in the september issue of multiphysics simulation, a magazine dedicated to sharing the stories of companies suing mathematical models and numerical simulations to optimize engineering processes, graftech published a report about simulations that it ran about graphite’s application in thermal management.

graphite has been applied to thermal management projects. (wikimedia commons)

the company tested graphite in several forms, including as a carbon-bonded insulation layer called grafshield that is intended to keep the temperature of water-cooled induction coils below 100°c. it required a layer that was thick enough to insulate the coils but thin enough to offer no resistance to the current running through them, according to an article on engineering.com.

in the article in multiphysics simulation, which is sponsored by swedish company comsol, the team at graftech explains that it runs simulations to test the thermal and electrical conductivity of graphite to better understand how to apply it.

in addition to computer simulations, graftech incorporates mathematical analysis to ensure the accuracy of the data that comes from the simulations. this is of particular importance with graphite because of its temperature-dependent properties and the many forms it can take, which makes it difficult to model.

read the full case study from graftech at https://www.comsol.com/zmags/multiphysics-simulation-2016.