Heat conduction between confocal elliptical surfaces using the theory of a Cosserat shell

This paper is concerned with steady-state heat conduction in rigid shell-like interphase regions. By analogy this work may provide insight into related problems of electric, dielectric and magnetic behavior. Although the field equations for three-dimensional linear Fourier heat condition are rather simple, the solution of problems in shell regions is significantly complicated when the shell has a general geometry and variable thickness. Here, the problem of heat conduction between confocal elliptical surfaces is solved within the context of the theory of a Cosserat shell. This problem is of particular interest because the Cosserat solution can be compared with an exact solution and the influences of variable shell thickness and strong variations of the temperature field through the shell’s thickness can be explored independently. The results show that the Cosserat approach is reasonably accurate even for moderately thick shells, moderate ellipticity, and moderately strong variation of the temperature through the shell’s thickness.