Mechanical Engineering Dept.

CEME NUST 1
Ch-2: Heat Conduction Equation
Mechanical Engineering Dept. CEME NUST 2
Heat Conduction Equation
Unlike temperature, Heat Transfer has direction as well as magnitude, and thus
it is a vector quantity
we can work with a Coordinate
System and indicate direction with
plus or minus signs
E.g. toward the inside (indicating heat gain) or
toward the outside (indicating heat loss)
generally accepted convention is that heat transfer in the
positive direction of a coordinate axis is positive and in the
opposite direction it is negative
Mechanical Engineering Dept. CEME NUST 3
Heat Conduction Equation
Some heat transfer problems in engineering require the determination of
Temperature Distribution throughout the medium in order to calculate some
quantities of interest such as:

Local Heat Transfer Rate
Thermal Expansion
Thermal Stress at some critical locations at specified times
Specification of the temp. at a point in a medium first requires the specification
of the location of that point by choosing a suitable coordinate system
depending on the geometry involved, and a convenient reference point (the
origin)

Rectangular
Cylindrical
Spherical Coordinates
Mechanical Engineering Dept. CEME NUST 4
Heat Conduction Equation
location of a point is specified as (x, y, z) in rectangular coordinates, as (r, , z)
in cylindrical coordinates, and as (r, , ) in spherical coordinates
Best coordinate system for a given geometry is the one that describes the
surfaces of the geometry best
o E.g., temperature at a point (x, y, z) at time t in Rectangular Coordinates is
expressed as T(x, y, z, t)
Mechanical Engineering Dept. CEME NUST 5
Heat Conduction Equation
Steady implies no change with time at any point within the medium
Steady versus Transient Heat Transfer
o temperature or heat flux remains unchanged with time during steady heat transfer
through a medium at any location, although both quantities may vary from one
location to another
Transient implies variation with time or
time dependence
E.g. heat transfer through the walls of a house
will be steady when conditions inside the house
and the outdoors remain constant for several
hours
E.g. cooling of an apple in a refrigerator
Mechanical Engineering Dept. CEME NUST 6
Heat Conduction Equation
Multidimensional Heat Transfer
Heat transfer problems are also classified as being 1D, 2D, or 3D, depending on
the relative magnitudes of heat transfer rates in different directions and the level
of accuracy desired
Two-dimensional heat transfer in a
long rectangular bar
Heat transfer through the window of a house
can be taken to be one-dimensional
Mechanical Engineering Dept. CEME NUST 7
Heat Conduction Equation
Multidimensional Heat Transfer
From Ch-1: Fouriers law of heat conduction for one-dimensional heat
conduction as
In 3D
If n is the normal of the isothermal surface at
point P, the rate of heat conduction at that point
Rates of heat transfer rates in the x-, y-, and z-direction:
Most engineering materials are Isotropic in nature,
directional characteristics of a material are same/equal in all
directions k is same in all directions
Mechanical Engineering Dept. CEME NUST 8
Thermal energy generation due to an energy source:
Manifestation of energy conversion process (between
thermal energy and chemical/electrical/nuclear energy)
Positive (source) if thermal energy is generated
Negative (sink) if thermal energy is consumed
) (
dV
.
. .
z y x g
g G
A A A =
=
Energy Storage Term
Represents the rate of change of
thermal energy stored in the matter in
the absence of phase change
) ( dz dy dx
t
T
c E
p st
(

c
c
=

t T c
p
c c /
.
g
Heat Conduction Equation
Energy Generation and Energy Storage
is the rate at which energy is generated
per unit volume of the medium (W/m
3
)
is the time rate of change of the sensible
(thermal) energy of the medium per unit
volume (W/m
3
)
Mechanical Engineering Dept. CEME NUST 9
Heat Conduction Equation
General Heat Conduction Equation
Rectangular Coordinates


Fourier-Biot equation
o Provides basic tool for heat conduction analysis
o its solution gives temperature distribution
T(x, y, z) as a function of time
Energy Balance for Volume Element:
Mechanical Engineering Dept. CEME NUST 10
Heat Conduction Equation
General Heat Conduction Equation
Rectangular Coordinates -- contd--
Fourier-Biot equation
Steady-state:
(Poisson equation)
Transient, no heat generation:
(Diffusion Equation)
Steady-state, no heat generation:
(Laplace Equation)
Mechanical Engineering Dept. CEME NUST 11
Heat Conduction Equation
General Heat Conduction Equation
Rectangular Coordinates -- contd--
three-dimensional heat conduction equations reduce to the one-dimensional
ones when the temperature varies in one dimension only
Mechanical Engineering Dept. CEME NUST 12
Heat Conduction Equation
General Heat Conduction Equation
Cylindrical Coordinates
q
z
Mechanical Engineering Dept. CEME NUST 13
Heat Conduction Equation
General Heat Conduction Equation
Spherical Coordinates
Home Assignment
Mechanical Engineering Dept. CEME NUST 14
Heat Conduction Equation
General Heat Conduction Equation
Example
A short cylindrical metal billet of radius R
and height h is heated in an oven to a
temperature of 600F throughout and is
then taken out of the oven and allowed to
cool in ambient air at T = 65F by
convection and radiation. Assuming the
billet is cooled uniformly from all outer
surfaces and the variation of the thermal
conductivity of the material with
temperature is negligible, obtain the
differential equation that describes the
variation of the temperature in the billet
during this cooling process.
Mechanical Engineering Dept. CEME NUST 15
Heat Conduction Equation
General Heat Conduction Equation
Example contd--
o billet is initially at a uniform temperature
o cooled uniformly from the top and bottom
surfaces in the z-direction as well as the
lateral surface in the radial r-direction
o Temp. at any point in the billet will change
with time during cooling
2-D transient heat conduction problem,
T = T (r, z, t )
o Thermal Conductivity is given to be constant, and
there is no heat generation in the billet
Mechanical Engineering Dept. CEME NUST 16
Heat Conduction Equation
Boundary and Initial Conditions
Heat Conduction Equations developed using an energy balance on a differential
element inside the medium, and remain same regardless of thermal conditions
on the surfaces of the medium
Differential Equations do not incorporate any information related to conditions
on the surfaces such as surface temperature or a specified heat flux
Heat Flux and Temperature Distribution in a medium
depend on the conditions at the surfaces
Description of a Heat Transfer Problem in a medium is
not complete without a full description of thermal
conditions at the bounding surfaces of the medium
solving a differential equation is a process of
removing derivatives, or an integration process
solution of a differential equation typically involves
arbitrary constants
We need to specify some conditions at specified
points which will result in unique values
Mechanical Engineering Dept. CEME NUST 17
Heat Conduction Equation
Boundary and Initial Conditions
we need to specify:
o 1D problem: 2 BC in x-direction
o 2D problem: 2 BC in x-direction,
2 in y-direction
o 3D problem: 2 in x-dir., 2 in y-dir.,
and 2 in z-dir
Heat Equation is first order in time. Hence one Initial Condition (IC) needed
To describe a heat transfer problem
completely, Two Boundary Conditions
must be given for each direction of the
coordinate system along which heat
transfer is significant
Boundary Conditions
Mathematical Expressions of the thermal conditions at the boundaries
Mechanical Engineering Dept. CEME NUST 18
Heat Conduction Equation
Boundary and Initial Conditions
1- Specified Temperature Boundary Condition (Dirichlet condition)
Temp of an exposed surface can usually be measured directly and easily
Specified Temperature Boundary Conditions:
2- Specified Heat Flux Boundary Condition
(Neumann Condition)
corresponds to the existence of a fixed or
constant heat flux at the surface
Mechanical Engineering Dept. CEME NUST 19
Heat Conduction Equation
Boundary and Initial Conditions
3- Special Case: Insulated Boundary
Heat Transfer through a properly insulated surface can be taken to be zero
a well-insulated surface can be modeled as
a surface with a specified heat flux of zero

4- Special Case: Thermal Symmetry
Heat Transfer Problem in plate will possess thermal
symmetry about the center plane at x = L / 2
o center plane can be viewed as an insulated surface,
and the thermal condition at this plane of symmetry
Mechanical Engineering Dept. CEME NUST 20
Heat Conduction Equation
Boundary and Initial Conditions
5- Convection Boundary Condition
convection boundary condition is based on a
surface energy balance expressed as:
Mechanical Engineering Dept. CEME NUST 21
Heat Conduction Equation
Boundary and Initial Conditions
5- Radiation Boundary Condition
radiation boundary condition on a surface can be
expressed as:
Mechanical Engineering Dept. CEME NUST 22
Heat Conduction Equation
Solution of Steady One-dimensional
Heat Conduction Problems
Mechanical Engineering Dept. CEME NUST 23
Heat Conduction Equation
Example
Consider a large plane wall of thickness L =
0.06 m and thermal conductivity k = 1.2 W/mC
in space. The wall is covered with white
porcelain tiles that have an emissivity of 0.85
and a solar absorptivity of 0.26, as shown in
Figure. The inner surface of the wall is
maintained at T
1
= 300 K at all times, while the
outer surface is exposed to solar radiation that
is incident at a rate of q solar 800 W/m
2
. The
outer surface is also losing heat by radiation to
deep space at 0 K. Determine the temperature
of the outer surface of the wall and the rate of
heat transfer through the wall when steady
operating conditions are reached. What would
your response be if no solar radiation was
incident on the surface?
Mechanical Engineering Dept. CEME NUST 24
Heat Conduction Equation
Example
A spherical container of inner radius r
1
= 2m, outer radius r
2
= 2.1m, and
thermal conductivity k = 30 W/mC is filled with iced water at 0C. The
container is gaining heat by convection from the surrounding air at T = 25C
with a heat transfer coefficient of h = 18 W/m
2
C. Assuming the inner surface
temperature of the container to be 0C,
(a) express the differential equation and the boundary conditions for steady
one-dimensional heat conduction through the container
(b) obtain a relation for the variation of temperature in the container by solving
the differential equation and
(c) evaluate the rate of heat gain to the iced water.
Mechanical Engineering Dept. CEME NUST 25
Example 2.1, 2.11, 2.12, 2.13, 2.14, 2.15, 2.16
Problems: 2.22, 2.48, 2.56, 2.59, 2.62E, 2.63, 2.66E, 2.68
Book: Yunus Cengel 2
nd
Ed.
Practice Problems:
Heat Conduction Equation