Thermal emission characteristics of a graded index semitransparent medium

This paper develops a numerical model for thermal radiative transfer in a two-dimensional semitransparent graded index medium. A piecewise continuous refractive index model, the linear refractive index bar model, is presented. This model is established based on three hypotheses, and has a higher precision than the bar model used previously. This paper also studies the thermal emission from a two-dimensional graded index medium, which is scattering or non-scattering. We find that it can present an obvious pattern of directional distribution at times. The refractive index distribution and absorption coefficient are the two main influential factors. This finding differs from the common belief that thermal sources, such as the incandescent filament of a light bulb, emit a quasi-isotropic light. The finding also suggests that there maybe other important applications of artificial GRIN materials.     

Radiative intensity solution and thermal emission analysis of a semitransparent medium layer with a sinusoidal refractive index

The radiative intensity in a sinusoidal refractive index semitransparent medium layer is solved by the curved ray-tracing method in combination with the pseudo-source adding method. One boundary of the medium layer is an opaque diffuse substrate wall. The other boundary is a semitransparent specular or diffuse surface, from which the medium thermal emission emerges. With considering a linear temperature distribution, the radiative intensity formulae are, respectively, deduced under the two boundary conditions. On the basis of the radiative intensity solutions, the directional and hemispherical emission of the medium layer with a specular surface as well as the hemispherical emission of that with a diffuse surface are calculated. The influences of the optical thickness, sinusoidal refractive index distribution and linear temperature distribution on the thermal emission are investigated. The results show that the effects of refractive index and temperature distribution are significant and are different under the two reflecting modes of the surface.     

Finite element method for modeling radiative transfer in semitransparent graded index cylindrical medium

Both Galerkin finite element method (GFEM) and least squares finite element method (LSFEM) are developed and their performances are compared for solving the radiative transfer equation of graded index medium in cylindrical coordinate system (RTEGC). The angular redistribution term of the RTEGC is discretized by finite difference approach and after angular discretization the RTEGC is formulated into a discrete-ordinates form, which is then discretized based on Galerkin or least squares finite element approach. To overcome the RTEGC-led numerical singularity at the origin of cylindrical coordinate system, a pole condition is proposed as a special mathematical boundary condition. Compared with the GFEM, the LSFEM has very good numerical properties and can effectively mitigate the nonphysical oscillation appeared in the GFEM solutions. Various problems of both axisymmetry and nonaxisymmetry, and with medium of uniform refractive index distribution or graded refractive index distribution are tested. The results show that both the finite element approaches have good accuracy to predict the radiative heat transfer in semitransparent graded index cylindrical medium, while the LSFEM has better numerical stability.     

Discontinuous finite element method for radiative heat transfer in semitransparent graded index medium

To avoid the complicated and time-consuming computation of curved ray trajectories, a discontinuous finite element method based on discrete ordinate equation is extended to solve the radiative transfer problem in a multi-dimensional semitransparent graded index medium. Two cases of radiative heat transfer in two-dimensional rectangular gray semitransparent graded index medium enclosed by opaque boundary are examined to verify this discontinuous finite element method. Special layered and radial graded index distributions are considered. The predicted dimensionless net radiative heat fluxes and dimensionless temperature distributions are determined by the discontinuous finite element method and compared with the results obtained by the curved Monte Carlo method in references. The results show that the discontinuous finite element method has a good accuracy in solving the multi-dimensional radiative transfer problem in a semitransparent graded index medium.     

A one-phase Stefan problem in a layer of semitransparent medium

A numerical investigation of a one-phase Stefan problem with various boundary conditions in a layer of semitransparent medium is conducted. The significant influence of the optical properties of the medium and the illuminated surface on the generation of temperature fields and radiation flow densities has been demonstrated. Superheating of the specimen near the illuminated surface at the instant of the phase transition has been recorded. The article was translated by L. Vertgeim.     

Discrete transfer method applied to radiative transfer in a variable refractive index semitransparent medium

Application of the discrete transfer method (DTM) has been extended to the analysis of radiative heat transfer in a variable refractive index participating medium. To validate the DTM formulation, radiative heat transfer in an absorbing, emitting and isotropically scattering planar medium was considered. The participating medium was assumed to be in radiative equilibrium. For both constant and variable refractive indices of the medium, the DTM results were compared with those available in the literature. The DTM was found to provide accurate results.     

Thermal annealing effects on a compositionally graded SiGe layer fabricated by oxidizing a strained SiGe layer

Thermal annealing effects on a thin compositionally graded SiGe buffer layer on silicon substrate fabricated by oxidizing a strained SiGe layer are investigated with X-ray diffraction, ultraviolet Raman spectra and atomic force microscopy. Interestingly, we found that the surface roughness and the threading dislocation densities are kept low during the whole annealing processes, while the Ge concentration at the oxidizing interface decreases exponentially with annealing time and the strain in the layer is only relaxed about 66% even at 1000 °C for 180 min. We realized that the strain relaxation of such a compositionally graded SiGe buffer layer is dominated by Si-Ge intermixing, rather than generation and propagation of misfit dislocations or surface undulation.     

Thermal analysis for transient radiative cooling of a conducting semitransparent layer of ceramic in high-temperature applications

A method is developed for obtaining transient temperature distribution in a cooling semitransparent layer of ceramic. The layer is emitting, absorbing, isotropically scattering and heat conducting with a refractive index ranging from 1 to 2. The solution involves solving simultaneously the energy equation and the integral equation for the radiative flux gradient. The energy equation is solved using an implicit finite volume scheme and the integral equation of radiative heat transfer is solved using the singularity technique and Gaussian integration. The effects of scattering are investigated. It is shown that scattering has a significant effect on the transient temperature distribution and the transient mean temperature of the layer.     

Internal distribution of radiation absorption in a semitransparent spherical particle

The internal distribution of spectral radiation absorption in a semitransparent spherical particle irradiated uniformly and isotropically is determined by the ray tracing method, and the detailed computation formulae for the internal spectral radiation absorption are deduced. The computed results show that the peak of internal volumetric spectral radiation absorption may locate at the interior shell of the particle. The dimensionless volumetric spectral radiation absorption is higher near the center for weakly absorbing or small spheres, but the dimensionless volumetric spectral radiation absorption is higher near the surface for strongly absorbing or large spheres. The corresponding physical interpretations of the internal spectral absorption distribution are given.     

Thermal radiation of axisymmetric semitransparent systems

The properties of thermal radiation of the axisymmetric systems formed by an absorbing medium are analysed. Analysis of absorption and propagation abilities of the systems with an impermeable boundary on the basis of integral radiation equations is suggested together with absorption, transmission, and reflection abilities of the systems with a boundary permeable for radiation. The work was financially supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (Grant No. 08-08-00587-a).     

Temperature field of radiative equilibrium in a two-dimensional graded index medium with gray boundaries

In this paper, a numerical method is presented for the study of the radiative transfer in a two-dimensional graded index semitransparent medium with diffuse gray boundaries. The numerical method is a combination of the linear refractive index bar model, the discrete curved ray-tracing technique and the pseudo source adding method (LRIB-CRTP). In the traditional ray-tracing technique, it is difficult to deal with the diffuse gray boundary while solving the radiative transfer. Using the pseudo source adding method, the diffuse gray boundary of the medium can be treated as a black boundary. We have also studied the radiative equilibrium temperature field of the medium and analyzed the influence of some parameters involved. The results show that the directional discrete number is important for the medium having a large absorption coefficient. The results also show that the refractive index distribution greatly influences the temperature field, whereas the linear absorption coefficient distribution has little influence on the temperature field.     

Solidification of a semitransparent planar layer subjected to radiative and convective cooling

This work deals with the analysis of solidification of a semi-transparent planar layer subjected to radiative and convective cooling. Isothermal mushy-zone model is considered. Enthalpy formulation of the energy equation is solved using the lattice Boltzmann method. To compare the results, the same equation is also solved using the fully implicit finite volume method. Discrete ordinate method is used to compute the radiative information in both the approaches. Effects of radiative properties such as the extinction coefficient, the scattering albedo and refractive index on the solid fraction and temperature are analyzed. Results are validated with those available in the literature. Lattice Boltzmann method and the discrete ordinate method were found to work satisfactorily.     

Pulsed nonlinear surface wavesand soliton emission at nonlinear graded index waveguides

Pulsed beam propagation at nonlinear ion-exchange waveguides has been analysed. Critical values of input power and film thickness to obtain emission and excitation of nonlinear surface pulses have been calculated by means of a variational approach in the dispersionless approximation. The analytical expressions obtained can be used as a qualitative guide for deeper computational exploration of the propagation problem and show a good agreement with the numerical simulations presented.     

Transient coupled radiative and conductive heat transfer in a semitransparent layer of ceramic

This work considers transient radiative and conductive heat transfer in a semitransparent layer of ceramic, submitted to several thermal and radiative boundary conditions. Each side of the layer is exposed to hot or cold radiative surroundings, while each boundary is heated or cooled by convection. The solution procedure must provide accurate temperature distribution in the layer, so a nodal analysis based on Hottel's zonal method extended by ray tracing method is carried out. A finite difference method with non-uniform space and time increments is used to solve the transient energy equation, including a radiative heat source, coupled to a equation of radiative transfer. Variable spacing was used to concentrate grid points in regions with large temperature gradients. The influence of refractive index, optical thicknesses and conduction-radiation parameters is investigated.     

To analysis of heating and melting processes in a layer of semitransparent material

Model interpretation of heating and melting processes is analyzed in application to the onephase statement of Stefan problem in a flat layer of semitransparent material heated from one side, and melted by the radiation-convective method.     

Radiative transfer equation for graded index medium in cylindrical and spherical coordinate systems

In graded index medium, the ray goes along a curved path determined by Fermat principle, and the curved ray-tracing is very difficult and complex. To avoid the complicated and time-consuming computation of curved ray trajectory, the methods not based on ray-tracing technique need to be developed for the solution of radiative transfer in graded index medium. For this purpose, in this paper the streaming operator along a curved ray trajectory in original radiative transfer equation for graded index medium is transformed and expressed in spatial and angular ordinates and the radiative transfer equation for graded index medium in cylindrical and spherical coordinate systems are derived. The conservative and the non-conservative forms of radiative transfer equation for three-dimensional graded index medium are given, which can be used as base equations to develop the numerical simulation methods, such as finite volume method, discrete ordinates method, and finite element method, for radiative transfer in graded index medium in cylindrical and spherical coordinate systems.     

Least-squares finite element method for radiation heat transfer in graded index medium

To avoid the complicated and time-consuming computation of curved ray trajectories, a least-squares finite element method based on discrete ordinate equation is extended to solve the radiative transfer problem in a multi-dimensional semitransparent graded index medium. Four cases of radiative heat transfer are examined to verify this least-squares finite element method. Linear and nonlinear graded index are considered. The predicted dimensionless net radiative heat fluxes are determined by the least-squares finite element method and compared with the results obtained by other methods. The results show that the least-squares finite element method is stable and has a good accuracy in solving the multi-dimensional radiative transfer problem in a semitransparent graded index medium, while the Galerkin finite element method sometimes suffers from nonphysical oscillations.     

Finite element method for radiation heat transfer in multi-dimensional graded index medium

In graded index medium, ray goes along a curved path determined by Fermat principle, and curved ray-tracing is very difficult and complex. To avoid the complicated and time-consuming computation of curved ray trajectories, a finite element method based on discrete ordinate equation is developed to solve the radiative transfer problem in a multi-dimensional semitransparent graded index medium. Two particular test problems of radiative transfer are taken as examples to verify this finite element method. The predicted dimensionless net radiative heat fluxes are determined by the proposed method and compared with the results obtained by finite volume method. The results show that the finite element method presented in this paper has a good accuracy in solving the multi-dimensional radiative transfer problem in semitransparent graded index medium.     

Meshless approach for coupled radiative and conductive heat transfer in one-dimensional graded index medium

A meshless local Petrov-Galerkin (MLPG) approach is employed for solving the coupled radiative and conductive heat transfer in a one-dimensional slab with graded index media. The angular distribution term in discrete ordinate equation of radiative transfer within a one-dimensional graded index slab is discretized by a step scheme, and the meshless approach for radiative transfer is based on the discrete ordinate equation. A moving least-squares approximation is used to construct the shape function. Two particular test cases for coupled radiative and conductive heat transfer within a one-dimensional graded index slab are examined to verify this new approximate method. The temperatures and the radiative heat fluxes are obtained. The results are compared with the other benchmark approximate solutions. By comparison, the results show that the MLPG approach has a good accuracy in solving the coupled radiative and conductive heat transfer in one-dimensional graded index media.     

Spectral collocation method with a flexible angular discretization scheme for radiative transfer in multi-layer graded index medium

The spectral collocation method (SCM) is employed to solve the radiative transfer in multi-layer semitransparent medium with graded index. A new flexible angular discretization scheme is employed to discretize the solid angle domain freely to overcome the limit of the number of discrete radiative direction when adopting traditional S_N discrete ordinate scheme. Three radial basis function interpolation approaches, named as multi-quadric (MQ), inverse multi-quadric (IMQ) and inverse quadratic (IQ) interpolation, are employed to couple the radiative intensity at the interface between two adjacent layers and numerical experiments show that MQ interpolation has the highest accuracy and best stability. Variable radiative transfer problems in double-layer semitransparent media with different thermophysical properties are investigated and the influence of these thermophysical properties on the radiative transfer procedure in double-layer semitransparent media is also analyzed. All the simulated results show that the present SCM with the new angular discretization scheme can predict the radiative transfer in multi-layer semitransparent medium with graded index efficiently and accurately.