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Updated: Jun 7, 2025

Experimental Methods for Investigation of Shape Memory Based Elastocaloric Cooling Processes and Model Validation
Published on: May 2, 2016
Enhancement of the Elastocaloric Performance of Natural Rubber by Forced Air Convection
Emma Valdés1, Enric Stern-Taulats1,2, Nicolas Candau3
1Departament de Física de la Matèria Condensada (FMC), Universitat de Barcelona, Martí i Franquès 1, 08028 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.
Abstract:
We study the enhancement of the elastocaloric effect in natural rubber by using forced air convection to favour heat extraction during the elongation stage of a stretching-unstretching cycle. Elastocaloric performance is quantified by means of the adiabatic undercooling that occurs after fast removal of the stress, measured by infrared thermography. To ensure accuracy, spatial averaging on thermal maps of the sample surface is performed since undercooled samples display heterogeneities caused by various factors. The influence of the stretching velocity and the air velocity is analysed. The findings indicate that there is an optimal air velocity that maximises adiabatic undercooling, with stretching velocities needing to be high enough to enhance cooling power. Our experiments allowed the characterisation of the dependence of the Newton heat transfer coefficient on the air convection velocity, which revealed an enhancement up to 600% for air velocities around 4 m/s.
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