ABSTRACT
The computation of the fraction of the thermal radiation that leaves one surface and arrives at another is largely determined from the geometrical view factor and is central to a radiative heat transfer simulation. Several methods can be used to calculate view factors, such as direct integration, Monte-Carlo and the Hemi-Cube method. These methods can be tested on several benchmarks for which analytical view factor equations exist, such as parallel plates, hinged plates and parallel circular discs. However, there are no analytical solutions that combine radiative, conductive and convective heat transfer. Furthermore, basic experimental data for benchmarking computational solutions is also scarce.

This paper describes the construction of a simple testing rig that allows experiments to be performed that combine view factor effects with measured heat transfer. Two different cases are studied in this paper: parallel plates and parallel disc-to-plate cases.