Numerical simulation and experimental study of the heat transition in a foam container

Abstract

This study demonstrated how to predict the temperatures inside of a foam container during transportation via a numerical simulation through MATLAB. The temperature inside of the container at any position and time is regarded as a combined temperature of the four side walls, top cover, and bottom panels of the container. In the simulation, an equivalent heat transfer coefficient is calculated through combined free convection and conduction to address the heat transfer from the inside wall to the center of the container. A quadratic running time-based computing method is applied to the heat transition numerical model. A field measurement was carried out to collect the temperature for the foam container during transportation. The collected data were compared to the simulation results. The simulated results and field measured data are in a partial agreement.