International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer 108 (2019) 104313

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ichmt

Experimental and numerical analysis of a nonlinear pin fin with temperature T

dependent properties and disparate boundary conditions
Sarvjeet Singh, Rohit Kumar Singla
⁎

Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology, Patiala, India

ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT

Keywords: The present work investigates, the performance of a nonlinear longitudinal pin fin with all temperature-de-
Non-linear pin fin pendent linear/nonlinear parameters. The solution of the problem is evaluated with tip conditions ranging from
Heat transfer unchallenging ones such as constant temperature, insulated tip, etc. to realistic ones such as convective and
Cooling electronics radiative tip. The non-linear governing equations are solved using Pdepe solver. The numerical results are va-
lidated with literature and found to be well in agreement. The experiments are performed and it is found that the
results from experimental and numerical process are following the same trends. The uncertainty analysis is also
done for the input parameters of experimental setup. The study investigates the effect of conduction-convection
and conduction-radiation parameters on temperature profile and efficiency. Furthermore, the effect of non-linear
temperature-dependent parameters i.e., n,β and γ on the temperature distribution and efficiency is too in-
vestigated. It is found that the effect of β and γ are insignificant on both temperature and efficiency. The effect of
tip parameters i.e., Nbr and Bi are also investigated. The opposite effect of Biot number is observed on tem-
perature profile on the tip as compared to surface convection. The experimental results are also presented after
the numerical analysis for the sake of realization.

1. Introduction
Heat transfer is a process of exchange of thermal energy by three
different modes namely conduction, convection, and radiation, each of
which has its unique phenomena and significance on the system [1,2].
The fins are the most preferred passive technology for enhancing the
exchange of thermal energy. The increase in the heat transfer in fins is
due to more exposed surface area to the external environment which
leads to more convection and radiation. Real life applications of fins
include engines, refrigerators, electric transformers, semiconductors,
reciprocating air compressors, heat sinks of laptops/servers and many
more.
A lot of literature related to the enhancement of heat transfer
through the extended surfaces is available [3–6]. Gawai and Mathew in
[7] presented the heat enhancement technique using depressions on the
surface of Aluminum and Brass instead of the projections. It leads to the
phenomena of scrubbing of fluid and hence increasing the heat transfer
process with less pressure loses. A new nodal based smooth finite ele-
ment method is proposed in [8] for heat transfer problem and it is
highly accurate and reliable. A simulation model presented in [9] for a
composite solid cylindrical pin fin is solved with the commercial soft-
ware ANSYS. It is shown in this paper that the composite fins cause less
heat transfer as compared to solid cylindrical pin fins. For cylindrical
pin fin [10–12], it is observed that the heat transfer enhances as ma-
terial changes from lower thermal conductivity to higher. Yeh in [13]
has analytically investigated the rectangular and cylindrical pin fin
with temperature dependent heat transfer coefficients. A numerical
technique namely differential quadrature element method is used in
[14] on a convective-radiative fin. A time-dependent conduction pro-
blem is solved in [15] with numerical technique to evaluate the
boundary condition of a rectangular fin. An analytical approach is used
by Kundu and Lee in [16] to study fin with internal heat generation
following Fourier or non-Fourier laws. Giri and Jilani [17] analyzed the
performance of composite fin by using the numerical tool ANSYS.
Further in [18,19], they had applied CFD based numerical techniques
on fins in vehicle configuration.
Saravanakumar et al. [20] used a semi-analytical Homotopy ana-
lysis method on straight convective fins with temperature-dependent
thermal conductivity problems to predict the solution of non- linear
equation. In [21] the problem of Fourier and hyperbolic heat conduc-
tion in a fin having periodic boundary conditions is analytically solved
using the Laplace transform method. Differential transformation
method (DTM) [22] is used for estimating the efficiency and behaviour
of a straight fin have temperature-dependent thermal parameters. In

⁎
Corresponding author at: Mechanical Engineering Department, Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology, Patiala, Punjab 147004, India.
E-mail address: rohit.kumar@thapar.edu (R.K. Singla).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icheatmasstransfer.2019.104313

0735-1933/ © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

S. Singh and R.K. Singla
Nomenclature
d diameter of the fin, [m]
r radius of the fin, [m]
L length of the fin, [m]
P perimeter of the fin, [m]
Acs cross sectional area of fin, [m2]
q Heat flux [W/m2]
h convective heat transfer coefficient, [W/m2.k]
k thermal conductivity, [W/m-k]
T temperature, [K]
Tb base temperature, [K]
Ta ambient temperature, [K]
σ Stefan-Boltzmann constant [5.67 × 10-8 W/m2.K4]
ɛ emissivity
t time, [s]
Bi Biot number
n exponent for variable heat transfer coefficient
Nc convection parameter
Nr radiation parameter
[23], Cole et al. found the exact solution with Green's function for
transient fin problem to estimate the coefficient of heat transfer. The
double decomposition method [24] and Adomian decomposition
method [25] are applied on non-linear equation of annular fin having
hyperbolic profile having different thermal conductivity to determine
thermal performance of the fin. DTM is used in [26] on a convective-
radiative triangular porous fin having temperature dependent thermal
conductivity. In [27], a convective annular fin having different
boundary conditions is studied. In [28], DTM is applied on a long-
itudinal fin having temperature dependent thermal conductivity and
internal heat generation to obtain temperature field. Homotopy Per-
turbation Sumudu Transform Method [29] is applied on straight con-
vective fin having constant and temperature dependent thermal con-
ductivity to find the solution of a non-linear fractional order diffusion
equation. The temperature-dependent thermal conductivity of radiative
radial fin is analyzed by differential transformation method [30]. An
analytical variational iteration method [31] is applied on a convective
straight and radial fin with temperature dependent thermal con-
ductivity. In [32], the Adomian decomposition Sumudu transform
method is applied on a convective fin having temperature dependent
thermal conductivity to analyze the temperature distribution along the
fin. This method is helpful in solving the non-linear equations having
fraction order. The Homotopy perturbation method [33] is used to
evaluate the temperature distribution in annular fin having tempera-
ture dependent thermal conductivity. Many other research papers are
Fig. 1. Schematic of extended surface/pin fin geometry.
2
International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer 108 (2019) 104313
Nbr radiation parameter at boundary
Greek symbols
θ dimensionless temperature (=T/Tb)
θa dimensionless ambient temperature (=Ta/Tb)
τ dimensionless time
ζ dimensionless length of the fin
ϕ dimensionless heat flux
ρ density, [kg/m3]
β a constant describing the variation of thermal conductivity
γ a constant describing the variation of heat transfer coef-
ficient
λ the slope of thermal conductivity−temperature curve(K-1)
δ the slope of thermal emissivity−temperature curve(K-1)
Subscripts
a ambient
b fin base
available [34–37] where analytical and semi analytical methods are
used. Very few articles are experimentally analyzing the systems com-
prising of fins. The experiments are done on a rectangular duct [38]
made up of triangular and pin fin array at constant heat flux where the
temperature is measured with thermocouples. The experimental in-
vestigation of heat transfer in a pipe with fins of different shapes is done
in [39] for a range of Reynolds number.
The above literature survey reveals that analytical and semi analy-
tical methods are most prevalent for solving the nonlinear fin problems.
However, these methods are computationally expensive and are diffi-
cult to understand. The alternative numerical methods may be useful in
this situation, but when most of the parameters involved are tempera-
ture dependent, the corresponding problem is highly nonlinear and
difficult to handle with numerical methods. It is found from the lit-
erature survey that numerical methods are used when very few para-
meters are temperature dependent [40–44]. Nevertheless, the com-
mercial tools [45,46] based on the numerical methods are the saviors
for handling nonlinearities.
In this paper, a highly nonlinear transient heat transfer problem
with all temperature dependent properties is considered and solved
using Matlab based Pdepe solver. The beauty of the solver is that it can
very easily solve nonlinear partial differential equations and the pro-
cedure for the same is explained in the present work. Moreover, the
present work focuses on the experimental aspects too. The input para-
meters for the solution are obtained from experimental test rig for
S. Singh and R.K. Singla International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer 108 (2019) 104313

realistic results. The parametric and comparative analysis of results is T T

k (T ) Acs h (T ) P (T Ta) (T ) P ( T 4 T 4a) = cp A
also presented in the form of temperature distribution with respect to x x t
space and time.
(7)
where ‘h(T)’ is the non-linear heat transfer coefficient, ‘k(T)’ is the
2. Problem formulation
temperature-dependent thermal conductivity and ‘ɛ(T)’ is temperature
dependent emissivity which are expressed as
In the present work, a cylindrical pin fin with temperature-depen-
dent thermal properties is considered as shown in Fig. 1. This fin is used k (T ) = ka [1 + (T Ta )] (8)
to dissipate the heat generated from an electronic device by the mode of
conduction, convection and radiation. For the sake of experimentation, T Ta
n

a heater is attached at the left end of the fin imitating the heat provided h (T) = hb
Tb Ta (9)
by the above said electronic device. Another end is subjected to a
variety of boundary conditions varying from simplest such as an in-
(T ) = a [1 + (T Ta)] (10)
sulated tip, isothermal boundary, convective tip, radiative tip, to rea-
listic ones such as the combined convective and radiative tip. The Here ka is the thermal conductivity at the ambient air temperature of
governing equation for the above problem has been derived below by the fin, ‘hb’ is the heat transfer coefficient at the base temperature, and
considering a small element in the direction of heat transfer, x as shown 'εa'is the emissivity at ambient temperature. ‘λ’, ‘n’ and ‘δ’ are respec-
in Fig. 1. According to the Fourier law, the heat conducted into the tively the parameters defining the variation of thermal conductivity,
element at the position x (Qx) and conducted out at the position x + dx heat transfer coefficient and emissivity with respect to the temperature.
(Qx+dx) are given by the following equations, The governing equation is associated with left and right tip boundary

Qx = k (T) Acs
T conditions, where the left one is fixed ( k (T ) A cs
T
x x )
= q at x = 0 ,
x x (1) and different boundary conditions are imposed at right tip.
Following cases are considered for the right end tip.
T Case-1: Insulated Tip.
Qx + dx = k (T ) Acs
x x + dx (2) T
k (T ) A cs = 0 at x=L
Heat emitting out of the element due to the process of convection x x (11)
and radiation is given by,
Case-2: Isothermal Tip.
Qconv. = h (T ) Pdx (T Ta) (3) T = Ttip at x = L (12)

Qrad = (T ) Pdx (T 4 T 4a) (4) Case-3: Convection Tip.

Energy stored in the element is given by cp A dt . An energy balance

dT
T
k (T ) A cs = h (T ) A (T Ta) at x = L
on the element, leads to the following equation x x (13)
dT Case-4: Radiative Tip
Qx = Q(x + dx ) + Qconv . + Qrad . + cp
dt (5)
T
k (T ) A cs x
= (T ) A ( T 4 T 4 a) at x = L
dT
x
(14)
Qx Q(x + dx ) Qconv . Qrad . = cp
dt (6)
Case-5: Convective and radiative Tip

Fig. 2. Test rig of extended surface with data acquisition system.

3
S. Singh and R.K. Singla International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer 108 (2019) 104313

n
T a
k (T ) Acs = h (T ) A (T Ta ) + (T ) A (T 4 T 4 a) [1 + ( a )] = Bi. ( a)
x x 1 a

at x = L (15) + Nbr [1 ( a )](

4
a
4) at =1

The above governing equation and the associated boundary condi- (21a)
tions are non–dimensionalized using the following quantities. To analyze the performance of the fin, the efficiency of the pin fin is
obtained by taking the ratio of actual heat removed to the ideal heat
T Ta hb PL2 = T o PL2Tb3 removed as mentioned in the following equation of the efficiency,
= ; a = ; Nc = ; ; Nr = ;
Tb Tb ka Acs = Tb K a Acs
n
k t a
= 2o ; Nc ( a)d
L cp 0
1 a

x hb L qL o LTb3
= ; Bi = ; = ; Nbr = + Nr (1 ( 4 4) d
L ka ka Tb ka a ))( a …
0
n
To identify the feasible range of the non-dimensional parameters, =1 a
+ Bi ( =1 a)
we have constructed an experimental setup described below: 1 a
The experimental process was conducted on the test rig with a cy- 4 4)
+ Nbr (1 ( =1 a ))( a
lindrical brass fin, heating element with controller, DAQ and K-type
=1
=
n
thermocouple, as shown in Fig. 2. A metal rod of brass with thermal =0 a
Nc ( a )d
conductivity, k = 121 W/m-K at room temperature is heated from one 1 a
=0
0
end by heating element. Further, the heat dissipates from the exposed
length to the environment by natural convection and radiation. Next, + Nr (1 ( =0 a ))(
4
a
4) d …
=0
the temperature distribution along the bar was measured by equally 0
spaced K-type thermocouples. This setup consist of nine thermocouples, =0 a
n

out of which eight are 50 mm spaced to each other to measure rod + Bi ( =0 a)

1 a
temperature and one is for ambient temperature. The power input to
4 4)
the heating element was measured by voltage and current. The above + Nbr (1 ( =0 a ))( =0 a (21b)
said three measurement parameters are fluctuating, which are causing
To summarize the problem formulation section; a governing equa-
error in the analysis. Therefore, the relative uncertainties in these
tion which is parabolic in nature has been formulated for five different
parameters are evaluated and are equal to 0.0156, 0.03144 and
cases of the right boundary condition. Instead of following the con-
0.06542 for temperature, voltage and current, respectively. The other
ventional path of using numerical methods such as finite difference,
dimensional parameters of this setup are presented in Table 1. Further,
finite element etc., we have used the available Mathworks Matlab based
the dimensional parameters are converted into feasible non-dimen-
Pdepe solver (which stands for partial differential equations of para-
sional parameters as presented in Table 2. Next, the mathematical
bolic and elliptic type). The next section is dedicated to the solution
formulation is converted into non-dimensional format to apply solution
methodology for solving above derived equations with Pdepe solver.
methodology in the following sections.
Governing equation:-
3. Solution methdology
n
a
+ a Nc ( a) Pdepe solver is availble to solve partial differential equations of
1 a
parabolic and elliptic type with one spatial variable. The first step used
Nr [1 ( a )](
4 4
4) = by Pdepe is to use spatial discretization technique to convert the partial
(16)
differential equation into a set of ordinary differential equations
Dimensionless boundary conditions: [1 + ( (ODEs). These ODEs are further solved using a time integrating tech-
a )]
nique.
= at = 0 , together with
The detailed implementation steps include:
Case-1: Insulated Tip.
1. The PDE at hand should be rewritten in the following form
[1 + ( a )] = 0 at =1
(17) u u u u
c x , t , u, =x m x mf x , t , u, + s x , t , u, ,
x t x x x
Case-2: Isothermal Tip.
t0 t t f &a x b (22)
= tip at =1 (18)
Table 1
Case-3: Convective Tip.
Input parameters taken from experimental test rig for forward analysis.
n
a Property Value
[1 + ( a )] = Bi. ( a)
1 a
Brass fin density, ρ 8520 kg/m3
at =1 (19) Specific heat at constant pressure of the fin, cp 375 J/kg-K
The thermal conductivity of the fin, k 121 W/m-K
Case-4: Radiative Tip Base temperature, Tb 298 K
Ambient Temperature, Ta 295 K
4 4) Length of the fin, L 0.35 m
[1 + ( a )] = Nbr [(1 ( a )]( a at =1 Diameter of fin, d 0.01 m
Material of the fin Brass
(20) Active cross-sectional area, A 7.854 × 10−5 m2
Perimeter of fin, P 0.03014 m
Case-5: Convective and radiative Tip

4
S. Singh and R.K. Singla International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer 108 (2019) 104313

Table 2 The PDE satisfies the initial condition θ(x, 0) = 0.88 for all x. By
Non-dimensional parameters with range based on fea- comparing the value of left side boundary condition
sible experimental input and final parameters value used [1 + ( a )] = at = 0 with the Eq. (28), we get pl = Φ and
during forward analysis.
ql = 1. Further, comparing Eqs. (19)–(23), with Eq. (24), we get the
Range Values following functions p and q for the right tip:
Case-1: Insulated Tip
3 ≤ hb ≤ 25 hb = 5
0 ≤ ɛo ≤ 1 ɛo = 0.95 pr = 0; qr = 1 (25)
1.3≤Nc≤10 Nc=2
0.1≤Nr≤0.5 Nr=0.1 Case-2: Isothermal Tip
0.001≤Nbr≤0.004 Nbr=0.002
0.0086≤Bi≤0.07 - Bi=0.07
pr = tip | = 1 ; qr = 0 (26)
Time step, dτ 0.4167
Grid size, dξ 0.1429
Case-3: Convection Tip.
Final time, τ 5 n
a
pr = Bi . ( a) ; qr = 1
1 a =1 (27)
Case-4: Radiative Tip.
where m can be 0, 1, or 2, corresponding to slab, cylindrical, or sphe- pr = Nbr [(1 ( a )](
4
a
4 )|
=1 ; qr = 1 (28)
u u
rical symmetry, respectively. f (x , t , u, x ) is the flux term ands (x , t , u, x )
Case-5: Convective and radiative Tip.
is the source term.
n
a 4 4)
2. An initial condition has to specified which is satisfied at t = t0 and pr = Bi . ( a) + Nbr [(1 ( a )]( a ; qr
1 a
all x, given by =1

=1 (29)
u (x , to ) = u o ( x ) (23)
The above process is used to evaluate non-dimensional temperature
profile of the fin. Further, the correlations [47–49] for the same are
3. The boundary condition is written in the following form proposed using second order polynomial curve fitting and presented in
u Table 3 for different cases. In the next section, the results and discussion
p(x , t , u) + q (xt ) f x , t , u, = 0, have been presented in detail.
x
for all t and for x = a or x = b (24)
4. Results and discussion

4. Next, three function files containing c,f,s and u0 and p, q are created The solution of governing equation with various boundary condi-
(pdex1pde, pdex1ic, pdex1pde can be referred in the Matlab tions is obtained using MATLAB based pdepe solver. The obtained re-
code given in the appendix). sults for temperature distributions are compared with literature for a
5. Mesh for x and t (using linspace Matlab function) is created and simplest case without internal heat generation, insulated and constant
pdepe is called in the command window as sol = pdepe(m,@ temperature tip conditions. The comparison is presented in Fig. 3 and it
pdex1pde,@pdex1ic,@pdex1bc,xi,tau); can be observed that our results are well in agreement with the results
6. The solutions are then plotted for post-processing. obtained in literature by RK-4 for conductive-convective and radiative
fin at β = 0.2, θa = Q = 0, Nc = 1, Nr = 0.2.
For our research work, we have to use Pdepe to solve Eq. (17) for The different values of non-dimensional entities (Nc, Nr, n, θa, β, γ,
0 ≤ ξ ≤ 1 for times τ ≥ 0. Comparing Eqs. (17) and (24), we get the Bi and Nbr) used in the solution methodology are obtained from the
following experimental measurements from test rig as shown in Fig. 2. The
m=0 measured experimental parameters are presented in Table 1. These
values are further used to calculate feasible non-dimensional para-
f= + a meters for forward analysis along with the range of few assumed
n
parameters as mentioned in Table 2. Based on the above selected
s= Nc a
( a) Nr [1 ( a )](
4 4
a)
parameters, the solution i.e., temperature distribution is obtained. The
1 a temperature profile is obtained for the nonlinear heat transfer problem
c=1 with all temperature dependent thermos-physical parameters. In the

Table 3
Proposed correlations of the non-dimensional temperature profile for various parameters.
General correlation θ = p00 + p10(ξ) + p01(Y) + p20(ξ2) + p11(ξ × Y) + p02(Y2)

Nr = 0.1, Nc = 2, n = 1, Nbr = 0.002, γ = 0.02, β = 0.02, θa = 0.88, τ = 5, Bi = 0.07

Coefficients R2 value p00 p10 p01 p20 p11 p02

Y↓
Nc : 0 − 5 0.9096 1.956 −0.7754 −0.441 0.411 0.03231 0.05842
Nr : 0 − 0.5 0.9918 1.315 −0.6845 −0.1323 0.4066 0.02082 0.04231
n:0−5 0.9624 1.475 −0.696 −0.1589 0.348 0.05293 0.01716
β = − 0.05 − 0.05 0.9917 1.303 −0.6875 −0.01954 0.4108 0.04288 −0.0009526
γ : − 0.05 − 0.05 0.9919 1.302 −0.6841 0.003774 0.4083 −0.001858 −0.0003656
Nbr : 0.001 − 0.5 0.9918 1.3 −0.6696 −0.02687 0.3928 −0.09965 0.05959
Bi : 0.01 − 0.5 0.9918 1.303 −0.6907 −0.003794 0.412 0.04175 0.003519

5
S. Singh and R.K. Singla International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer 108 (2019) 104313

Fig. 3. Validation of present solution technique using pdepe solver with lit- Fig. 5. Comparison of non-dimensional temperature (θ) for various values of Nc
erature [50]; β = 0.2, θa = Q = 0, Nc = 1, Nr = 0.2. with Nr = 0.1, n = 1, Nbr = 0.002, Bi = 0.07, γ = 0.02, β = 0.02, θa = 0.88,
τ = 5.

Fig. 4. Comparison of steady state temperature distribution for different boundary condition at tip of the fin a) different mode of heat transfer both at surface and tip
b) different mode of heat transfer at tip c) different mode of heat transfer with n = 0 and γ = 0 at tip.

6
S. Singh and R.K. Singla International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer 108 (2019) 104313

Table 4
Efficiency of the pin fin for convective and radiative heat transfer.
Nr = 0.1, Nc = 2, n = 1, Efficiency of fin, η
Nbr = 0.002, γ = 0.02, β = 0.02,
θa = 0.88, τ = 5, Bi = 0.07

Nc : 0 − 5→ 0 1 2 3 5
η 0.5277 0.4516 0.2853 0.1643 0.2793
Nr : 0 − 0.5→ 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.5
η 0.3079 0.3041 0.3004 0.2968 0.2904
n : 0 − 5→ 0 1 2 3 5
η 0.5644 0.3360 0.1879 0.1209 0.0981
β = − 0.05 − 0.05→ −0.05 −0.01 0 0.01 0.05
η 0.3014 0.3023 0.3025 0.3028 0.3037
γ : − 0.05 − 0.05→ −0.05 −0.01 0 0.01 0.05
η 0.3034 0.3034 0.3034 0.3034 0.3034
Nbr : 0.001 − 0.5→ 0.001 0.002 0.004 0.1 0.5
η 0.3060 0.3059 0.3056 0.2944 0.2629
Bi : 0.01 − 0.5→ 0.01 0.03 0.05 0.1 0.5
η 0.3056 0.3046 0.3037 0.3015 0.2929

Fig. 7. Comparison of non-dimensional temperature (θ) for various values of n

with Nr = 0.1, Nc = 2, Nbr = 0.002, Bi = 0.07, γ = 0.02, β = 0.02, θa = 0.88,
τ = 5.

Fig. 6. Comparison of non-dimensional temperature (θ) for various values of Nr

with Nc = 2, n = 1, Nbr = 0.002, Bi = 0.07, γ = 0.02, β = 0.02, θa = 0.88,
τ = 5.

present research work, the boundary conditions have been considered

from simplest (Insulated tip) to most critical one (Simultaneous con-
vective and radiative tip).
This research paper discusses two major points: the effects of dif-
ferent modes of heat transfer on the temperature distribution either on
surface or tip of the extended surface and secondly about the effect of
parameters on the temperature distribution. In the first part, the mode
of heat transfer varies to analyze the performance via temperature.
From Fig. 4a, it can be observed that the case with radiation mode is
having maximum temperature as compared to other cases such as
convective, convective and radiative. This is due to the less value of the
non-dimensional parameter Nr, determined from experimental setup
and unavailability of convection term in governing equation. It means
that the more heat transfer occurs in only convective case and then
convective-radiative case both at surface and tip of the fin as compared
to the radiative case. The inconsistency comes in the insulated case, as
in this case both the convection and radiation take place from surface
(in governing equation) so that due the availability of ‘n’ more heat
transfer takes place at surface and no heat transfer at tip. The constant
temperature at tip condition is an independent case and it corresponds
to the least temperature profile as θξ=1 = 1 is considered.
In Fig. 4(b), temperature profiles are shown when it is considered
Fig. 8. Comparison of non-dimensional temperature (θ) for various values of β
with Nr = 0.1, Nc = 2, n = 1, Bi = 0.07, γ = 0.02, Nbr = 0.002, θa = 0.88,
τ = 5.
that the heat transfer occurs by all modes on the surface and tip con-
ditions vary. It is observed from Fig. 4(b) that the convective tip con-
dition has the highest temperature followed by the others but it is not
expected in real phenomena of heat transfer. In actual situations, the
temperature profile of insulated tip condition should correspond to the
maximum temperature. The disparity is due to temperature dependent
heat transfer coefficient (i.e. due of ‘n’ value) as it decreases convective
heat transfer at the tip. As ‘n’ (temperature dependent heat transfer
coefficient) is considered both in governing and boundary condition,
the opposite effect on the tip surface is observed. On surface, it in-
creases the heat transfer but at tip it decreases leading to unexpected
trend.
To be sure about the fact that the suggested solution methodology is
providing us with the expected results, we have considered a simpler
case with constant heat transfer coefficient and constant emissivity i.e.
n = 0 and γ= 0. The temperature profiles obtained for this case are
shown in Fig. 4(c). It can be observed that these temperature profiles
follow the expected trends of insulated tip having the maximum

7
S. Singh and R.K. Singla International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer 108 (2019) 104313

Fig. 9. Comparison of non-dimensional temperature (θ) for various values of γ Fig. 11. Comparison of non-dimensional temperature (θ) for various values of
with Nr = 0.1, Nc = 2, n = 1, Nbr = 0.002, β = 0.02, Bi = 0.07, θa = 0.88, Bi with Nr = 0.1, Nc = 2, n = 1, Nbr = 0.002, γ = 0.02, β = 0.02, θa = 0.88,
τ = 5. τ = 5.

Fig. 10. Comparison of non-dimensional temperature (θ) for various values of

Nbr with Nr = 0.1, Nc = 2, n = 1, β = 0.02, γ = 0.02, Bi = 0.07, θa = 0.88,
τ = 5.

temperature followed by radiative tip, then convective tip and at last

the convective and radiative tip. This leads us to conclude that sug-
gested methodology is accurate and can be used to study the effects of
individual parameters on the performance in terms of temperature
distribution.
Fig. 5 shows the effect of conduction-convection parameter, Nc on
the temperature distribution of the fin. It can be observed that with an
increase in the value of Nc there is a decrement in the local temperature
of the fin. It can be attributed to the fact that increase in Nc leads to
more convection, and hence leading to more heat loses causing a low
temperature. It is also observed from Table 4 that the efficiency of the
fin, η, decreases with increase of Nc. This is due to the decrease of
temperature gradient between surface temperature and ambient tem-
perature. Next, the effect of conduction-radiation parameter, Nr on Fig. 12. Transient temperature distribution from experimental setup (a) di-
mensional temperature and (b) non-dimensional temperature for V = 80 V and
temperature distribution has been depicted in Fig. 6. An increase in the
I = 0.027 A.
value of conduction-radiation parameter, Nr, leads to decrease in both
the local temperature and efficiency, η, which is as per the expectation

8
S. Singh and R.K. Singla
Fig. 13. Transient temperature distribution from experimental setup (a) di-
mensional temperature and (b) non-dimensional temperature for V = 70 V and
I = 0.022 A.
and the explanation is similar as done in case of Fig. 5. It is clear from
Figs. 5 and 6 that an increase in conduction-convection parameter and
conduction-radiation parameter leads to an increase in heat transfer
rate with the decrement in the efficiency η.
Next, the results and discussions are presented for effects of tem-
perature dependent parameters namely exponent of variable heat
transfer coefficient, n (Fig. 7), temperature dependent thermal con-
ductivity parameter,β (Fig. 8), and temperature dependent radiative
parameter, γ (Fig. 9). The overall impact of exponent of variable heat
transfer coefficient, n has been investigated and it is found that the rate
of heat transfer increases with increase in n which subsequently de-
crease the temperature as shown in Fig. 7. Moreover, it is found that the
effects of βand γ on temperature profile and efficiency is insignificant as
shown in Figs. 8 and 9 along with Table 4. The insignificance is due to
small magnitude of these parameters. It can therefore be concluded that
the effect of temperature dependent heat transfer coefficient is very
important both at surface and tip of fin in the present work.
Next the impacts of tip parameters i.e., radiative parameter of
boundary, Nbr Biot number, Bi have been presented in Figs. 10 and 11,
respectively. The rate of heat transfer increases with the increase of
radiative parameter of boundary, Nbr which leads to a decrease in
temperature as shown in Fig. 10 and vice versa. This is due to loss of
energy from tip to environment with increase of Nbr. Fig. 11 shows the
effect of Biot (Bi) number on heat transfer rate in the fin, increased
9
International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer 108 (2019) 104313
Fig. 14. Transient temperature distribution from experimental setup (a) di-
mensional temperature and (b) non-dimensional temperature for V = 60 V and
I = 0.018 A.
value of ‘Bi’ number gives lower heat transfer rate at constant value of
other non-dimensional parameters. This is due to the negative effect of
constant heat transfer coefficient, n at tip of the fin as discussed earlier.
Finally it is found that the temperature distribution increases with in-
crease of Biot number, Bi. Both these parameters Nbr and Bi have inverse
effect on efficiency of the fin, η as presented in Table 4.
Experiments are done on the extended surface heat transfer setup as
shown in the Fig. 2. One side of the cylindrical pin fin is attached with
the heater and other is open to convection and radiation. The experi-
ments are performed for different heat flux with voltage (80 V, 70 V and
60 V) to analyze the difference in temperature profiles. The experi-
mental results of temperature data versus space and time are presented
in Figs. 12, 13 and 14 for the thermocouples which are attached to the
surface of the pin fin. The heater remains on until the steady state is not
reached. When the steady state is observed, the heater is turned off and
all the temperature data that is saved in data logger is obtained with the
help of computer. It is examined from the above mentioned figures that
as the voltage increases corresponding current also varies with effect on
temperature profile. In case of 80 V, the temperature profile has higher
values as compared to other voltage values (70 V, 60 V). The obtained
temperature profile is also represented in non-dimensional form of
temperature, θ, so that it can be comparable with the analytical results
obtained with the use of Pdepe solver. For instance the value of heat
transfer coefficient ‘h’ is unknown to us in experimental work but from
S. Singh and R.K. Singla
literature [1] study we get an idea of the range of the free convection
for air as fluid, so we used h = 5 W/m2K in numerical analysis. The
temperature profile obtained from numerical technique is not so much
comparable with experimental results due to unawareness of exact
value of heat transfer coefficient ‘h’. In this work, the trends are ob-
served and found good comparison between numerical and experi-
mental results. As per future scope, if we can predict the value of heat
transfer coefficient ‘h’ used in experimental work by means of some
algorithms or inverse techniques or controlled environmental condi-
tions. The correct parameter heat transfer coefficient ‘h’ will definitely
leads us for satisfactory temperature profiles.
5. Conclusion
The present work considers a transient problem describing heat
dissipation from a nonlinear longitudinal circular pin fin with disparate
tip conditions. The heat transfer coefficient, thermal conductivity and
emissivity are assumed to be temperature dependent. The MATLAB
based Pdepe solver is used for solution methodology which has the
advantage of simple implementation with sufficient accuracy. It is ob-
served that the temperature distributions obtained from the proposed
methodology are well in agreement with the results available in lit-
erature. Moreover, the experiments are also performed and it has been
observed that the experimental temperature profiles follow same trends
as of analytical results. In the experiments, the relative uncertainties for
input parameters are quantified which are reported as 0.0156, 0.03144
and 0.06542 for temperature, voltage and current, respectively. It is
concluded from the present study that large heat transfer takes place for
convective-radiative tip condition whereas the insulated tip condition
has higher local temperature at the tip. It has also been observed that
the heat transfer coefficient exponent ‘n’ has opposite effects on surface
and the tip. The impact of non-dimensional parameters (Nr, Nc, Bi, Nbr, γ
and β) has also been studied on temperature distribution and efficiency.
It is found that the effects of β and γ are insignificant on both tem-
perature and efficiency. However, the efficiency increases with increase
in all other parameters.
References
[1] F.P. Incropera, D.P. DeWitt, Fundamentals of Heat and Mass Transfer, John Wiley &
Sons, Florida, 1996.
[2] A. Bejan, Advanced Engineering Thermodynamics, 3rd edition, John Wiley & Sons,
2006.
[3] D.D. Ganji, M. Mostofi, A. Delavar, A. Kazemi, Analytical treatment of fins with
temperature-dependent surface heat flux using the Homotopy perturbation method
and comparison of decomposition and numerical methods, Heat Transf. Res. 38
(2008) 407–415.
[4] D.D. Ganji, A.S. Dogonchi, Analytical investigation of convective heat transfer of a
longitudinal fin with temperature-dependent thermal conductivity, heat transfer
coefficient and heat generation, Int. J. Phys. Sci. 9 (2014) 466–474.
[5] R. Das, R.K. Singla, Inverse heat transfer study of a nonlinear straight porous fin
using hybrid optimization, ASME 2014 Gas Turbine India Conf, American Society of
Mechanical Engineers, 2015(p. V001T04A001).
[6] M. Hatami, D.D. Ganji, M. Gorji-Bandpy, Investigations of fin geometry on heat
exchanger performance by simulation and optimization methods for diesel exhaust
application, Neural Comput. & Applic. 27 (2016) 1731–1747.
[7] U.S. Gawai, V.K. Mathew, S.D. Murtuza, Experimental investigation of heat transfer
by pin fin, Int. J. Eng. Innov. Technol. 7 (2013) 202–204.
[8] X.Y. Cui, Z.C. Li, H. Feng, S.Z. Feng, Steady and transient heat transfer analysis
using a stable node-based smoothed finite element method, Int. J. Therm. Sci. 110
(2016) 12–25.
[9] Y.P. Reddy, B.J. Kumar, D. Srinivasulu, C.S. Rao, Temperature distribution analysis
of composite pin fin by experimental and finite element method, Int. J. Innov. Res.
Sci. Eng. Technol. 4 (2015) 10121–10128.
[10] K.Y. Kim, M.A. Moon, Optimization of a stepped circular pin-fin array to enhance
heat transfer performance, Heat Mass Transf. Und Stoffuebertragung. 46 (2009)
63–74.
[11] M.P. Shah, K.S. Mehra, S. Gautam, P. Negi, Transient and steady state analysis of fin
using FEM for different material, Int. J. Res. Appl. Sci. Eng. Technol. 2 (2014)
36–40.
[12] A. Wahabzadeh, D.D. Ganji, M. Abbasi, Analytical investigation of porous pin fins
with variable section in fully-wet conditions case studies in thermal engineering,
case stud, Therm. Eng. 5 (2015) 1–12.
[13] Y. Rong-Hua, An analytical study of the optimum dimensions of rectangular fins
10
International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer 108 (2019) 104313
and cylindrical pin fins, Int. J. Heat Mass Transf. 40 (2002) 3607–3615.
[14] P. Malekzadeh, H. Rahideh, G. Karami, Optimization of convective-radiative fins by
using differential quadrature element method, Energy Convers. Manag. 47 (2006)
1505–1514.
[15] S. Abboudi, Numerical estimation of two convective boundary conditions of a two-
dimensional rectangular fin, J. Frankl. Inst. 348 (2011) 1192–1207.
[16] B. Kundu, K.S. Lee, A non-Fourier analysis for transmitting heat in fins with internal
heat generation, Int. J. Heat Mass Transf. 64 (2013) 1153–1162.
[17] A. Giri, S.A.K. Jilani, Evaluation of the performance of annular composite fin using
ANSYS, Int. J. Comput. Appl. 44 (2012) 4–7.
[18] A.K. Mishra, S. Nawal, R. ThundilKaruppaRaj, Heat transfer augmentation of air
cooled internal combustion engine using fins through numerical techniques, Res. J.
Eng. Sci. 1 (2012) 32–40.
[19] Pulkit Agarwal, Mayur Shrikhande, P. Srinivasan, Heat transfer simulation by CFD
from fins of an air cooled motorcycle engine under varying climatic conditions,
Proc. World Congr. Eng. III (2011) 1–5.
[20] K. Saravanakumar, V. Ananthaswamy, M. Subha, L. Rajendran, Analytical solution
of nonlinear boundary value problem for fin efficiency of convective straight fins
with temperature-dependent thermal conductivity, ISRN Thermodyn. 2013
(2013) 1–8.
[21] H. Ahmadikia, M. Rismanian, Analytical solution of non-Fourier heat conduction
problem on a fin under periodic boundary conditions, J. Mech. Sci. Technol. 25
(2011) 2919–2926.
[22] S. Sadri, M.R. Raveshi, S. Amiri, Efficiency analysis of straight fin with variable heat
transfer coefficient and thermal conductivity, J. Mech. Sci. Technol. 26 (2012)
1283–1290.
[23] K.D. Cole, C. Tarawneh, B. Wilson, Analysis of flux-base fins for estimation of heat
transfer coefficient, Int. J. Heat Mass Transf. 52 (2009) 92–99.
[24] Y.T. Yang, C.C. Chang, C.K. Chen, A double decomposition method for solving the
annular hyperbolic profile fins with variable thermal conductivity, Heat Transf.
Eng. 31 (2010) 1165–1172.
[25] A.K.S.O.Y. Ishak Gokhan, Adomian decomposition method for heat conduction in
an annular fin of hyperbolic profile with temperature dependent thermal con-
ductivity, Therm. Sci. Technol. 33 (2013) 1–8.
[26] A. Moradi, T. Hayat, A. Alsaedi, Convection-radiation thermal analysis of triangular
porous fins with temperature-dependent thermal conductivity by DTM, Energy
Convers. Manag. 77 (2014) 70–77.
[27] A. Aziz, T. Fang, Thermal analysis of an annular fin with (a) simultaneously im-
posed base temperature and base heat flux and (b) fixed base and tip temperatures,
Energy Convers. Manag. 52 (2011) 2467–2478.
[28] S.E. Ghasemi, M. Hatami, D.D. Ganji, Case studies in thermal engineering thermal
analysis of convective fin with temperature-dependent thermal conductivity and
heat generation, Case Stud. Therm. Eng. 4 (2014) 1–8.
[29] A. Patra, S.S. Ray, Analysis for fin efficiency with temperature- dependent thermal
conductivity of fractional order energy balance equation using HPST method,
Alexandria Eng. J. 55 (2016) 77–85.
[30] M. Torabi, H. Yaghoobi, A. Colantoni, P. Biondi, K. Boubaker, Analysis of radiative
radial fin with temperature-dependent thermal conductivity using nonlinear dif-
ferential transformation methods, Chinese J. Eng. 2013 (2013) 1–12.
[31] S.B. Coşkun, M.T. Atay, Analysis of convective straight and radial fins with tem-
perature-dependent thermal conductivity using variational iteration method with
comparison with respect to finite element analysis, Math. Probl. Eng. 2007 (2007)
1–16.
[32] T. Patel, R. Meher, A study on temperature-distribution and fin efficiency of con-
vective straight fins with temperature dependent thermal conductivity of fractional
order energy balance equation by using Adomian decomposition Sumudu transform
method, Int. J. Pure Apllied Math. 110 (2017) 311–326.
[33] B. Roozbehani, G.H. Montazeri, Determination of temperature distribution for an-
nular fins with temperature-dependent thermal conductivity, Heat Transf. - Asian
Res. 40 (2011) 464–474.
[34] R. Das, A simplex search method for a conductive-convective fin with variable
conductivity, Int. J. Heat Mass Transf. 54 (2011) 5001–5009.
[35] R. Das, K.T. Ooi, Application of simulated annealing in a rectangular fin with
variable heat transfer coefficient, Inverse Probl. Sci. Eng. 21 (2013) 1352–1367.
[36] S. Panda, A. Bhowmik, R. Das, R. Repaka, S.C. Martha, Application of homotopy
analysis method and inverse solution of a rectangular wet fin, Energy Convers.
Manag. 80 (2014) 305–318.
[37] A.S. Dogonchi, D.D. Ganji, Convection-radiation heat transfer study of moving fin
with temperature-dependent thermal conductivity, heat transfer coefficient and
heat generation, Appl. Therm. Eng. 103 (2016) 705–712.
[38] K. Al-Jamal, H. Khashashneh, Experimental investigation in heat transfer of trian-
gular and pin fin arrays, Heat Mass Transf. 34 (1998) 159–162.
[39] L. Huang, Q. Li, H. Zhai, Experimental study of heat transfer performance of a tube
with different shaped pin fins, Appl. Therm. Eng. 129 (2018) 1325–1332.
[40] R. Das, Application of genetic algorithm for unknown parameter estimations in
cylindrical fin, Appl. Soft Comput. J. 12 (2012) 3369–3378.
[41] S. Panda, R. Das, Inverse Analysis of a Radial Porous Fin Using Genetic Algorithm,
2015 8th Int. Conf. Contemp. Comput. IC3 2015, (2015), pp. 167–170.
[42] R. Das, Forward and inverse solutions of a conductive, convective and radiative
cylindrical porous fin, Energy Convers. Manag. 87 (2014) 96–106.
[43] R. Das, K. Singh, T.K. Gogoi, Estimation of critical dimensions for a trapezoidal-
shaped steel fin using hybrid differential evolution algorithm, Neural Comput. &
Applic. 28 (2017) 1683–1693.
[44] S. Kiwan, M.A. Al-Nimr, Using porous fins for heat transfer enhancement, J. Heat
Transf. 123 (2001) 790–795.
[45] G. Sevilgen, A numerical analysis of a convective straight fin with temperature-
S. Singh and R.K. Singla
dependent thermal conductivity, Therm. Sci. 21 (2017) 939–952.
[46] V.P. Singh, V. Kumar, D. Kumar, Numerical solution of diffusion model of brown
stock washing beds of finite length using MATLAB, Proc. - EMS 2008, Eur. Model.
Symp. 2nd UKSim Eur, Symp. Comput. Model. Simul. (2008) 295–300.
[47] R.K. Singla, K. Singh, R. Das, Tower characteristics correlation and parameter re-
trieval in wet-cooling tower with expanded wire mesh packing, Appl. Therm. Eng.
96 (2016) 240–249.
[48] A.S. Dogonchi, M. Waqas, S.M. Seyyedi, M. Hashemi-Tilehnoee, D.D. Ganji, CVFEM
11
International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer 108 (2019) 104313
analysis for Fe3O4 –H2O nanofluid in an annulus subject to thermal radiation, Int. J.
Heat Mass Transf. 132 (2019) 473–483.
[49] A.S. Dogonchi, Hashim, heat transfer by natural convection of Fe3O4-water nano-
fluid in an annulus between a wavy circular cylinder and a rhombus, Int. J. Heat
Mass Transf. 130 (2019) 320–332.
[50] R. Das, B. Kundu, Estimation of internal heat generation in a fin involving all modes
of heat transfer using golden section search method, Heat Transf. Eng. 39 (2018)
58–71.