Modelling the thermoelectric properties of cement-based materials using finite element method and effective medium theory

Authors

Lorenzo Stella, Queen's University Belfast
Conrad Johnston, Queen's University Belfast
Javier Troncoso, EMPA
Piotr Chudzinski, Queen's University Belfast
Esther Orisakwee, Queen's University Belfast
Jorge Kohanoff, Queen's University Belfast
Ruchita Jani, Technological University Dublin
Niall Holmes Dr., Technological University DublinFollow
Brian Norton, Technological University Dublin
Xiaoli Liu, Purdue University
Ming Qu, Purdue University
Hongxi Yin, Washington University in St. Louis
Kazuaki Yazawa, Purdue University

Document Type

Conference Paper

Rights

Available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike 4.0 International Licence

Disciplines

Civil engineering

Publication Details

Civil Engineering Research in Ireland (CERI) Conference 2022

Abstract

Because of the thermoelectric (TE) effect (or Seebeck effect), a difference of potential is generated as a consequence of a temperature gradient across a sample. The TE effect has been mostly studied and engineered in semiconducting materials and it already finds several commercial applications. Only recently the TE effect in cement-based materials has been demonstrated and there is a growing interest in its potential. For instance, a temperature gradient across the external walls of a building can be used to generate electricity. By the inverse of the TE effect (or Peltier effect), one can also seek to control the indoor temperature of a building by biasing TE elements embedded in its external walls. In designing possible applications, the TE properties of cement-based materials must be determined as a function of their chemical composition. For instance, the TE properties of cement paste can be enhanced by the addition of metal oxide (e.g., Fe2O3) powder. In this paper, a single thermoelectric leg is studied using the finite element method. Metal oxide additives in the cement paste are modelled as spherical inhomogeneities. The thermoelectric properties of the single components are based on experimental data, while the overall thermoelectric properties of the composites are obtained from the numerical model. The results of this numerical study are interpreted according to the effective medium theory (EMT) and its generalisation (GEMT).

DOI

https://doi.org/10.21427/tc4z-m393

Recommended Citation

Stella, L., Johnston, C., Troncoso, J. F., Chudzinski, P., Orisakwe, E., Kohanoff, J., Jani, R., Holmes, N., Norton, B., Liu, X., Qu, M., Yin, H., & Yazawa, K. (2022). Modelling the thermoelectric properties of cement-based materials using finite element method and effective medium theory. Technological University Dublin. DOI: 10.21427/TC4Z-M393

Funder

This research is supported through a US-Ireland grant tri-funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF, 1805818), Science Foundation Ireland (SFI, 17/US/3424), and the Department for the Economy of Northern Ireland (DfE, USI 127).