modelling:
Geometry: Defining the physical shape and dimensions of the system being modelled.
Material properties: Specifying the thermal conductivity, specific heat capacity, and density of the materials involved.
Boundary conditions: Describing the heat exchange between the system and its surroundings, including convection, radiation, and contact resistances.
Heat sources: Defining the sources of heat within the system, such as internal heat generation or external heat fluxes.
Solver: A numerical algorithm used to solve the mathematical equations describing the heat transfer process.