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animations, contour animations, isosurfaces, and other depictions are usually possible.
These various kinds of analysis tools allow designers to vary critical parameters related not only to geometry but to material type
and distribution as well, to achieve desired performances. They
allow a designer to decide whether a material should desirably
have more or less heat capacity for a particular situation or how
changes in the thermal conductivity of a material would affect
outcomes. As might be expected, it has been generally found that
designers want better control over each of these material property
parameters and want not to be bound by the particular combinations of properties associated with traditional materials. Extreme
values are often desired. To conserve energy, minimizing heat loss
through a material with a very low thermal conductivity would be
a natural direction to pursue and might suggest, for example, the
use of some type of foam or other porous material as an enclosure
or wall material.
Of particular importance in building design, however, is that most
materials used must be multifunctional to a greater or lesser extent.
It almost goes without saying that the need for visual access through
a wall is overriding and is normally provided through windows or
glass façade systems that entail the use of a transparent material
(such as glass or a transparent plastic); at the same time, energy
conservation issues still suggest that the same material provide
as much thermal insulation as possible. This same material also
must have some significant strength and stiffness properties (for
example, resistance to wind forces or even common handling or
installation-induced forces). Meeting these various demands normally involves tradeoffs (recall the discussion in Chapter 5). As we
discuss in a moment, nanomaterial technologies provide opportunities for innovations here.
application of nanomaterials in the design of
thermal Environments
manipulating properties: insulating and
conductive materials
A common design objective or need is to increase or decrease
the thermal conductivity of a material to enhance its ability to
conduct heat, or, alternatively, to improve its dialectric (insulating) characteristics. In some cases a device might need to efficiently
carry heat from one point to another, whereas in other cases a
The Thermal Environment
animations, contour animations, isosurfaces, and other depictions are usually possible.
These various kinds of analysis tools allow designers to vary critical parameters related not only to geometry but to material type
and distribution as well, to achieve desired performances. They
allow a designer to decide whether a material should desirably
have more or less heat capacity for a particular situation or how
changes in the thermal conductivity of a material would affect
outcomes. As might be expected, it has been generally found that
designers want better control over each of these material property
parameters and want not to be bound by the particular combinations of properties associated with traditional materials. Extreme
values are often desired. To conserve energy, minimizing heat loss
through a material with a very low thermal conductivity would be
a natural direction to pursue and might suggest, for example, the
use of some type of foam or other porous material as an enclosure
or wall material.
Of particular importance in building design, however, is that most
materials used must be multifunctional to a greater or lesser extent.
It almost goes without saying that the need for visual access through
a wall is overriding and is normally provided through windows or
glass façade systems that entail the use of a transparent material
(such as glass or a transparent plastic); at the same time, energy
conservation issues still suggest that the same material provide
as much thermal insulation as possible. This same material also
must have some significant strength and stiffness properties (for
example, resistance to wind forces or even common handling or
installation-induced forces). Meeting these various demands normally involves tradeoffs (recall the discussion in Chapter 5). As we
discuss in a moment, nanomaterial technologies provide opportunities for innovations here.
application of nanomaterials in the design of
thermal Environments
manipulating properties: insulating and
conductive materials
A common design objective or need is to increase or decrease
the thermal conductivity of a material to enhance its ability to
conduct heat, or, alternatively, to improve its dialectric (insulating) characteristics. In some cases a device might need to efficiently
carry heat from one point to another, whereas in other cases a
The Thermal Environment