Researchers of the LAHDE laboratory of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, University of Ljubljana, have developed an open-source tool for 1D  modeling of thermal control circuits, TCCbuilder. It is the first tool of its kind that enables quick and easy modeling of thermal control circuits thanks to its graphical user interface and thr associated library of materials used to create thermal control elements.

In addition to the library of materials, there is also a library of already designed thermal control elements from the literature. Researchers from various fields are invited to complement both libraries as well as to add functionality to the tool. Thus, TCCbuilder is not only an indispensable tool for simulations, but also a platform for the exchange of information and networking of researchers in the field of heat transfer and materials.

The tool is presented in the article TCCbuilder: an open-source tool for the analysis of thermal switches, thermal diodes, thermal regulators, and thermal control circuits, which describes the validation and examples of the use of the tool. The article is published in the journal iScience (IF = 4.6), Special Issue: Advanced thermal control: fundamentals and applications.

The article is freely accessible under the following link: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2024.111263

Summary:

In the area of thermal management, thermal control elements (TCEs) and thermal control circuits (TCCs) are proving to be innovative solutions to the challenges of temperature control and heat dissipation in various applications, ranging from electronic cooling to energy conversion and temperature control in buildings. Their integration promises to improve power density, energy efficiency, system reliability and system life expectancy. With the aim of connecting researchers in the field of thermal management and accelerating the development of TCEs and TCCs, we have developed an open-source TCC simulation tool called TCCbuilder that enables a quick and easy time-dependent 1D numerical analysis of the behavior of TCEs and TCCs. It uses the heat conduction equation to solve temperature profiles in different devices. The TCCbuilder application offers features not previously available with any other TCC modelling tool: a large adjacent library of materials and TCEs as well as a user-friendly graphical user interface (GUI).