High-temperature thermal manipulator using thermal metamaterials based on transformation thermodynamics

A thermal manipulator for use in high temperature environments was designed and constructed based on the coordinate transformation method of transformation thermodynamics. The thermal manipulator has two key functions: (1) Guides the heat flux from one region (the center heat source) and (2) Concentrates the guided heat flux to multiple distributed regions outside. The thermal manipulator uses multiple fan-shaped thermal concentrators around the heat source. The fan-shaped concentrators with highly anisotropic thermal conductivities were made of two isotropic materials, copper and a synthesized silica-alumina fibrous matrix, with a working temperature upper limit of 1000°C. Simulations and experiments show that the copper-based metamaterial thermal manipulators can efficiently guide the heat flux from the central heat source and concentrate the heat flux at multiple distributed regions in a high-temperature environment. The thermal manipulator heat flux concentration efficiency was 55.4% with a region concentration ratio of 2.50 which indicates a very strong heat concentration capability which is more than twice that of traditional isotropic materials. Thus, this research provides an effective thermal manipulating method for high-temperature conditions.