Thermal Analysis of Composite Wall

Semester Project Report

Submitted to:
Dr. Mubashir Gulzar
Submitted By:
Ameena Aiman
22-MS-ME-TSE-06

Department of Mechanical Engineering

University of Engineering and Technology Taxila
Topic:Thermal Analysis of Composite Wall
Problem Statement:
An Induction Furnace Wall is made up of three layers, the inside, middle, and outer
layer with thermal Conductivity of K1, K2, and K3 respectively. Determine the
Nodal Temperature.
Composite Wall

The composite wall is a wall that consists of a number of layers of different

materials with varying thickness and thermal conductivity. The layers of different
conductive resistance are arranged in such a way that, the composite wall can
achieve the required thermal resistance along with other requirements like
lightweight, higher strength, durability, etc.

Each layer is made up of different materials like wood, metals, refractory bricks,
foam, glass wool, etc. Therefore the composite wall helps us to meet different
purposes along with thermal insulation.

Thermal resistance of composite wall

The composite wall consists of a number of layers with different thermal resistances.

The conductive resistance offered by a single layer is given by,

X
R= A
Where,
x = Thickness of the layer
K = Thermal conductivity
A = Area of a cross-section perpendicular to the direction of flow
For a composite wall with layers arranged in series

Series Combination of Composite Wall

For n number of layers arranged in series, the total resistance is given by,

R=R1+R2+R3+⋯Rn
X1
R= K1 A1
X2
+ K2 A2
X3
+ K3 A3
+ …… +
Xn
KnAn

Temperature Distribution Through Composite Wall

Numerical Analysis of Composite Wall
Given Data
K1=8.5 W/mK, L1=25cm=.25m
K2=0.25 W/mK , L2=5cm=.05m
K3=0.08 W/mK , L3=3cm=.03m
A=1 m2, T a=600℃

H=45 W/m2K

Stiffness Matrix for Heat Conduction

k C=
[
Ak 1 −1
L −1 1 ]
For Eement 1

[ k 1 ]= [
0.25 −1 1 ] [
1 x 8.5 1 −1 34 −34
= −34 34 ]
For Element 2
 [ k 2 ]= [
1 x 0.25 1 −1
0.05 −1 1 = ] [
5 −5
−5 5 ]
For Element 3

[ k 1 ]= [
1 x 0.08 1 −1
0.03 −1 1 ][
2.66 −2.66
= −2.66 2.66 ]
Global Stifness Matrix due to Conduction
[ k c ] =[ k 1 ] + [ k 2 ] + [ k 3 ]

[ ]
−34 34 0 0
34 −34 −5 0
A=
0 −5 7.66 −2.66
0 0 −2.66 2.66

There is effect of end convection at Node 4 so,

[ ][ ]
[ K ¿¿ h]end ¿ =45x1
0 0 0 0
0 1=0 1

Global Stifness Matrix due to Convection

[ ]
0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0
K h=
0 0 0 0
0 0 0 45

Global Stifness Matrix due to Conduction and Convection

[ k ]= [ k c ]+ [ k h ]
 [ ]
34 −34 0 0
−34 39 −5 0
[k ] =
0 −5 7.66 −2.66
0 0 −2.66 47.66

[]
0
[ 0
[ F h]=AhT a 1 =1 x 45 x 303 13635 ]

[ ]
0
0
[ F h]= 0
13635

[K][T]=[F]

[ ][ ] [ ]
34 −34 0 0 T1 0
−34 39 −5 0 T2 0
0 −5 7.66 −2.66 T3 = 0
0 0 −2.66 47.66 T 4 13635

T 1= 873.15K

T 2= 846.39K

T 3=664.42K

T 4=323.22K

Thermal Analysis of Composite Wall Using ANSYS

Steps of Modeling and Analysis
1) Launching the Project
The First step in any type of
Analysis is Launching the
respective Project Type. As the
current problem is related to
Thermal Analysis so choose
Steady-State Thermal from the left hand side of the Toolbar and drag and drop
it on the right hand side. Give it appropriate name and proceed further.

ANSYS Workbench

2) Engineering Data
In this section some default properties are set. But as we are provided with
specific value of each segment so first define the material as Material A,
Material B, and Material C and then insert the value of thermal conductivities
given as K 1=8.5 mK
W
, K 2=0.25 mK
W
, K 3=0.08 mK
W
.

Materials and Thermal Conductivities Defined

3) Geometry
Here we have to draw the Geometry according to the given Dimensions. Select
Rectangle from the sketching section on the left hand panel. Draw a Rectangle
which will finally take the shape of square according to the dimension A=100
cm cm and then extrude it to L1=25cm. Then select a separate plane on the
2

square drawn previously and again draw a square of 100 meter square and
extrude it to L2=5cm, and for the last time, again select a separate plane on the
square and draw a square of 100 meter square and extrude it to L3=3cm.

Side view of Furnace Wall in X-Z Plane

Dark Colour shows that all the Layers are Separate

4) Model
Import the Geometry Drawn for further processing. In this section, select the
Mesh type, define the number of nodes and elements, element size (2.5
¿ and click generate to proceed further. Initially 47685 Nodes and 10696
−002 m
e
Elements were obtained but I was using the student version so I was given
the limit of 30,000 so I again define the conditions and generated Mesh.
Now, 27798 Nodes and 49800 Elements were obtained.

Imported Geometry

Initial Conditions Final Conditions

 Mesh Generated

Brick Mesh Generated

5) Setup
Here boundary conditions are applied. As in static structure one end or
boundary is fixed similarly in Steady State Thermal Analysis one end is
considered fixed and so here convection conditions are applied from the top
toolbar. As there is no heat transfer so, the heat flow will be zero.
 Convection Conditions applied

Now, rest of the boundary conditions are applied. As in the Problem Given the
initial temperature on the first slab is 600℃ so the same is applied as the
boundary condition. Similarly, Convection conditions are applied on the last
boundary and also convective coefficient is also applied.

Temperature applied on the First Boundary

All the Boundary Conditions Applied

6) Solutions
Here the Final Solution is obtained by clicking solve on the static-structure
thermal on the left hand panel. Then the Final results of the simulation are
obtained as desired. The following figure depicts the Final condition of
Furnace obtained. The Red colour shows the highest temperature and blue
colour shows the lowest temperature while the colours in between shows
how the temperature changes in gradient form.

Final Results Obtained

7) Results

In the last step, the Final results are obtained as desired. Here we have to
click on the Steady-State Thermal and click on the results and hence the
results are obtained and the Simulation is completed. In order to find specific
conditions of specific area the command Probe is used. So, I have used this
command to obtain results at the four boundaries. The following figure
shows the side view of the furnace in X-Z Plane.
 Temperature at the four Boundaries

Comparison of Results and Conclusion

The amount of Heat Flux calculated Numerically and on ANSYS are the
same. Moreover, the values of temperature at the four boundaries came out
to be the exact. There is no percentage error.
T 1= 873.15K

T 2= 846.39K

T 3=664.42K

T 4=323.22K