ChE 120B

7 - 1


Bessel Functions and Cylindrical Geometry

Steady state temperature distribution in a semi-infinite cylinder. The energy balance
in cylindrical coordinates:
2 2
2 2
1
0
T T T
r r r z
c c c
+ + =
c c c



Boundary Conditions:

( ) 1, 0 T z =
( ) 0, finite T z
( ) ( ) , 0 T r f r =
( ) , 0 as T r z z


Assume a separation of variables solution exists:
(can be shown using boundary conditions & Sturm-Liouville Thm)

T(r,z) = R(r) Z(z)

hence
2 2
2 2
0
d R Z dR d T
Z R
dr r dr dz
+ + =
Divide by RZ to get (primes denote differentials)
2
1 R R Z
R r R Z

'' ' ''
+ = =
2
1 R R Z
R r R Z

'' ' ''
+ = = (chosen to give exponentials in Z directions)
2
2
2
1
0
d R dR
R
dr r dr
+ + =

or
2
2
2
0
d R dR
r r R
dr dr
+ + =
2
0
d dR
r r R
dr dr

| |
+ =
|
\ .

Remember S-L Equation
( ) ( ) ( )
2
0
d dy
p x s x y r x y
dx dx

(
+ =
(




ChE 120B
7 - 2


Clearly our equation is a SL equation:
( ) p x r =
( ) 0 s x =
( ) r x r = : weighting function
Remember that if the B.C.'s are appropriate, the solutions of this equation will be orthogonal
eigenfunctions w.r.t the weight function r
+wt. function
+
( ) ( ) ( )
1 1
2
0 0
n n m m mn mn m
R r R r dr R r rdr o =
} }
r

We can also show that R(r) is the well-known Bessel function:
2
2 2 2
2
0
d R dR
r r r R
dr dr
+ + =
Let / x r x r = =
/ dr dx =

to get
( )
( )
2 2
2
2
2
0
/
/
x d R x dR x
R
d x
d x

| | | |
+ + =
| |
\ . \ .

2
2 2
2
0
d R dR
x x x R
dx dx
+ + =
This is Bessel equation of order 0 and the solution is
( ) ( )
0 0
or R a J x BY x = +
|1
st
kind |2
nd
kind
( ) ( )
0 0
R a J r BY r = +
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
0 0
,
z z
T r z Ae Be C J r DY r


+
= = + +

( ) ( )
0
0, finite 0 because 0 T z D Y =
( ) , finite 0 T r z B =
( ) ( )
0
, r
z
T r z A e J

' =
( ) ( )
0
, 0 0 T r z J = =

Let
n
be the nth root of
0
J
then
( ) ( )
0
1
, r
n
z
n n
n
'
T r z A e J

=
=

( ) ( ) ( )
0
1
, 0 r
n n
n
'
T r f r A J

=
= =

ChE 120B
7 - 3


to solve for the
n
'
A , we use the fact that the ( )
0
r
n
J is orthogonal. Multiply both sides by
( )
0
r
m
r J dr and integrate from 0 to 1:

( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
1 1
0 0 0
0 0
1
m n n m
n
'
f r J r r dr A J r J r r dr

=
=

} }

( )
2
1
1
2
n
m mn
n
'
A
J o

=
=

( )
2
1
by the properties of Bessel Functions
2
m
m
'
A
J =

and the solution is
( )
( ) ( )
( )
( )
1
0
0
0 2
1
1
, 2
n
n
z
n
n
n
f r J r r dr
T r z J r e
J

=
=
}

The first four values of
n
are 2.404, 5.5.20, 8.654, 11.792.