LECTURE 3: Steady Heat Conduction

Syllabus:

Thermal Resistance Concept, Thermal Contact Resistance, Fin Equation, Fin

Efficiency, Fin Effectiveness

Thermal Resistance Concept

The thermal resistance network for heat transfer through

a two-layer plane wall subjected to convection on both
sides can be expressed as
T T 2
Q 1
Rtotal

(1)

Rtot Rconv ,1 Rwall ,1 Rwall , 2 Rconv , 2

1
L
L
1
1 2
h1 A k1 A k 2 A h2 A

(2)

In particular, for steady heat transfer through multilayered cylindrical shells we have
T T 2
Q 1
,
Rtotal

Rtot Rconv ,1 Rcyl ,1 Rcyl , 2 Rcyl ,3 Rconv , 2

1
ln(r2 r1 ) ln(r3 r2 ) ln(r4 r3 )
1

h1 A
2Lk1
2Lk 2
2Lk3
h2 A

(2c)

The various examples of thermal resistance network arrangements are given at pp. 136-145 of the
textbook.

Thermal Contact Resistance

An interface between surfaces often offers some

resistance to heat transfer Rc. Commonly in the
analysis of heat transfer through multilayer walls a
perfect and actual contacts are considered.

Fin Equation

d
dT
kAc
h p T T
dx
dx

(3)

In the special case of Ac = constant the Eqn.(3) reduces to

d 2T h p
d 2

0
or
m 2 0

dx 2 kAc
dx 2
hp
2
where m k A and T T
c

(4)

At the fin tip we have several possible types of boundary conditions

which would yield a different distribution of temperature along the fin.
Infinitely long fin ( Tfin tip T ) yields

T ( x ) T
e mx exp x hp kAc
Tb T

(5)

Fin Efficiency
Q

fin
fin
Q fin ,max

Efficiency of straight fins

of rectangular, triangular,
and parabolic profiles

(6)

Fin Effectiveness

The performance of the fins is judged on the basis of the enhancement

in heat transfer relative to the no-fin case. The performance of fins is
expressed in terms of the fin effectiveness fin defined as
Q
Heat transfer rate from the fin of the base area A b
fin fin
Qno fin
Heat transfer rate from the surface of area A b

The effectiveness of a long fin of uniform cross section:

Q
long fin fin
Qno fin

kp
hAc

(7)

References:
1. Y. A. engel, A. J. Ghajar . Heat and Mass Transfer. Fundamentals and Applications. 4th Ed.,
McGraw-Hill, Chapter 3.