Skip to main content

Numerical analysis of heat transfer in human head

Abstract

An investigation of heat transfer in human head is carried out by using finite element method. The head is modeled with different tissues having varying physical properties. The current work is focused to simulate the effect of various physical and geometrical parameters such as ambient temperature, heat transfer coefficient and variation in the thickness of different tissue layers of human head. The effect of presence of hair on human head is also investigated. It is found that the deep brain temperature remains almost constant whereas a small variation occurs in the other layers with respect to varying environmental and geometrical parameters.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

References

  1. A. C. Burton, The application of the theory of heat flow to the study of energy metabolism, The Journal of Nutrition, 7(5) (1934) 497–533.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. H. C. Bazett and B. McGlone, Temperature gradients in the tissues in man, American Journal of Physiology-Legacy Content, 82(2) (1927) 415–451.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. H. H. Pennes, Analysis of tissue and arterial blood temperatures in the resting human forearm, Journal of Applied Physiology, 1(2) (1948) 93–122.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. J. A. Stolwijk, A Mathematical Model of Physiological TemPerature Regulation in Man, Washington, DC: National Aero-nautics and Space Administration (NASA contractor report, NASA CR-1855) (1971).

    Google Scholar 

  5. D. N. Sørensen and L. K. Voigt, Modelling flow and heat transfer around a seated human body by computational fluid dynamics, Building and Environment, 38(6) (2003) 753–762.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. C. Huizenga, Z. Hui and E. Arens, A model of human physi-ology and comfort for assessing complex thermal environments, Building and Environment, 36(6) (2001) 691–699.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. G. Sevilgen and M. Kilic, Numerical analysis of air flow, heat transfer, moisture transport and thermal comfort in a room heated by two-panel radiators, Energy and Buildings, 43(1) (2011) 137–146.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. T. Miyanaga, W. Urabe and Y. Nakano, Simplified human body model for evaluating thermal radiant environment in a radiant cooled space, Building and Environment, 36(7) (2001) 801–808.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. H. O. Nilsson, Thermal comfort evaluation with virtual manikin methods, Building and Environment, 42(12) (2007) 4000–4005.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. P. Dongmei, C. Mingyin, D. Shiming and Q. Minglu, A four-node thermoregulation model for predicting the thermal physiological responses of a sleeping person, Building and Environment, 52 (2012) 88–97.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. M. S. Ferreira and J. I. Yanagihara, A transient three-dimensional heat transfer model of the human body, International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer, 36(7) (2009) 718–724.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. M. S. Ferreira and J. I. Yanagihara, A heat transfer model of the human upper limbs, International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer, 39(2) (2012) 196–203.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. M. Agrawal, N. Adlakha and K. R. Pardasani, Three-dimensional finite element model to study heat flow in dermal regions of elliptical and tapered shape human limbs, Applied Mathematics and Computation, 217(8) (2010) 4129–4140.

    Article  MathSciNet  MATH  Google Scholar 

  14. Y. He, H. Liu, R. Himeno, J. Sunaga, N. Kakusho and H. Yokota, Finite element analysis of blood flow and heat transfer in an image-based human finger, Computers in Biology and Medicine, 38(5) (2008) 555–562.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Y. Gan, L. Cheng, X. Ding and N. Pan, Blood flow fluctuation underneath human forearm skin caused by local thermal stimuli of different fabrics, Journal of Thermal Biology, 35(7) (2010) 372–377.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. S. R. Upreti and A. A. Jeje, A noninvasive technique to determine peripheral blood flow and heat generation in a human limb, Chemical Engineering Science, 59(21) (2004) 4415–4423.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. J. A. Scott, A finite element model of heat transport in the human eye, Physics in Medicine & Biology, 33(2) (1988) 227.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. E. H. Amara, Numerical investigations on thermal effects of laser-ocular media interaction, International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, 38(13) (1995) 2479–2488.

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  19. E. Y. K. Ng and E. H. Ooi, FEM simulation of the eye structure with bioheat analysis, Computer Methods and Programs in Biomedicine, 82(3) (2006) 268–276.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Y. Kurazumi, T. Tsuchikawa, J. Ishii, K. Fukagawa, Y. Yamato and N. Matsubara, Radiative and convective heat transfer coefficients of the human body in natural convection, Building and Environment, 43(12) (2008) 2142–2153.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Y. Kurazumi, T. Tsuchikawa, N. Matsubara and T. Horikoshi, Effect of posture on the heat transfer areas of the human body, Building and Environment, 43(10) (2008) 1555–1565.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. O. Ley and Y. Bayazitoglu, Effect of physiology on the temperature distribution of a layered head with external convection, International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, 46(17) (2003) 3233–3241.

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  23. M. A. Khanday and V. P. Saxena, Finite element approach for the study of thermoregulation in human head exposed to cold environment, AIP Conference Proceedings, 1146(1) (2009) 375–385.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. A. L. Sukstanskii and D. A. Yablonskiy, An analytical model of temperature regulation in human head, Journal of Thermal Biology, 29(7–8) (2004) 583–587.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. T. Wessapan and P. Rattanadecho, Temperature induced in human organs due to near-field and far-field electromagnetic exposure effects, International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, 119 (2018) 65–76.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. T. Wessapan, S. Srisawatdhisukul and P. Rattanadecho, Specific absorption rate and temperature distributions in human head subjected to mobile phone radiation at different frequencies, International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, 55(1–3) (2012) 347–359.

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  27. D. Bhargava, N. Leeprechanon, P. Rattanadecho and T. Wes-sapan, Specific absorption rate and temperature elevation in the human head due to overexposure to mobile phone radiation with different usage patterns, International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, 130 (2019) 1178–1188.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. T. Wessapan and P. Rattanadecho, Numerical analysis of specific absorption rate and heat transfer in human head subjected to mobile phone radiation: Effects of user age and radiated power, ASME Journal of Heat Transfer, 134 (2012) 121101-1–121101-10.

    Google Scholar 

  29. D. Fiala, K. J. Lomas and M. Stohrer, A computer model of human thermoregulation for a wide range of environmental conditions: The passive system, Journal of Applied Physiology, 87(5) (1999) 1957–1972.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The authors extend their appreciation to the deanship of scientific research at King Khalid University for funding this work through research groups program under grant number (R.G.P. 1/58/39).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Irfan Anjum Badruddin.

Additional information

Recommended by Associate Editor Sung-Jin Kim

Sarfaraz Kamangar received his Ph.D. degree from University of Malaya, Malaysia, in 2016. He is currently working as Assistant Professor in Department of Mechanical Engineering, King Khalid University, Saudi Arabia. Currently, his research focus is on the hemodynamic analysis in arteries and heat transfer in human body.

Mohammad Anas Khan is a student of B.Tech. (mechanical engineering) at Jamia Millia Islamia (A Central University), New Delhi, India. His areas of interest are fluid mechanics, applied thermodynamics, and heat and mass transfer. He is actively involved in the research pertaining to the application of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) in different areas.

Irfan Anjum Badruddin received his Ph.D. from University Sains Malaysia, Malaysia. He is currently working as Associate Professor in Department of Mechanical Engineering, King Khalid University, Saudi Arabia. His interest includes, heat transfer in porous medium, blood flow in human body, biodiesel production, Renewable energy.

T. M. Yunus Khan graduated in master of technology from Vishveshwaraya Technological University Belgaum, India. He is currently working as Assistant Professor in Department of Mechanical Engineering, King Khalid University, Saudi Arabia. His research focus on the heat transfer, fluid flow and biodiesel production.

N. Nik-Ghazali received his Ph.D. from University of Malaya, Malaysia, He is currently working as Senior Lecturer in Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Malaya, Malaysia. He has published many articles in international journal and conferences.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Kamangar, S., Khan, M.A., Badruddin, I.A. et al. Numerical analysis of heat transfer in human head. J Mech Sci Technol 33, 3597–3605 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-019-0654-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-019-0654-x

Keywords

  • Ansys
  • Hair
  • Heat transfer
  • Human head