Cooling Mechanism

Model Results

Interaction with Experiments

Conductive Cooling Through Base

hand calculations indicate inadequate cooling

finite element model indicates inability to detect phase change

only one experiment conducted to verify trends indicated by numerical models

"Cold-Finger" Concept

unable to detect phase change of material

no experiments conducted

Vertical Convective Cooling

cooling trends predicted

temperature gradients estimated and compared to expers.

increased heat transfer would make detection of phase change more difficult.

experiments used to validate trends in numerical models

improvements in the thermocouple technique

no experiments conducted with fan for increased heat transfer.

Horizontal Convective Cooling

indicated the sharpest break in temperature-time curve

indicated shorter cooling times

modeling results used as basis for proof-of-concept testing.

experimental results confirm trends predicted by model