A discontinuous finite element method for hyperbolic thermal wave problems

This paper presents an unstructured discontinuous Galerkin finite element method for the solution of hyperbolic heat conduction problems that have found a wide range of applications in the pulsating laser treatment of thin films for electronic and MEMS applications. The mathematical formulation is described in detail and computational procedures are given. The computational algorithm is validated using the analytical solution for 1D thermal wave equations. Numerical simulations are made for 2D and 3D thermal wave propagations in regular and complex geometric configurations exposed to ultra‐short laser pulses. The stability of the algorithm is also studied using the matrix eigenvalue method and appropriate time step is determined for simulations. The numerical solutions exhibit strong wave behavior and reflection and interactions of thermal waves at the boundaries in multi‐dimensions. Simulations also show that the thermal wave behavior disappears and the classical Fourier heat conduction resumes when there is an instantaneous response between the heat flux and temperature gradient.