Recovery and regularization of initial temperature distribution in a two-layer cylinder with perfect thermal contact at the interface

We investigate the inverse problem associated with the heat equation involving recovery of initial temperature distribution in a two-layer cylinder with perfect thermal contact at the interface. The heat equation is solved backward in time to obtain a relationship between the final temperature distribution and the initial temperature profile. An integral representation for the problem is found, from which a formula for initial temperature is derived using Picard’s criterion and the singular system of the associated operators. The known final temperature profile can be used to recover the initial temperature distribution from the formula derived in this paper. A robust method to regularize the outcome by introducing a small parameter in the governing equation is also presented. It is demonstrated with the help of a numerical example that the hyperbolic model gives better results as compared to the parabolic heat conduction model.