Extended Surfaces: Fins

We begin with Newton's law of cooling for surface heat transfer by :

Convective provides an insight as to the options available for increasing surface heat transfer rate.
One option is to increase the heat transfer coefficient h by changing the fluid and/or manipulating
its motion. A second option is to lower the ambient temperature , a third option is to increase
surface area This option is exercised in many engineering applications in which the heat transfer
surface is "extended" by adding fins. Inspect the back side of your refrigerator where the condenser
is usually placed and note the many thin rods attached to the condenser’s tube. The rods are added
to increase the rate of heat transfer from the tube to the surrounding air and thus avoid using a fan.

Types of fins

Various geometries and configurations are used to construct fins. Examples are shown in Fig. 2.5.
Each fin is shown attached to a wall or surface. The end of the fin which is in contact with the
surface is called the base while the free end is called the tip.

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The Fin Heat Equation: Convection at Surface
To determine the rate of heat transfer from fins it is first necessary to obtain the temperature
distribution. As with other conduction problems, temperature distribution is determined by solving
an appropriate heat equation based on the principle of conservation of energy. Since conduction in
fins is two-dimensional which is modeled mathematically as one-dimensional, it is necessary to
formulate the principle of conservation of energy specifically for fins.

Conservation of energy for the element requires that :

………….( 1 )

Substituting in (1) gives :

………….( 2 )

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 Substituting in (2) gives :

Steady State Applications: Constant Area Fins with Surface Convection

Mathematically, the simplest fin problems are those with constant cross-sectional area A.
Note that the area need not be circular. It can be triangular, rectangular, square or any
irregular shape as long as it does not vary along its length. An example of such a fin I
shown in Fig. 2.9.

The heat equation for this class of fins for constant conductivity is given by Since the area
is constant it follows :

Its general solution is of the form :

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Boundary conditions

One such condition may be specified in terms of the temperature at the base of the fin (x= 0),

A second boundary condition depend on the physical condition at the tip of the fin. We will treat
the following four cases :

Case A : Convection heat transfer: Case B : Adiabatic

Case C : Prescribed temperature: Case D : Infinite fin

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Bessel Functions
When the cross section of an extended surface is variable, the formulation of the problem results in
a second order linear differential equation with variable coefficients. This differential equation is a
form of Bessel's equation, except in a special case which leads to the so-called equidimensional
equation. The solution methods suitable to second-order linear differential equations with constant
coefficients are not suitable to those with variable coefficients. We may, however, recall that
equations with variable coefficients possess solutions expressible, over an appropriate interval, in
terms of power series. This section is therefore devoted to a brief review of the power series
solution of Bessel's equation. The general Bessel's equation is,

The solution of Bessel's equation:

Where :

: Ordinary Bessel function of first kind of order n.

: Ordinary Bessel function of second kind of order n.

: Modified Bessel function of first kind of order n.

: Modified Bessel function of second kind of order n.

Ordinary Bessel Function:

: Ordinary Bessel function of first kind of order, zero and first order
respectively.
: Ordinary Bessel function of second kind of order, zero and first order
respectively

Graphical representation of the general behavior of Bessel functions. Graphs of the general
behavior of Bessel functions are shown in Figure 3.8. Having thus completed our review of Bessel
functions we may now proceed to demonstrate theuse of these functions in the solution of problems
related to extended surfaces.

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Figure 3.8
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Example-1:

Solution:
The comparison between the above equation and Bessel functions yields to,

Therefore :

Example-2:

Solution:
The comparison between the above equation and Bessel functions yields to,

Therefore :

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Extended surfaces with variable cross sections
The general formulation of problems of extended surfaces with variable cross sections has already

been given by . Since Ac and As (Pdx) are no longer constant,

this equation now becomes a differential equation with variable coefficients whose general solution

can be determined only when AC and As are specified. In most cases the above equation is reduced
to a form of Bessel's equation; a special case is that leading to the equidimensional equation. Cases
which do not lead to either of these equations may be treated individually by employing the power
series solutions of differential equations.

Example : The geometry of a straight fin of triangular profile is described in below Figure . The
base temperature To of the fin is specified. The temperature distribution and the rate of heat transfer
from this triangular fin can be determined as,

Solution:
b/L << 1
L/l << 1 (The temperature distribution of the present problem is One-dimensional
or that the ends in the l-direction are insulated)
Noting from the above Figure that :

substating in this equation

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and rearranging the result, we get :

Comparison with the general form of Bessel function gives,

Boundary conditions:

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Example 2: Consider a straight fin of parabolic profile as shown in below figure . The thermal
conductivity, base thickness, and length of the fin are k, 2b, and L, respectively. The heat transfer
coefficient is h and the ambient temperature T∞ . Find the steady temperature and the total heat
transfer from the fin, assuming that parabola is given by y= cx1/2 where C is a constant.

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Therefore

By comparing the above equation with Bessel functions as,

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Inserting the values of C 1and C2 into θ( u ) equation, we find that the temperature distribution in
the fin is

which may be evaluated from above equation. It follows, in terms of that

and the heat transfer from the fin is :

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Annular Fin
Heat is conducted in the radial direction and convected from the upper and the lower surfaces of the
fin. The he governing equation for temperature distribution for the fin shown in below Figure :

Substituting and multiplying through by r2

For the boundary condition :

r = r1 θ= θ1
r = r2 =0
The solution is given by :

Graphically Presented Solutions to fin heat transfer

Mathematical solutions are usually expressed in terms of power series such as Bessel functions.
Solutions to common fin geometries have been used to construct dimensionless graphs to determine
qf However, instead of presenting directly qf , fin efficiency ηf is known .Once ηf is known, qf
can be computed from the definition of ηf :

Where As is the total surface area of the fin.

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