Efficient Random Walk Algorithm for Simulating Thermal Transport in Composites With High Conductivity Contrast

Abstract

In dealing with thermal transport in composite systems, high contrast materials pose a special problem for numerical simulation: the time scale or step size in the high conductivity material must be much smaller than in the low conductivity material. In the limit that the higher conductivity inclusion can be treated as having an infinite conductivity, we show how a standard random walk algorithm can be alterred to improve speed while still preserving the second law of thermodynamics. We demonstrate the principle in a 1D system, and then apply it to 3D composites with spherical inclusions.