Realization and analysis of an Intelligent flux transfer regulator by allocating thermal and DC electric fields

Abstract Flexible regulation of fluxes means a lot due to its enormous potential for efficient utilization of various energy sources. Benefitting from the emerging transformation optics-based technology and metamaterials, regulation structures manipulating different energy fluxes have aroused wide attention, relevant research have progressed rapidly in recent years. However, many studies are suffering from over-complicated problem and confined to a single function or a single available occasion. Hence, design of flux regulation device requires improvement to ease the processing burden, and functional diversity as well as application scope need in-depth development to meet requirements for more sophisticated practical settings. Furthermore, appropriate evaluation index for comprehensive assessment of energy transportation procedure should never be ignored. Here, we design an intelligent flux transfer regulator that can actively switch between concentration and rotation states based on temperature change by allocating thermal and DC electric fields. Improved geometric and conduction parameters are selected to avoid non-uniform distribution problem. Counting on the diffusivity of the implicated thermal field, the local entropy generation rate as a thermodynamic indicator is introduced to evaluate energy quality during state-switch process in transient mode. Influences of different design variables on control effect as well as energy fluctuation are also studied. Combing discretization method, effective medium theory, spiral bimetal sheet and other control setups, we experimentally confirm the effectiveness of the proposed device. Our work enriches the practicability and application of regulation device for energy control and utilization, opens an avenue for investigating energy transportation phenomena from the perspective of different disciplines.