Heatrapy: A flexible Python framework for computing dynamic heat transfer processes involving caloric effects in 1.5D systems

Abstract Although the number of computational investigations of heat transfer processes involving non-conventio-nal effects has been increasing for the past years, mainly due to the modeling of caloric systems such as magnetocaloric devices, an open source package dedicated to such dynamics is still unavailable. So far, all reported simulations of caloric systems have been run with new code without a good level of flexibility. We have developed a Python framework that makes the modeling of such systems easy to be computed. The related package, called heatrapy, can compute heat transfer processes inside and between thermal objects. Moreover, the thermal objects can be activated (magnetized, electrified, compressed) or deactivated at any time. A complete overview of the framework is presented and all the related physics are described. The package includes examples of two magnetocaloric systems, although it can be used in a variety of problems, including electrocaloric, barocaloric and elastocaloric systems. Additional features, such as the sweeping of the material activation or deactivation, the discontinuity of thermal objects, and the inclusion of cascade of materials are described.