Abstract
A fictitious finite-element layer method developed to analyze transient thermal contact problems is examined. The method obviates the early response errors and inaccuracies at the interface associated with conventional computational schemes. A comparison is made between the analytical and conventional computational solutions to the one-dimensional thermal contact problem; the results point to the need for an alternative computational approach. The fictitious finite-element layer method is introduced and applied to the one-dimensional thermal contact problem. It is shown to be superior to the approach with no fictitious layer without compromising computational economy. Finally, the method is successfully extended to the two-dimensional thermal contact problem associated with transient forced-convection heat transfer in a channel

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