Effect of spherical pores coalescence on the overall conductivity of a material

The problem about steady-state temperature distribution in a homogeneous isotropic medium containing a pore or an insulating inhomogeneity formed by two coalesced spheres of the same radius, under arbitrarily oriented uniform heat flux, is solved analytically. The limiting case of two touching spheres is analyzed separately. The solution is obtained in the form of converged integrals that can be calculated using Gauss-Laguerre quadrature rule. The temperature on the inhomogeneity’s surface is used to determine components of the resistivity contribution tensor for the insulating inhomogeneity of the mentioned shape. An interesting observation is that the extreme values of these components are achieved when the spheres are already slightly coalesced