Heat transfer across a solid–solid interface obtained by machining in a lathe

Abstract In this paper the heat transfer across the interface between two cylinders in axial contact for which the surfaces are obtained by machining in a lathe was studied. The macro-contact generated by this process has a spiral shape. The governing equations being difficult to solve for this geometric configuration, the spiral was simulated by multiple concentric circular annular contacts. Thus, the problem is two-dimensional and hence easier to solve. An exact explicit analytical solution was developed in order to calculate the temperature distribution and the thermal contact resistance R c between the two cylinders. The R c is expressed as a function of the ratio of real contact area to the apparent one, and the number of contacts. A simple correlation is also proposed to calculate the R c with high accuracy.