The heat conduction model and leakage characterization of the sealing interface

In this paper, a new leakage characterization method for the sealing interface is proposed to detect the leakage location and measure the leakage rate based on the temperature field and the temperature gradient field. First, the formulas of the leakage rate are theoretically established based on the two-dimensional and the three-dimensional heat conduction model, respectively. Second, the finite element models of the general leakage area and the concentrated leakage area are built, in which the leakage rate calculated by means of heat conduction model fits the simulated leakage rate well. Finally, the interface leakage experiment is conducted using a sealed box with a rubber-aluminum alloy sealing interface, which validates the effectiveness of this new characterization principle for determining the leakage rate and the leakage location. The results indicate that the feasibility of the leakage characterization method for the sealing interface based on the temperature field and the temperature gradient field obtained from the infrared thermography technique.