Effective Thermal Contact Resistance of Regularly Textured Bodies in the Presence of Intercontact Heat-Conducting Media and the Phenomenon of Thermal Rectification

We compute the effective thermal contact resistance of a pair of materials formed by AISI 304 stainless steel and 200 nickel alloy in the presence of a periodic array of gaps filled with a heat-conducting medium (argon, water, helium, oxygen, or air) on the interface of these materials. In the nondeformed state, the surface of AISI 304 stainless steel has a microtextured topography formed by regularly located grooves of identical shapes, while the surface of 200 nickel alloy is perfectly flat. We estimate the level of thermal rectification for structures of this kind for different values of the applied mechanical and thermal loads and the maximal height of the surface grooves.