In this paper, a numerical simulation by the computer code ABAQUS (6.14) was conducted to study the influence of the thermal conductivity, the interstitial fluid convection coefficient and surface roughness on the thermal contact conductance "TCC" to improve the heat transfer between the materials in contact. In our study, the pairs specimens involved have a thermal conductivity k ranging between 20 w/m• K to 390 w/m• K. The diameter of specimen d is 2 cm, the height L is 8 cm, and the surface roughness Ra is in the range of 5 to 20µm. Results indicated that the surface roughness and thermal conductivity present a power law relationship with heat transfer enhancement between solids in contact. Moreover, the interstitial fluid convection coefficient influences weakly the variation in the thermal contact conductance. The TCC magnitude increase more rapidly with decrease of the specimen's surface roughness when the latters have high thermal conductivity than when they have low thermal conductivity.

In this paper, a numerical model investigating the impact of gasket thermal quality on the reduction in the thermal contact resistance (TCR) between two solids is presented and validated analytically. The model proposed is a 2D steady state model. The thermal conductivity of the solid materials ranges from 20 to 390 W/m·K, and the gasket thermal conductivity ranges from 0.16W/m·K (TC of rubber) to and 5W/m·K (TC of thermal paste). As expected, the results obtained clearly confirm that the gasket significantly improves the heat transfer between two solids in contact, and in particular that the TCR is decreased with increasing gasket thermal conductivity. The numerical results are validated by an analytical model which shows that the gasket has a crucial effect on the heat transfer enhancement between the solids in contact.

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