CHAPTER 5

Transient Conduction:
Spatial Effects and the Role of Analytical Solutions

Prepared by: Prof. Dr. Ş. Birgül Tantekin-Ersolmaz

Prof. Dr. Hüsnü Atakül
 Transient Heat Conduction: Spatial Effects
 In many transient heat transfer problems the Biot number is larger than
0.1, and lumped system can not be assumed.
 In these cases the temperature within the body changes appreciably from
point to point as well as with time.
 It is constructive to first consider the variation of temperature with time and
position in one-dimensional problems of rudimentary configurations.
a plane wall of thickness 2L  1-D a long cylinder of radius r0 a sphere of radius r0.

Notice: All three cases possess geometric and thermal symmetry.

@ t = 0 T = Ti Heat transfer takes place between the environment and
@ t > 0 T = T(t,x) or T(t,r) these bodies by convection (radiation is neglected). 2
Solution to the Heat Equation for a Large Plane Wall
with Symmetrical Convection Conditions
• A plane wall of thickness 2L.
• Initially at a uniform temperature of Ti.
• At time t=0, the wall is immersed in a fluid
at temperature T∞.
• Constant heat transfer coefficient h.
• Constant thermophysical properties.
• No heat generation.
Temperature profiles at
different time values

• The height and the width of the wall are

large relative to its thickness  1-D
approximation is valid.
• There is thermal symmetry about the
midplane passing through x=0.
3
For constant properties, the differential equation representing the wall case is:

One-dimensional transient heat  2T 1 T

conduction equation (0≤ x ≤ L) 
x 2
 t
Boundary conditions:

T T (0, t )
@ t 0 x0 0 0
x or x
T T ( L, t )
@ t 0 xL -k  h T  T  k  hT ( L, t )  T 
x x
Initial condition:

@t 0 0xL T  Ti or T ( x,0)  Ti
Partial differential eqn.  Solution involves infinite series
For convenience, solution is presented in tabular graphical form. However, we
need to reduce the number of parameters to make graphical presentation
practical.
Eight independent variables: T  T  x, t , T i , T  , L, k ,  , h 
How may the functional dependence be simplified? 4
 Let’s define dimensionless quantities:
T  T
Dimensionless temperature :  *
Ti  T
x
Dimensionless distance from center : x* 
L
t
Dimensionless time: (Fourier number) : t*  2  Fo
L
 2 * 
Insert into the DE and BCs, then the problem becomes: 
x * 2
t *
 *
BC1: @ t*  0 x*  0 0
x *
 *
BC2: @ t*  0 x*  1  Bi  *  0
x *
IC: @ t*  0 0  x*  1 *  1
hL
Dimensionless heat transfer coefficient (Biot number)  Bi 
k solid
Before nondimensionalization  x, t, L, k, , h, Ti, T
After nondimensionalization  x*, t*, Bi 5
 Non-dimensionalization of Heat Equation and IC/BCs:

 *  f  x * , Fo, Bi 
 Exact Solution:

   C n exp   n2 Fo  cos  n x * 
*
n 1

4sin  n
Cn   n tan  n  Bi
2 n  sin  2 n 

See Appendix B.3 for first four roots (eigenvalues  1 ,...,  4 ) of  n tan  n  Bi

 Approximate analytical (one-term) solution:

The exact solution involves infinite series which are difficult to deal
with. However, the terms in the series solution after the first term can
be neglected if t* (Fo) > 0.2 and the error would be only < 2 %.

 *   Cn exp  Fo cos( n x*)

 The terms in the summation decline
2
n rapidly as n and thus n increases
n 1 6
 The One-Term Approximation  Valid for Fo  0.2  :

• Variation of midplane temperature (x*= 0) with time  Fo  :

T o  T    C exp  2 Fo
 o*   1 
 i 
T  T
1

Table 5.1  C 1 and  1 as a function of Bi

• Variation of temperature with location (x*) and time  Fo :
 *   o* cos  1 x * 
• Change in thermal energy storage with time:
E st  Q (5.46a) Q o   cV T i  T  
 sin  1 * 
Q  Q o 1  o 
 1 
Can the foregoing results be used for a plane wall that is well insulated on
one side and convectively heated or cooled on the other?

Can the foregoing results be used if an isothermal condition  T s  T i  is

instantaneously imposed on both surfaces of a plane wall or on one surface
of a wall whose other surface is well insulated? 7
8
Radial Systems (Long Cylinders and Spheres)
 Long Cylinders or Spheres Heated or Cooled by Convection:
Similar analysis could be made for cylinder and sphere:

T (r , t )  T r t hr0
*  r*  t*  Bi 
Ti  T r0 r02 k
1    *   *
Cylinder:  r * 
r * r *  r *  t *

1   2  *   *
Sphere:  r * 
r * r * 
2
r *  t *

 One-Term Approximations: C 1 ,  1  Table 5.1

sin( 1r*)
 *cly  C1 exp   Fo  J 0 ( 1r*)
2  *sph  C1 exp   Fo 
2

 1r *
1 1

Long Rod Sphere

Once the Bi number is known the temperature anywhere in the medium
can be determined. 9
Radial Systems (Long Cylinders and Spheres)
 Variation of midplane temperature (x*= 0) with time  Fo  :
 *0,cly  C1 exp   12 Fo 
 *0,sph  C1 exp   12 Fo 
 Change in thermal energy storage with time:
Maximum Q is achieved in the case of t  

Qmax  VC p (Ti  T )

 Q  J1 ( 1 )
   1  2 *0,cyl
 Qmax cly 1

 Q  sin  1   1 cos  1
   1  3 *0, sph
 max  sph
Q  1
3

10
Bessel Functions of the First Kind

11
 Graphical Representation of the One-Term Approximation
The Heisler Charts, Section 5 S.1

 The solution of the transient temperature for a large plane wall, long cylinder,
and sphere are also presented in graphical form for t > 0.2 known as the
transient temperature charts (Heisler Charts)
 There are three charts associated with each geometry:
 the temperature T0 at the center of the geometry at a given time t.
 the temperature at other locations at the same time in terms of T0.
 the total amount of heat transfer up to the time t.

 Use of these charts is limited to the conditions we have assumed:

 initially the body is at uniform temperature
 temperature of the environment is constant and h is constant and uniform
 no heat generation

 Graphical Representations: (in Supplemental Material)

Plane Wall: Figs. 5 S.41– 5 S.3
Long Rod: Figs. 5 S.4 – 5 S.6
Sphere: Figs. 5 S.7 – 5 S.9
12
Graphical Representation of the One-Term Approximation
The Heisler Charts for Plane Wall
• Midplane Temperature:

13
• Temperature Distribution:

• Change in Thermal Energy Storage:

14
 Significance of Biot Number
• When 1/ Bi = k/hL = 0  Bi  and therefore h  
Surfaces of the plate are at the ambient temperature.

• When 1/Bi >> 1  k is large

Uniform temperature distribution and lumped system
analysis is valid.
15
 Significance of Fourier Number

t kL2 (1 / L) t The rate at which heat is conducted

Fo  t*  2  = across L of a body of volume L3
L C p L3 / t t The rate at which heat is stored
in a body of volume L3

What does a large Fo number

q qconducted
mean?

16
Example 1: Steel Pipeline
Consider a steel pipeline (AISI 1010) that is 1 m in diameter and has a wall
thickness of 40 mm. The pipe is heavily insulated on the outside, and before the
initiation of flow, the walls of the pipe are at a uniform temperature of -20C.
With the initiation of flow, hot oil at 60C is pumped through the pipe creating a
convective surface condition corresponding to h=500W/m2.K at the inner surface
of the pipe.
a) At t=8 min, what is the temperature of the exterior pipe surface covered by
insulation?
b) What is the heat flux q (W/m2) to the pipe from the oil at t=8 min?
c) How much energy per meter of pipe length has been transferred from the oil
to the pipe at t=8 min?

17
Known: Wall subjected to sudden change in convective surface condition.
Find: • Temperature of exterior pipe surface after 8 minutes.
• Heat flux to the wall at 8 minutes.
• Energy transferred to pipe per unit length after 8 minutes
Schematic: Properties:
From the related tables:
Tavg = (Ti+ T )/2 =293 K  300 K

k=63.9 W/m.K
Cp=434 J/kg.K
=7823 kg/m3
 = 18.8x10-6 m2/s

Assumptions: • Pipe wall can be approximated as plane wall, since the

thickness is much less than the diameter.
• Outer surface of pipe is adiabatic.
• Constant properties.
18
Analysis:
First, we need to compute the Biot and Fourier numbers at t=8 minutes
with Lc = L:
hLc  500  0.04 
Bi    0.313  0.1
k 63.9
 t 18.8 10   8  60 
6

Fo    5.64  0.2
L2  0.04  2
With Bi = 0.313, use of the lump capacitance method is inappropriate.
However, since Fo > 0.2 and transient conditions in the insulated pipe
wall of thickness L correspond to those in a plane wall of thickness 2L
experiencing the same surface condition, the desired results may be
obtained from the one-term approximation for a plane wall.
The midplane temperature can be T0  T
obtained from:  *0, wall   C1 exp   12 Fo 
Ti  T
C1 and 1 are functions of Bi number  Table 5.1

C1= 1.047, 1 = 0.531

19
  0, wall  (1.047) exp (0.531) 2 (5.64)   0.214

T0  T
 0.214  T0  42.9 C
Ti  T

Heat transfer to the inner surface at x = L is by convection, and at any

time t the heat flux may be obtained from Newton’s law of cooling.

Hence at t = 480 s: qx ( L, 480s)  h T ( L, 480s)  T 
Using the one-term approximation for the surface temperature:
T ( x, t )  T
 *( x, t ) wall   C1 exp   12 Fo  cos( 1 x / L)
Ti  T

 * ( x, t ) wall 
T ( L,480s )  60
 20i  60
 
 (1.047) exp  (0.531) 2 (5.64) cos(0.531)

T ( L,480 s)  45.2 C  qx  L, 480 s    500   45.2  60  7400 W/m 2

20
Energy transfer to the pipe wall over the 8 minute interval may be obtained
from:
 Q  sin  1
   1   *0, wall
 Qmax  wall 1
 Q  sin  0.531
   1   0.214   0.80
 Qmax  wall 0.531

Q  0.80  C pV Ti  T 
 (0.80)(7823)(434) (1)(0.04)( 20  60)
Q  2.73 107 J/m

Comments:
1. The minus sign associated with q and Q simply implies that the
direction of heat transfer is from the oil to the pipe.
2. The foregoing results could also be obtained by applying the charts.
21
 The Semi-Infinite Solid
Semi-infinite medium 

an idealized body that has a single plane

surface and extends to infinity in all
directions

In such a body the temp. change in the

region close to the surface is due to the
thermal conditions on a single surface
Example: the earth, a thick wall

Consider a semi-infinite solid that is at a uniform temperature : @t 0 T  Ti

At t > 0 there occurs a change in one of the surfaces. There are three possibilities:
1) Surface is subject to a constant temperature: @ t  0 x0 T  Ts
2) Constant heat flux imposed on the surface: @ t  0 x0 qx  q0
3) Surface is subject to convection with the environment:
@t  0 x0 qx  h T  T  22
The differential equation representing this semi-infinite medium is :
T  2T
 2 @t>0 x   T = Ti
t x
Case 1: Nondimensionalize temperature with
T ( x, t )  Ts   2
 ( x, t )    2
Ti  Ts t x
IC : T ( x,0) T i IC :  ( x,0)  1
BC1 : T (0,t )  Ts BC1 :  (0,t )  0
BC2 : T (,t )  Ti BC2 :  (,t )  1
Solution  Combination of variables (similarity solution)
Assuming T = T() (to be verified) and using the chain rule, all derivatives in
the heat conduction equation can be transformed into the new variable.
x
Similarity variable: η   PDE becomes an ODE
2 αt
The PDE can be converted into an ODE by combining the two independent
variables x and t into a single variable , called the similarity variable. 23
 ODE

 T 1 T
2
d 2T T
  2
x 2
 t d 2
d

d 2T dT BC1 : @η  0 T  Ts
ODE :  2 0
d 2
d BC2 : @η   T  Ti
η
(also at t = 0)
Solution of ODE: T  C1  e η2
dη  C2
0
2 η u is a dummy

u2
Error function  erf ( η )  e du
π 0 integration variable

(This integral cannot be performed analytically)

24
 2 η
 
u2
Error function  erf ( )  e du
π 0

Complementary error function 

erfc( )  1  erf ( )
erf (0) = 0 erfc (0) = 1
erf () = 1 erfc () = 0

Case 1 Solution:

T ( x, t )  Ts  x 
 ( x, t )   erf  
Ti  Ts  2 t 

25
 2q0   t    x 2  q0x
1/ 2
 x 
Case 2: T ( x, t )  Ti    exp   erfc  
k    4 t  k  2  t 
T ( x, t )  Ti  x   hx h 2 t    x h  t 
Case 3:  erfc    exp   2  erfc    
T  Ti  2 t   k k    2 t k  

26
 Figure 5.9 Variation of temperature with position and time in a semi-
infinite solid initially at Ti subjected to convection BC.

h t
As h      the surface temperature Ts becomes equal to
k the fluid temperature T  the problem
reduces to Case 1
When is this realized? 27
 Summary of Semi-Infinite Solid
 A solid that is initially of uniform temperature Ti and is assumed to
extend to infinity from a surface at which thermal conditions are
altered.
 Special Cases:

Case 1: Change in Surface Temperature (Ts)

T  0, t   T s  T  x,0   T i

T  x, t   T s  x 
 erf  
Ti Ts  2 t 

k T s  T i 
qs 
 t

28
Case 2: Constant Heat Flux  qs  qo 
2 qo  t /  
1
 x2 
2
T  x, t   T i  exp   
k  4 t 
q x  x 
 o erfc  
k  2 t 

Case 3: Surface Convection  h, T  

T
k  h T   T  0, t 
x x 0

T  x, t   T i  x 
 erfc  
T Ti  2 t 
  hx h 2 t    x h  t 
 exp    erfc   
  k k 2
   2  t k  
29
Example 2: Susceptibility to fire of a thick oak wall
We wish to determine the susceptibility to fire of a thick oak wall. The
wall is initially at 25°C and suddenly exposed to combustion products at
800°C for which the heat transfer coefficient is 20 W/m2.K.
Determine the time of exposure required for the surface to reach 400°C,
the ignition temperature of the wood.

Known: Thick oak wall, initially at uniform temperature of 25C, is suddenly

exposed to combustion products at 800C with a convection
coefficient of 20 W/m2K.
Schematic:
Find:
a) Time of exposure
required for the surface
to reach an ignition
temperature of 400C.
b) Temperature
distributionat time
t = 325 s.
30
 Assumptions: • Oak wall can be treated as semi-infinite solid
• 1-D conduction
• Constant properties
• Negligible radiation

Properties: From Table A-3, Oak, cross grain (300 K):  = 545 kg/m3,
Cp = 2385 J/kgK, k = 0.17 W/mK,
  k  C p  1.31107 m 2 /s
Analysis: This situation corresponds to case 3.
T ( x, t )  Ti  x   hx h 2 t    x h  t 
 erfc    exp  k  k 2  erfc    
T  Ti  2  t      2  t k  

a) Time for the surface to reach 400C:

T (0, t )  Ti 400  25 x
  0.48 0
T  Ti 800  25 2 t
h 2 t
2
 0.75k 
 0.75  t   1/ 2 
 h 
2
k
2
 
0.75  0.17 W/m  K
t    310 s
 20 W/m  K  1.3110 m /s  
7 2 1/ 2

  31
b) Temperature distribution at time t = 325 s.

20 W/m  K 1.31107 m 2 /s   325 s 

1/ 2
h  t 
1/ 2 1/ 2

  0.768
k 0.17 W/m  K

32
Objects with Constant Surface Temperatures or
Surface Heat Fluxes
 Transient response of a variety of objects to a step change in surface
temperature or heat flux can be unified by defining the dimensionless
conduction heat rate:

qs L c
Semi-infinite solid q* 
k T s  T i 
where Lc is a characteristic length that depends on the geometry of
the object.
 Consider the variation of q* with time, or Fo, for
– Interior heat transfer: Heat transfer inside objects such as plane
walls, cylinders, or spheres,
– Exterior heat transfer: Heat transfer in an infinite medium
surrounding an embedded object.
33
  When q* is plotted versus Fo, we see that:
– All objects behave the same as a semi-infinite solid for short
times.
– q* approaches a steady state for exterior objects.
– q* does not reach a steady state for interior objects, but
decreases continually with time (Fo).

Constant Ts Constant qs

Why do all objects behave the same as a semi-infinite solid for short times?
34
 Approximate Solutions for Objects with
Constant Ts or qs
 Easy-to-use approximate solutions for q*(Fo) are presented in Table 5.2 for
all the cases presented.
 As an example of the use of Table 5.2, consider:
– Infinite cylinder initially at Ti has constant heat flux imposed at its surface.
– Find its surface temperature as a function of time.
 Look in Table 5.2b for constant surface heat flux, Interior Cases, Infinite
cylinder.
– Length scale is Lc = ro, the cylinder radius.
– Exact solution for q*(Fo) is a complicated infinite series.
– Approximate solution is given by:
1
1    1
q*   for Fo  0.2 or q*   2 Fo   for Fo  0.2
2 Fo 8  4
qs L c
 It is then a simple matter to find Ts from the definition, q* 
k T s  T i 
35