FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS OF HEAT TRANSFER IN MULTI-LAYER COOKING POTS WITH EMPHASIS ON LAYER NUMBER

The goal of this research was to numerically assess the dependence of cookware performance on the number of layers and materials as defined by the uniform surface temperature and average temperature on the cooking surface. The objectives of this research were: to quantify the temperature distribution in items of cookware based on variation of the number of layers and thermal properties by using a finite element model of heat transfer in cookware. A total of 625 types of composite cookware were compared in terms of thermal performance. The results show that a higher thermal conductivity material yields a more uniform surface temperature profile than a lower thermal conductivity material. Low conduction materials used in a thin second layer with conductive metals as a first layer reduce the temperature differences up to 180 K. Moreover, this combination with high conduction metals used in a thick first layer provides a high mean temperature on the non-heated surface.