Chapter 6

FUNDAMENTALS OF CONVECTION

1
Objectives
 Understand the physical mechanism of convection and its classification
 Visualize the development of velocity and thermal boundary layers during flow
over surfaces
 Gain a working knowledge of the dimensionless Reynolds, Prandtl, and Nusselt
numbers

2
Physical Mechanism of Convection
 Conduction and convection both
require the presence of a material
medium but convection requires fluid
motion.
 Convection involves fluid motion as
well as heat conduction.
 Heat transfer through a solid is always
by conduction.
 Heat transfer through a fluid is by
convection in the presence of bulk fluid
motion and by conduction in the
absence of it.
 Therefore, conduction in a fluid can be
viewed as the limiting case of
convection, corresponding to the case
of quiescent fluid.
3
Physical Mechanism of Convection

The fluid motion enhances heat transfer, since it brings warmer and
cooler chunks of fluid into contact, initiating higher rates of conduction at
a greater number of sites in a fluid.

The rate of heat transfer through a fluid is much higher by convection
than it is by conduction.

In fact, the higher the fluid velocity, the higher the rate of heat transfer.

Heat transfer through a fluid

sandwiched between two
parallel plates.

4
Physical Mechanism of Convection
Convection heat transfer strongly depends on the fluid properties dynamic
viscosity, thermal conductivity, density, and specific heat, as well as the fluid
velocity. It also depends on the geometry and the roughness of the solid surface,
in addition to the type of fluid flow (such as being streamlined or turbulent).

Newton’s law
of cooling

Convection heat transfer coefficient, h: The rate of heat transfer between a

solid surface and a fluid per unit surface area per unit temperature difference.
Physical Mechanism of Convection
No-slip condition: A fluid in direct contact with a solid “sticks” to the surface due to
viscous effects, and there is no slip.
Boundary layer: The flow region adjacent to the wall in which the viscous effects
(and thus the velocity gradients) are significant.
The fluid property responsible for the no-slip condition and the development of the
boundary layer is viscosity.

A fluid flowing over a stationary surface

comes to a complete stop at the surface
The development of a velocity profile because of the no-slip condition.
due to the no-slip condition as a fluid
flows over a blunt nose.
Physical Mechanism of Convection
An implication of the no-slip condition is that heat transfer from the solid
surface to the fluid layer adjacent to the surface is by pure conduction, since
the fluid layer is motionless, and can be expressed as

The determination of the convection heat transfer coefficient when the

temperature distribution within the fluid is known

The convection heat transfer coefficient, in general, varies along the flow (or x-)
direction. The average or mean convection heat transfer coefficient for a surface
in such cases is determined by properly averaging the local convection heat
transfer coefficients over the entire surface area As or length L as

7
Physical Mechanism of Convection
Nusselt Number
In convection studies, it is common practice to nondimensionalize the governing
equations and combine the variables, which group together into dimensionless
numbers in order to reduce the number of total variables.
Nusselt number: Dimensionless convection heat transfer coefficient

Lc characteristic length

The Nusselt number represents the

enhancement of heat transfer through a
fluid layer as a result of convection
relative to conduction across the same
fluid layer.
The larger the Nusselt number, the more
effective the convection.
A Nusselt number of Nu = 1 for a fluid
Heat transfer through a fluid layer of layer represents heat transfer across the
thickness L and temperature layer by pure conduction. 9
difference T.
Physical Mechanism of Convection
Convection in daily life • We turn on the fan on hot
summer days to help our
body cool more effectively.
The higher the fan speed, the
better we feel.
• We stir our soup and blow on
a hot slice of pizza to make
them cool faster.
• The air on windy winter days
feels much colder than it
actually is.
• The simplest solution to
heating problems in
electronics packaging is to
use a large enough fan.

10
 Example: 1
During air cooling of oranges, the heat transfer coefficient for combined convection,
radiation is expressed as h = 5.05 kair Re1/3 /D, where the diameter D is the characteristic
length. The thermal conductivity (k = 0.02439 W/m°C) and the kinematic viscosity (ν = 1 .
426 × 10 -5 m 2 /s) of air are given.

Oranges are cooled by refrigerated air at 5 C̊ and 1 atm at a velocity of 0.5 m/s. Determine
(a) the initial rate of heat transfer from a 7-cm-diameter orange initially at 15 C ̊ with a
thermal conductivity of 0.50 W/m C, ̊ (b) the value of the initial temperature gradient inside
the orange at the surface, and (c) the value of the Nusselt number.

(a) The Reynolds number, the heat transfer coefficient, and the
initial rate of heat transfer from an orange are
 (b) The temperature gradient at the orange surface is determined from

(c) The Nusselt number is

Classification of Fluid Flows
Viscous versus Inviscid Regions of Flow
Viscous flows: Flows in which the frictional effects are significant.
Inviscid flow regions: In many flows of practical interest, there are regions
(typically regions not close to solid surfaces) where viscous forces are negligibly
small compared to inertial or pressure forces.

The flow of an originally

uniform fluid stream over a
flat plate, and
the regions of viscous flow
(next to the plate on both
sides) and inviscid flow
(away from the plate).

13
Classification of Fluid Flows
Internal versus External Flow
External flow: The flow of an unbounded fluid over a surface such as a
plate, a wire, or a pipe.
Internal flow: The flow in a pipe or duct if the fluid is completely
bounded by solid surfaces.

• Water flow in a pipe is

internal flow, and airflow
over a ball is external
flow .
• The flow of liquids in a
duct is called open-
channel flow if the duct is
only partially filled with
the liquid and there is a
free surface.
External flow over a tennis ball, and the
turbulent wake region behind.
14
 Compressible versus Incompressible Flow
Incompressible flow: If the c is the speed of sound
density of flowing fluid remains whose value is 346 m/s in air
nearly constant throughout (e.g., at room temperature at sea
liquid flow). level.
Compressible flow: If the Gas flows can often be
density of fluid changes during approximated as
flow (e.g., high-speed gas flow) incompressible if the density
changes are under about 5
When analyzing rockets, percent, which is usually the
spacecraft, and other systems case when Ma < 0.3.
that involve high-speed gas
Therefore, the compressibility
flows, the flow speed is often effects of air can be neglected
expressed by Mach number at speeds under about 100
Ma = 1 Sonic flow m/s.
Ma < 1 Subsonic flow
Ma > 1 Supersonic flow
15
Ma >> 1 Hypersonic flow
 Laminar versus Turbulent Flow
Laminar flow: The highly ordered
fluid motion characterized by
smooth layers of fluid. The flow of
high-viscosity fluids such as oils at
low velocities is typically laminar.
Turbulent flow: The highly
disordered fluid motion that
typically occurs at high velocities
and is characterized by velocity
fluctuations. The flow of low-
viscosity fluids such as air at high
velocities is typically turbulent.
Transitional flow: A flow that
alternates between being laminar
and turbulent.
Laminar, transitional, and turbulent flows. 
16
Natural (or Unforced)
versus Forced Flow
Forced flow: A fluid is
forced to flow over a
surface or in a pipe by
external means such as a
pump or a fan.
Natural flow: Fluid motion is
due to natural means such
as the buoyancy effect,
which manifests itself as In this schlieren image, the rise of lighter,
warmer air adjacent to her body indicates
the rise of warmer (and that humans and warm-blooded animals
thus lighter) fluid and the are surrounded by thermal plumes of rising
fall of cooler (and thus warm air.
denser) fluid.

17
 Steady versus Unsteady Flow
• The term steady implies no change at a point with time.
• The opposite of steady is unsteady.
• The term uniform implies no change with location over a
specified region.
• The term periodic refers to the kind of unsteady flow in which
the flow oscillates about a steady mean.
• Many devices such as turbines, compressors, boilers,
condensers, and heat exchangers operate for long periods of
time under the same conditions, and they are classified as
steady-flow devices.


18
 One-, Two-, and Three-Dimensional Flows
• A flow field is best characterized by its velocity distribution.
• A flow is said to be one-, two-, or three-dimensional if the flow velocity
varies in one, two, or three dimensions, respectively.
• However, the variation of velocity in certain directions can be small relative
to the variation in other directions and can be ignored.

The development of the velocity profile in a circular pipe. V = V(r, z) and thus
the flow is two-dimensional in the entrance region, and becomes one-
dimensional downstream when the velocity profile fully develops and remains
unchanged in the flow direction, V = V(r).

19
Velocity Boundary Layer
Velocity boundary layer: The region of the flow above
the plate bounded by  in which the effects of the
viscous shearing forces caused by fluid viscosity are
felt.

The boundary layer thickness, , is typically defined
as the distance y from the surface at which u = 0.99V.
The hypothetical line of u = 0.99V divides the flow over
a plate into two regions:
Boundary layer region: The viscous effects and the
velocity changes are significant.
Irrotational flow region: The frictional effects are
negligible and the velocity remains essentially constant.


20
Velocity Boundary Layer
Shear stress: Friction force per unit area.
Wall Shear Stress 
The shear stress for most fluids is
proportional to the velocity gradient, and the
shear stress at the wall surface is expressed
as

 dynamic viscosity
kg/ms or Ns/m2 or Pas

1 poise = 0.1 Pa  s

The fluids that obey the linear relationship
above are called Newtonian Fluids.
The viscosity of liquids decreases
and

Most common fluids such as water, air,
the viscosity of gases increases with gasoline, and oils are Newtonian fluids.
temperature. 
Blood and liquid plastics are examples of
non-Newtonian fluids. In this text we 
21
consider Newtonian fluids only.
Velocity Boundary Layer

Kinematic viscosity,
m2/s or stoke

1 stoke = 1 cm2/s = 0.0001 m2/s


The viscosity of a fluid is a measure of its resistance to deformation, and it
is a strong function of temperature.


Wall shear stress:

Cf friction coefficient or
skin friction coefficient

Friction force over the entire surface:


The friction coefficient is an important parameter in heat transfer studies since
it is directly related to the heat transfer coefficient and the power requirements 
22
of the pump or fan.
 Thermal Boundary Layer

A thermal boundary layer develops when a fluid at a specified temperature
flows over a surface that is at a different temperature.

Thermal boundary layer: The flow region over the surface in which the
temperature variation in the direction normal to the surface is significant.
 The thickness of the thermal boundary layer t at any location along the
surface is defined as the distance from the surface at which the
temperature difference T − Ts equals 0.99(T− Ts).

The thickness of the thermal boundary

layer increases in the flow direction, since
the effects of heat transfer are felt at
greater distances from the surface further
down stream.

The shape of the temperature profile in
the thermal boundary layer dictates the
convection heat transfer between a solid
Thermal boundary layer on a flat plate surface and the fluid flowing over it.

23
(the fluid is hotter than the plate surface).
Thermal Boundary Layer
Prandtl Number

The relative thickness of the velocity and the thermal boundary layers is
best described by the dimensionless parameter Prandtl number


The Prandtl numbers of gases are about 1,
which indicates that both momentum and heat
dissipate through the fluid at about the same
rate.

Heat diffuses very quickly in liquid metals (Pr <<
1) and very slowly in oils (Pr >> 1) relative to
momentum.

Consequently the thermal boundary layer is
much thicker for liquid metals and much thinner
for oils relative to the velocity boundary layer.
Laminar and Turbulent Flows

Laminar flow is encountered when

Laminar: Smooth highly viscous fluids such as oils
streamlines and highly flow in small pipes or narrow
ordered motion. passages.
Turbulent: Velocity
fluctuations and highly
disordered motion.
Transition: The flow
fluctuates between laminar
and turbulent flows.
Most flows encountered in
practice are turbulent.

The behavior of
colored fluid
Laminar and injected into the
turbulent flow flow in laminar
regimes of and turbulent
candle smoke. flows in a pipe. 25
Laminar and Turbulent Flows
At large Reynolds numbers, the inertial
Reynolds Number forces, which are proportional to the fluid
density and the square of the fluid velocity,
The transition from laminar to turbulent flow are large relative to the viscous forces, and
depends on the geometry, surface thus the viscous forces cannot prevent the
roughness, flow velocity, surface random and rapid fluctuations of the fluid
temperature, and type of fluid. (turbulent).
The flow regime depends mainly on the At small or moderate Reynolds numbers,
ratio of inertia forces to viscous forces the viscous forces are large enough to
(Reynolds number). suppress these fluctuations and to keep the
fluid “in line” (laminar).

Critical Reynolds number, Recr: The

Reynolds number at which the flow
becomes turbulent.
The value of the critical Reynolds
number is different for different
26
geometries and flow conditions.
Heat Transfer In Turbulent Flow

Most flows encountered in engineering practice are turbulent,
and thus it is important to understand how turbulence affects
wall shear stress and heat transfer.

However, turbulent flow is a complex mechanism dominated by
fluctuations, and the theory of turbulent flow is still not fully
understood.

We must rely on experiments and the empirical or semi-
empirical correlations developed for various situations.

Turbulent flow is characterized by disorderly and rapid
fluctuations of swirling regions of fluid, called eddies, throughout
the flow.

These fluctuations provide an
additional mechanism for
momentum and energy transfer. 27
Heat Transfer In Turbulent Flow


28
Heat Transfer In Turbulent Flow


29
Heat Transfer In Turbulent Flow


30
Derivation of Differential Convection
Equations
Conservation of Mass Equation

The conservation of mass principle is simply a statement that mass cannot be
created or destroyed, and all the mass must be accounted for during an
analysis.

In steady flow, the amount of mass within the control volume remains constant,
and thus the conservation of mass can be expressed as

(1)


Mass flow rate is equal to the product of density, mean velocity, and cross-
sectional area normal to flow. The rate at which fluid enters the control volume
from the left surface is


32
Conservation of Mass Equation

The rate at which the fluid leaves the control volume from the right surface can
be expressed as


Repeating this for the y direction and substituting the results into Eq-1, we
obtain


Simplifying and dividing by dx . dy . 1 gives


This is the conservation of mass relation, also known as the continuity
equation, or mass balance for steady two-dimensional flow of a fluid with
constant density.


33
Conservation of Momentum Equations
Conservation of Momentum Equations

Newton’s second law is an expression for the conservation of momentum, and
can be stated as the net force acting on the control volume is equal to the
mass times the acceleration of the fluid element within the control volume,
which is also equal to the net rate of momentum outflow from the control
volume.

The forces acting on the control volume consist of body forces that act
throughout the entire body of the control volume (such as gravity, electric, and
magnetic forces) and are proportional to the volume of the body.

Surface forces that act on the control surface (such as the pressure forces due
to hydrostatic pressure and shear stresses due to viscous effects) and are
proportional to the surface area.


Or
(1)

where the mass of the fluid element within the control volume is

(2) 
35
Conservation of Momentum Equations

Noting that flow is steady and two-dimensional and thus u =_x005F_x0004_
u(x, y), the total differential of u is


Then the acceleration of the fluid element in the x direction becomes

(3)

The forces acting on a surface are due to pressure and viscous effects.

In two-dimensional flow, the viscous stress at any point on an imaginary
surface within the fluid can be resolved into two perpendicular components:
one normal to the surface called normal stress (which should not be confused
with pressure) and another along the surface called shear stress.

The normal stress is related to the velocity gradients
_x005F_x0008_ that are much smaller than
to which shear stress is related.

Neglecting the normal stresses for simplicity, the
surface forces acting on the control volume in the x-
direction will be as shown in Fig.
Conservation of Momentum Equations

Then the net surface force acting in the x-direction becomes

(4)


Substituting Eqs. 2, 3, and 4 into Eq. 1 and dividing by dx dy 1 gives


This is the relation for the conservation of momentum in the x-direction, and is
known as the x-momentum equation.
Conservation of Momentum Equations

The velocity and temperature gradients
normal to the surface are much greater
than those along the surface. These
simplifications are known as the
boundary layer approximations.

When gravity effects and other body
forces are negligible and the boundary
layer approximations are valid, applying
Newton’s second law of motion on the
volume element in the y-direction gives
the y-momentum equation to be


That is, the variation of pressure in the
direction normal to the surface is
negligible, and thus P = P(x) and
Conservation of Energy Equation
Conservation of Energy Equation

The energy balance for any system undergoing any process is
expressed as


Which states that the change in the energy content of a system
during a process is equal to the difference between the energy
input and the energy output.

During a steady-flow process, the total energy content of a
control volume remains constant


Noting that energy can be transferred by heat, work, and mass
only, the energy balance for a steady-flow control volume can be
written explicitly as

(1)
Conservation of Energy Equation

The total energy of a flowing fluid stream per unit mass is
 e = h + ke + pe, where h is the enthalpy (which is the sum of
stream
internal energy and flow energy), pe = gz is the potential energy,
and ke = (u2 + v2)/2 is the kinetic energy of the fluid per unit mass.

The kinetic and potential energies are usually very small relative
to enthalpy, and therefore it is common practice to neglect them

The energy of the fluid per unit mass can be expressed as
 e = h = Cp T
stream


41
Conservation of Energy Equation

Energy is a scalar quantity, and thus energy
interactions in all directions can be
combined in one equation.

Noting that mass flow rate of the fluid
entering the control volume from the left is


The rate of energy transfer to the control
volume by mass in the x-direction is
Conservation of Energy Equation

Repeating this for the y-direction and adding the results, the net
rate of energy transfer to the control volume by mass is
determined to be


From the continuity equation

The net rate of heat conduction to the volume element in the x-
direction is

(2)
Conservation of Energy Equation

Repeating this for the y-direction and adding the results, the net
rate of energy transfer to the control volume by heat conduction
becomes

(3)


Another mechanism of energy transfer to and from the fluid in the
control volume is the work done by the body and surface forces.

The work done by a body force is determined by multiplying this
force by the velocity in the direction of the force and the volume of
the fluid element, and this work needs to be considered only in the
presence of significant gravitational, electric, or magnetic effects.
Conservation of Energy Equation

The surface forces consist of the forces due to fluid pressure and
the viscous shear stresses.

The work done by pressure (the flow work) is already accounted
for in the analysis above by using enthalpy.

The shear stresses that result from viscous effects are usually
very small, and can be neglected in many cases. This is especially
the case for applications that involve low or moderate velocities.

Then the energy equation for the steady two-dimensional flow of a
fluid with constant properties and negligible shear stresses is
obtained by substituting Eqs. 2 and 3 into 1 to be

Which states that the net energy convected by the fluid out of the
control volume is equal to the net energy transferred into the control
volume by heat conduction.
Conservation of Energy Equation

When the viscous shear stresses are not negligible, their effect is
accounted for by expressing the energy equation as


Where the viscous dissipation function is obtained after a lengthy
analysis to be
 Example: 2
Oil flow in a journal bearing can be treated as parallel flow between two large
isothermal plates with one plate moving at a constant velocity of 12 m/s and the
other stationary. Consider such a flow with a uniform spacing of 0.7 mm between
the plates. The temperatures of the upper and lower plates are 40 C ̊ and 25 C, ̊
respectively. By simplifying and solving the continuity, momentum, and energy
equations, determine (a) the velocity and temperature distributions in the oil, (b)
the maximum temperature and where it occurs, and (c) the heat flux from the oil
to each plate. Viscosity and thermal conductivity of lubricating oil are 0.580
Ns/m2 and 0.145 W/m K

(a) We take the x-axis to be the flow

direction, and y to be the normal
direction. This is parallel flow between
two plates, and thus v = 0. Then the
continuity equation reduces to
The x-component of velocity does not change in the flow direction (i.e., the velocity
profile remains unchanged). Noting that u = u(y), v = 0, and ∂P/∂x = 0 (flow is
maintained by the motion of the upper plate rather than the pressure gradient), the
x-momentum equation

This is a second-order ordinary differential equation, and integrating it twice gives

The fluid velocities at the plate surfaces must be equal to the velocities of the plates
because of the no-slip condition. Therefore, the boundary conditions are u(0) = 0
and u(L) = V , and applying them gives the velocity distribution to be
Frictional heating due to viscous dissipation in this case is significant because of
the high viscosity of oil and the large plate velocity. The plates are isothermal and
there is no change in the flow direction, and thus the temperature depends on y
only, T = T(y). Also, u = u(y) and v = 0. Then the energy equation with dissipation
reduce to

Dividing both sides by k and integrating twice give

Applying the boundary conditions T(0) = T1 and T(L) = T2 gives the temperature
distribution to be
(b) The temperature gradient is determined by differentiating T(y) with respect to y,

The location of maximum temperature is determined by setting dT/dy = 0 and

solving for y,

The maximum temperature is the value of temperature at this y, whose

numeric value is
(c) Heat flux at the plates is determined from the definition of heat flux,
 Example: 3
A 6-cm-diameter shaft rotates at 3000 rpm in a 20-cm-long bearing with a
uniform clearance of 0.2 mm. At steady operating conditions, both the bearing
and the shaft in the vicinity of the oil gap are at 50 C,
̊ and the viscosity and
thermal conductivity of lubricating oil are 0.05 Ns/m2 and 0.17 W/mK. By
simplifying and solving the continuity, momentum, and energy equations,
determine (a) the maximum temperature of oil, (b) the rates of heat transfer to
the bearing and the shaft, and (c) the mechanical power wasted by the viscous
dissipation in the oil.

(a) Oil flow in journal bearing can be approximated as

parallel flow between two large plates with one plate
moving and the other stationary. We take the x-axis to
be the flow direction, and y to be the normal direction.
This is parallel flow between two plates, and thus v =
0. Then the continuity equation reduces to
The x-component of velocity does not change in the flow direction (i.e., the velocity
profile remains unchanged). Noting that u = u(y), v = 0, and ∂P/∂x = 0 (flow is
maintained by the motion of the upper plate rather than the pressure gradient), the
x-momentum equation

This is a second-order ordinary differential equation, and integrating it twice gives

The fluid velocities at the plate surfaces must be equal to the velocities of the
plates because of the no-slip condition. Taking x = 0 at the surface of the bearing,
the boundary conditions are u(0) = 0 and u(L) = V , and applying them gives the
velocity distribution to be
The plates are isothermal and there is no change in the flow direction, and thus the
temperature depends on y only, T = T(y). Also, u = u(y) and v = 0. Then the energy
equation with viscous dissipation reduce to

Dividing both sides by k and integrating twice give

Applying the boundary conditions T(0) = T0 and T(L) = T0 gives the temperature
distribution to be

The temperature gradient is determined by differentiating T(y) with respect to y,

The location of maximum temperature is determined by setting dT/dy = 0 and
solving for y,

Therefore, maximum temperature will occur at mid plane in the oil. The velocity
and the surface area are

The maximum temperature is

(b) The rates of heat transfer are

Therefore, rates of heat transfer at the two plates are equal in magnitude but
opposite in sign. The mechanical power wasted is equal to the rate of heat transfer.
Thank You