A systems integrated approach to thermal modeling of an enhanced MMRTG

A systems integrated thermal model of an enhanced Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (eMM-RTG) was performed utilizing Sinda 2014 from MSC Software. A comprehensive physics model was added to the Sinda solver which includes, among others, the Seebeck effect, Peltier effect, Thomson effect, Joule heating, and thermal radiation in all the applicable components. The added physics enables the computation of the power output of the eMMRTG. A custom tool was developed to rapidly and efficiently create the necessary Sinda input files allowing for parameterization and optimization of geometries and materials with ease. The methods and select results are presented and discussed.