Fig 6. The thermal simulation of the heating element’s heating and cooling cycle time.

(a) The heating time from 60°C to 95°C in various heights of heating element. The shortest (9.5 seconds) to heat is 18.5 mm in height. (b) The cooling time from 95°C to 60°C in a fan-operating condition. The shortest (23.9 seconds) to cool is 36.9 mm in height. Increasing the height of the aluminum rod increases the surface area, resulting in improved convection and the length of the cooling period is reduced. The subset graph is an expended view at 23 to 27 seconds. (c) The summary of heating and cooling time for various heights of heating element. The height with the shortest total cycling time is 18.5 mm (36.1 seconds). The heating period increases at a faster rate to the increase in height than the cooling period decreases.