Reconfigurable Three-Dimensional Thermal Dome

TL;DR

This paper introduces a reconfigurable, open-structure thermal dome that enables three-dimensional thermal invisibility, overcoming limitations of traditional cloaks by being adaptable, easier to implement, and suitable for practical heat management applications.

Contribution

It proposes a novel reconfigurable thermal dome with an open design using simple isotropic materials, advancing thermal invisibility technology towards practical engineering applications.

Findings

Simulation and experimental results confirm the effectiveness of the thermal dome.

The design is adaptable and suitable for dynamic thermal management.

The approach simplifies implementation compared to complex existing methods.

Abstract

Thermal metamaterial represents a groundbreaking approach to control heat conduction, and, as a crucial component, thermal invisibility is of utmost importance for heat management. Despite the flourishing development of thermal invisibility schemes, they still face two limitations in practical applications. First, objects are typically completely enclosed in traditional cloaks, making them difficult to use and unsuitable for objects with heat sources. Second, although some theoretical proposals have been put forth to change the thermal conductivity of materials to achieve dynamic invisibility, their designs are complex and rigid, making them unsuitable for large-scale use in real three-dimensional spaces. Here, we propose a concept of a thermal dome to achieve three-dimensional invisibility. Our scheme includes an open functional area, greatly enhancing its usability and applicability. It features a reconfigurable structure, constructed with simple isotropic natural materials, making it suitable for dynamic requirements. The performance of our reconfigurable thermal dome has been confirmed through simulations and experiments, consistent with the theory. The introduction of this concept can greatly advance the development of thermal invisibility technology from theory to engineering and provide inspiration for other physical domains, such as direct current electric fields and magnetic fields.