Thermal RC Modeling Using a Spreadsheet 

This 45-minute presentation will show how some basic concepts of transient analysis of linear thermal systems can be applied to a real-world thermal system design. The mathematical concepts utilized will be presented as principles, generally without any attempt to formally prove their validity (other than seeing that the end results of the model fit the experimental predictions). Attendees who have had prior exposure to basic calculus, beginning linear differential equation theory, and engineering physics (rudimentary linear electrical network concepts and heat transfer) should be quite comfortable with the material that will be covered.
Basic concepts that will be touched upon will include: what comprises a linear system; how a continuous domain may be discretized into more-or-less arbitrary linear subsystems, leading to thermal RC networks; what a step response is; how linear combinations of the step-response of a linear system may be combined to generate more complex solutions to more complex forcing functions.