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Transient Heat Analysis of a Coffee Cup

By: Rennie Scott and Josh Clark
May 5th, 2019
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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................................3
Assumptions................................................................................................................................................3
Simulation Setup and Process.....................................................................................................................3
Results.........................................................................................................................................................4
Analysis........................................................................................................................................................7
Conclusion....................................................................................................................................................8
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Introduction
For this project, we are modeling the transient response of a coffee cup that has 80˚ C coffee
poured into it. The cup is initially at a room temperature of 20˚ C. The purpose of this simulation is to
apply properties of natural convection and heat transfer to determine a “window of drinkability” for The
Boss. This window is defined as when the liquid is between 70° C and 45° C. The biggest challenge to this
simulation was the changing average convection coefficient which had to be determined first and
applied to the SolidWorks modeling software.

Assumptions
This simulation was built and modeled in SolidWorks using a 2D axisymmetric simplification. We
assumed that the temperature contour would be the same about the central axis, thus using the 2D
simplification minimized computing capacity required and wait time per simulation. We assumed that
the heat transfer from the handle is negligible since the material is porcelain and has a large thermal
resistance. We also assumed that the bottom of the cup is adiabatic. We can assume this because when
the bottom is compared to the top and sides, the heat transfer is much less. We used the overall
average convection coefficient values for both the sides and top of the coffee mug. For all the coffee
values, we assumed that the properties for coffee were the same as they are for water. The last
assumptions we made were that at t = 0s, the cup is instantaneously filled to the brim.

Simulation Setup and Process

The first step we took in solving this problem was writing down all known values for different
film temperatures in Microsoft Excel of air and water and calculating their corresponding convection
coefficients. Then, we built a solid model in SolidWorks. We modeled both the porcelain and water in
the same drawing and made them to be different solid bodies with the components in contact with each
other. Then, the pre-determined conditions were applied to the boundaries and a fine mesh was placed
on the model. The simulation was run, and the results were obtained. We probed two places during the
transient simulation. The first probe took place on the face of the water and we observed the average
temperature of the fluid. This was used to determine when the coffee was acceptable to drink. The
second probe went along the outside edge of the porcelain so that we were able to observe the average
outer temperature of the coffee cup. This is important, because these observed temperature values are
directly felt by the user.
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Results
The first results obtained came from our calculations for the different convection coefficient values
found with water and air. The graphs are shown below.
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After the simulation was ran, the temperature contour looked as follows
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After the simulation was ran, the following plot was generated representing the temperature of
the coffee inside the cup from the time it was poured to 90 minutes after the coffee was poured.
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Similarly, temperature measurements were taken on the outside edge of the coffee cup over the same
time period. The plot generated from this set of data is shown below.

Analysis
From the plots shown above, the coffee cooled to 70°C after approximately 9 seconds. The
graph started at 10 seconds due to our step analysis set up in SolidWorks, and the 9 second value was
determined from linear interpolation with the stated initial conditions.
In the second graph, there is an initial jump in the wall temperature when the coffee is poured
into the cup. This occurs because the porcelain cup is initially at room temperature, and heat transfer
from the coffee to the cup occurs the moment the coffee is poured. Once the cup and coffee are at the
same temperature, they cool off at a similar rate. From our analysis, we concluded that the window of
drinkability for the boss was 26.68 minutes.
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Conclusions
These results reveal relative accuracy, and a good verification for the temperature plots of the
liquid and edge of the cup. You can see above that each plot starts to approach an asymptotic value of
20°C, which is the given ambient temperature. While the time period of drinkability appears decently
long, the boss may prefer this time period be extended. In this situation, a coffee cup heater could be
utilized to increase the time period of drinkability.
Some sources of error or inaccuracy in this simulation could be from our assumptions. If we
wanted to make this a more realistic simulation, we could also do an analysis on the bottom of the cup
instead of assuming it is adiabatic. Our inability to change the physical properties of water in SolidWorks
also created a possible source of error. This prevented us from simulating a lumped capacitance model
of the liquid. Overall, this simulation provides a relative idea of the heat loss that occurs in a typical
coffee cup sitting on a desk.