Chapter 3: Steady Heat Conduction

3-1 Steady Heat Conduction in Plane Walls

3-2 Thermal Resistance
3-3 Steady Heat Conduction in Cylinders
3-4 Steady Heat Conduction in Spherical Shell
3-5 Steady Heat Conduction with Energy Generation
3-6 Heat Transfer from Finned Surfaces
3-7 Bioheat Equation

Heat Transfer Chapter 3: Steady Heat Conduction

Y.C. Shih September 2013
 3-1 Steady Heat Conduction in Plane Walls (1)

3-1

Heat Transfer Chapter 3: Steady Heat Conduction

Y.C. Shih September 2013
 3-1 Steady Heat Conduction in Plane Walls (2)

Assuming heat transfer is the only energy interaction and

there is no heat generation, the energy balance can be expressed as
0

dEwall
Qin  Qout  0
dt
The rate of heat transfer through the wall
must be constant ( Qcond ,wall  constant ).

T1  T2
Qcond , wall  kA (W)
L

3-2

Heat Transfer Chapter 3: Steady Heat Conduction

Y.C. Shih September 2013
 3-2 Thermal Resistance (1)

T1  T2 L
Qcond , wall  (W) Rwall  ( C/W)
Rwall kA

where Rwall is the conduction resistance (or thermal resistance)

V1  V2
Analogy to Electrical Current Flow: I 
Re

Heat Transfer Electrical current flow

Rate of heat transfer  Electric current
Thermal resistance  Electrical resistance
Temperature difference  Voltage difference 3-3

Heat Transfer Chapter 3: Steady Heat Conduction

Y.C. Shih September 2013
 3-2 Thermal Resistance (2)

Thermal resistance can also be applied to

convection processes.
Newton’s law of cooling for convection heat
transfer rate (Qconv  hAs Ts  T  ) can be rearranged as
Ts  T
Qconv  (W)
Rconv

Rconv is the convection resistance

1
Rconv  ( C/W)
hAs
3-4

Heat Transfer Chapter 3: Steady Heat Conduction

Y.C. Shih September 2013
 3-2 Thermal Resistance (2)

Radiation Resistance: The rate of radiation heat

transfer between a surface and the surrounding

Ts  Tsurr
Qrad   As T  T  s
4 4
surr   hrad As (Ts  Tsurr ) 
Rrad
(W)

1
Rrad  (K/W)
hrad As

hrad 
Qrad
As (Ts  Tsurr )
2

  Ts2  Tsurr T T 
 s surr 
 (W/m 2
 K)
3-5

Heat Transfer Chapter 3: Steady Heat Conduction

Y.C. Shih September 2013
 3-2 Thermal Resistance (3)

Radiation and Convection Resistance

A surface exposed to the surrounding might involves
convection and radiation simultaneously.
The convection and radiation resistances are parallel to each
other.
When Tsurr≈T∞, the radiation
effect can properly be
accounted for by replacing h
in the convection resistance
relation by
hcombined = hconv+hrad (W/m2K)

3-6

Heat Transfer Chapter 3: Steady Heat Conduction

Y.C. Shih September 2013
 3-2 Thermal Resistance (4)

Thermal Resistance Network

Rate of Rate of Rate of Q  h1 A T ,1  T1  

heat convection = heat conduction = heat convection
kA
T1  T2
 h2 A T2  T ,2 
into the wall through the wall from the wall L

T ,1  T ,2
Q (W)
Rtotal

1 L 1
Rtotal  Rconv ,1  Rwall  Rconv ,2    ( C/W)
h1 A kA h2 A

3-7

Heat Transfer Chapter 3: Steady Heat Conduction

Y.C. Shih September 2013
 3-2 Thermal Resistance (5)

It is sometimes convenient to express heat transfer

through a medium in an analogous manner to
Newton’s law of cooling as

Q  UAT (W)
where U is the overall heat transfer coefficient.
Note that
1
UA  ( C/K)
Rtotal
3-8

Heat Transfer Chapter 3: Steady Heat Conduction

Y.C. Shih September 2013
 3-2 Thermal Resistance (6)

Multilayer Plane Walls

Rtotal  Rconv ,1  Rwall ,1  Rwall ,2  Rconv ,2

1 L1 L2 1
   
h1 A k1 A k2 A h2 A

3-9

Heat Transfer Chapter 3: Steady Heat Conduction

Y.C. Shih September 2013
 3-2 Thermal Resistance (7)

Thermal Contact Resistance

-In reality surfaces have some roughness.
When two surfaces are pressed against each other,
the peaks form good material contact but the valleys
form voids filled with air.
-As a result, an interface contains
numerous air gaps of varying sizes
that act as insulation because of the
low thermal conductivity of air.
-Thus, an interface offers some
resistance to heat transfer, which
is termed the thermal contact
resistance, Rc. 3-10

Heat Transfer Chapter 3: Steady Heat Conduction

Y.C. Shih September 2013
 3-2 Thermal Resistance (8)

Generalized Thermal Resistance Network

T1  T2 T1  T2 1 1 
Q  Q1  Q2    T1  T2    
R1 R2  R1 R2 
1
Rtotal
1 1 1  R1 R2
     Rtotal =
Rtotal  R1 R2  R1  R2

3-11

Heat Transfer Chapter 3: Steady Heat Conduction

Y.C. Shih September 2013
 3-2 Thermal Resistance (9)

Combined Series-Parallel
Arrangement

T1  T
Q
Rtotal
R1R2
Rtotal  R12  R3  Rconv   R3  Rconv
R1  R2

L1 L2 L3 1
R1  ; R2  ; R3  ; Rconv 
k1 A1 k2 A2 k3 A3 hA3
3-12

Heat Transfer Chapter 3: Steady Heat Conduction

Y.C. Shih September 2013
 3-3 Steady Heat Conduction in Cylinders (1)

Consider the long cylindrical layer

Assumptions:
the two surfaces of the cylindrical layer are maintained at
constant temperatures T1 and T2,
no heat generation,
constant thermal conductivity,
one-dimensional heat conduction.
Fourier’s law of heat conduction
dT
Qcond ,cyl  kA (W)
dr
3-13

Heat Transfer Chapter 3: Steady Heat Conduction

Y.C. Shih September 2013
 3-3 Steady Heat Conduction in Cylinders (2)
dT
Qcond ,cyl  kA (W)
dr
Separating the variables and integrating from r=r1, where
T(r1)=T1, to r=r2, where T(r2)=T2
r2 T2
Qcond ,cyl
r r A dr  T T kdT
1 1

Substituting A =2prL and performing the integrations give

T1  T2
Qcond ,cyl  2 Lk
ln  r2 / r1 
Since the heat transfer rate is constant
T1  T2
Qcond ,cyl 
Rcyl
3-14

Heat Transfer Chapter 3: Steady Heat Conduction

Y.C. Shih September 2013
 3-3 Steady Heat Conduction in Cylinders (3)

Alternative method:

3-15

Heat Transfer Chapter 3: Steady Heat Conduction

Y.C. Shih September 2013
 3-3 Steady Heat Conduction in Cylinders (3)

Thermal Resistance with Convection

Steady one-dimensional heat transfer through a

cylindrical or spherical layer that is exposed to
convection on both sides
T ,1  T ,2
Q
Rtotal
where
Rtotal  Rconv ,1  Rcyl  Rconv,2 
1 ln  r2 / r1  1
  
 2 r1L  h1 2 Lk  2 r2 L  h2 3-16

Heat Transfer Chapter 3: Steady Heat Conduction

Y.C. Shih September 2013
 3-3 Steady Heat Conduction in Cylinders (4)

Multilayered Cylinders

Rtotal  Rconv ,1  Rcyl ,1  Rcyl ,3  Rcyl ,3  Rconv ,2 

1 ln  r2 / r1  ln  r3 / r2  ln  r4 / r3  1
    
 2 r1L  h1 2 Lk1 2 Lk 2 2 Lk3  2 r2 L  h2

3-17

Heat Transfer Chapter 3: Steady Heat Conduction

Y.C. Shih September 2013
 3-3 Steady Heat Conduction in Cylinders (5)

3-18

Heat Transfer Chapter 3: Steady Heat Conduction

Y.C. Shih September 2013
 3-3 Steady Heat Conduction in Cylinders (6)

Critical Radius of Insulation

T1  T T1  T
Q 
Rins  Rconv ln  r2 / r1  1

2 Lk h  2 r2 L 

The value of r2 at which reaches a

maximum is determined by
dQ k d 2Q
0 rcr ,cylinder  (m) 2
0
dr2 h dr2

Thus, insulating the pipe may actually

increase the rate of heat transfer instead of
decreasing it. 3-19

Heat Transfer Chapter 3: Steady Heat Conduction

Y.C. Shih September 2013
 3-3 Steady Heat Conduction in Cylinders (7)

Critical Radius of Insulation

-Adding more insulation to a wall or to the attic always
decreases heat transfer.
-Adding insulation to a cylindrical pipe or a spherical shell,
however, is a different matter.
-Adding insulation increases the conduction resistance of the
insulation layer but decreases the convection resistance of the
surface because of the increase in the outer surface area for
convection.
-The heat transfer from the pipe may increase or decrease,
depending on which effect dominates.
3-20

Heat Transfer Chapter 3: Steady Heat Conduction

Y.C. Shih September 2013
 3-4 Steady Heat Conduction in Spherical Shell

Spherical Shell

3-21

Heat Transfer Chapter 3: Steady Heat Conduction

Y.C. Shih September 2013
 3-5 Steady Heat Conduction with Energy Generation (1)

3-22

Heat Transfer Chapter 3: Steady Heat Conduction

Y.C. Shih September 2013
 3-5 Steady Heat Conduction with Energy Generation (2)

Ts , 2  Ts ,1 q 2 Ts , 2  Ts ,1
C1  , C2  L 
2L 2k 2L
3-23

Heat Transfer Chapter 3: Steady Heat Conduction

Y.C. Shih September 2013
 3-5 Steady Heat Conduction with Energy Generation (3)

 E out  E g  0

3-24

Heat Transfer Chapter 3: Steady Heat Conduction

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 3-5 Steady Heat Conduction with Energy Generation (4)

Combined one-dimensional heat

conduction equation

n＝0: plane wall (r–>x)

n＝1: cylinder
n＝2: sphere

3-25

Heat Transfer Chapter 3: Steady Heat Conduction

Y.C. Shih September 2013
 3-5 Steady Heat Conduction with Energy Generation (5)

and

  qr0
 Eout  Eg  0  Ts  T 
3h

3-26

Heat Transfer Chapter 3: Steady Heat Conduction

Y.C. Shih September 2013
 3-6 Heat Transfer from Finned Surfaces (1)

Newton’s law of cooling

Qconv  hAs Ts  T 

Two ways to increase the rate of heat transfer:
increasing the heat transfer coefficient,
increase the surface area fins
Fins are the topic of this section.

3-27

Heat Transfer Chapter 3: Steady Heat Conduction

Y.C. Shih September 2013
 3-6 Heat Transfer from Finned Surfaces (2)

Fin Equation
Under steady conditions, the energy balance on this
volume element can be expressed as
Rate of heat Rate of heat Rate of heat
conduction into = conduction from the + convection from
the element at x element at x+ x the element

or Qcond , x  Qcond , x x  Qconv

where
Qconv  h  px T  T 
Substituting and dividing by x, we obtain
Qcond , x x  Qcond , x
 hp T  T   0
x 3-28

Heat Transfer Chapter 3: Steady Heat Conduction

Y.C. Shih September 2013
 3-6 Heat Transfer from Finned Surfaces (3)

dQcond
 hp T  T   0 d 2
 m 2
 0
dx dx 2

hp
dT   T  T ; m 
Qcond  kAc kAc
dx
 ( x)  C1emx  C2e mx
d  dT 
 kAc   hp T  T   0
dx  dx 

3-29

Heat Transfer Chapter 3: Steady Heat Conduction

Y.C. Shih September 2013
 3-6 Heat Transfer from Finned Surfaces (4)

Boundary Conditions
Several boundary conditions are typically employed:
At the fin base
Specified temperature boundary condition, expressed
as: q(0)= qb= Tb-T∞
At the fin tip
1. Specified temperature
2. Infinitely Long Fin
3. Adiabatic tip
4. Convection (and
combined convection
and radiation).
3-30

Heat Transfer Chapter 3: Steady Heat Conduction

Y.C. Shih September 2013
 3-6 Heat Transfer from Finned Surfaces (5)

Infinitely Long Fin

For a sufficiently long fin the temperature at the fin tip
approaches the ambient temperature
Boundary condition: θ(L→∞)=T(L)-T∞ =0
When x→∞ so does emx→∞
C1=0, C2=  b
@ x=0: emx=1
The temperature distribution:
T ( x)  T x
 e mx  e
hp / kAc

Tb  T

heat transfer from the entire fin Q  kAc

dT
dx x 0
 hpkAc Tb  T 
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Heat Transfer Chapter 3: Steady Heat Conduction

Y.C. Shih September 2013
 3-6 Heat Transfer from Finned Surfaces (6)

Adiabatic Tip
Boundary condition at fin tip:
d
0
dx x  L
After some manipulations, the temperature
distribution: T ( x)  T cosh m  L  x 

Tb  T cosh mL
heat transfer from the entire fin
dT
Q  kAc  hpkAc Tb  T  tanh mL
dx x 0 3-32

Heat Transfer Chapter 3: Steady Heat Conduction

Y.C. Shih September 2013
 3-6 Heat Transfer from Finned Surfaces (7)

Convection (or Combined Convection and

Radiation) from Fin Tip
A practical way of accounting for the heat loss from the fin tip is to replace
the fin length L in the relation for the insulated tip case by a corrected
length defined as
Lc=L+Ac/p
For rectangular and cylindrical
fins Lc is
Lc,rectangular=L+t/2
Lc,cylindrical =L+D/4

3-33

Heat Transfer Chapter 3: Steady Heat Conduction

Y.C. Shih September 2013
 3-7 Bioheat Equation (1)

Surroundings (convection, radiation) E in , E out

Outer skin No heat source
Inner skin
Fat Conduction &
Muscle heat generation (metabolic,
perfusion, etc)
Bone (core)

E g , E st
Ref: Fiala, D., Lomas, K., Stohrer, M., “A Computer Model of Human
Thermogulation for a Wide Range of Environmental Conditions: the
Passive System,” Journal of Physiology, Vol. 87, pp. 1957-1972, 1999. 3-34

Heat Transfer Chapter 3: Steady Heat Conduction

Y.C. Shih September 2013
 3-7 Bioheat Equation (2)

1-D, Steady

2
q m  q p q m : metabolic heat generation rate
d T
2
 0 q p : perfusion heat generation rate
dx k
q p   b cb (Ta  T ) ω: perfusion rate, m3/s
ρb, cb: blood density and specific heat
Ta: arterial temperature 3-35

Heat Transfer Chapter 3: Steady Heat Conduction

Y.C. Shih September 2013
 3-7 Bioheat Equation (3)

1-D, transient

Governing Equation:

  2T  T  T
k  2    qm  blWblcbl (Tbl,a  T )  c
 r r r  t

Initial condition: t=0

Boundary conditions: at surface

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Heat Transfer Chapter 3: Steady Heat Conduction

Y.C. Shih September 2013
 3-7 Bioheat Equation (4)

Boundary Conditions

Convection with ambient air, qc: Newton’s cooling law

Radiation with surrounding surfaces, qR
Irradiation from high-temperature sources, qsR
Evaporation of moisture from the skin, qe
Tw
T∞
Ein=Eout Surroundings
qc qR qsR qe
qsk+qsR=qc+qR+qe

qsk  qc  qR  qsR  qe qsk

Skin

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Heat Transfer Chapter 3: Steady Heat Conduction

Y.C. Shih September 2013