Conjugate Heat Transfer — Solid-Fluid Thermal Coupling
Coupled solid-fluid heat transfer analysis, interface conditions, practical CHT setup in FEM and CFD, and turbine blade cooling applications.
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Quick Explainer
What exactly makes conjugate heat transfer "conjugate"?
The word conjugate means joined together. Standard thermal analysis requires specifying a heat transfer coefficient at the solid surface — but that HTC is determined by the fluid flow you are not modeling. Conjugate analysis couples solid conduction with fluid convection simultaneously, so the interface heat flux and temperature emerge without user-specified HTC.
How do you handle the mesh interface between solid and fluid domains in CHT?
Solid and fluid meshes share a common boundary. In conforming mesh approaches, nodes align on both sides making flux transfer exact. The coupling enforces two conditions: temperature continuity (T_solid = T_fluid) and flux continuity (k_solid * dT/dn = k_fluid * dT/dn) at the interface. These two conditions close the coupled system.