4 October 2013

SME 3023 Additional Notes Simultaneous Linear Equations

Problem
Two sides of a square plate of uniform thickness are maintained at 200C, and the other two sides
are exposed to an atmospheric temperature of 10C as shown in Figure 1. Derive the equations for
finding the temperature distribution in the plate.

Figure 1: (a) Plate with two sides maintained at 200C and the other two exposed to 0C, and
(b) Uniform grid for plate.
Solution
The steady state temperature distribution in flat plate (or any two-dimensional body) is governed by
the Laplace Equation

2 2
2 2
0
T T
x y

+ =

(1)
where T(x,y) is the temperature, and x and y are the coordinate directions. An approximate solution
of equation (1) can be found by using a finite difference scheme. The first and second partial
derivative terms can be approximated by finite difference equivalents, which are

( )
( )
2
1, , 1,
2 2
,
2
i j i j i j
i j
T T T
T
x
x
+
+

(2)
and

( )
( )
2
, 1 , , 1
2 2
,
2
i j i j i j
i j
T T T
T
y
y
+
+

(3)
Substituting equation (2) and (3) into equation (1),

( ) ( )
1, , 1, , 1 , , 1
2 2
2 2
0
i j i j i j i j i j i j
T T T T T T
x y
+ +
+ +
+ =

(4)
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For a uniform grid with x = y, equation (4) reduces to

1, 1, , 1 , 1 ,
4 0
i j i j i j i j i j
T T T T T
+ +
+ + + = (5)
Temperature distribution in a plate problem as shown in Figure 1 can be solved using equation (5). In
this problem, the unknown temperatures are at nodes (1,1), (2,1), (1,2) and (2,2). The known
temperatures are at nodes (0,0), (1,0), (2,0), (1,0), (2,0). These known temperatures are the
boundary conditions for this problem. Because of the boundary conditions, the problem reduces to
only four unknown temperatures from the original nine temperature nodes.
Using equation (5),

2,1 0,1 1,2 1,0 1,1
3,1 1,1 2,2 2,0 2,1
2,2 0,2 1,3 1,1 1,2
3,2 1,2 2,3 2,1 2,2
4 0; 1, 1
4 0; 2, 1
4 0; 1, 2
4 0; 2, 2




T T T T T i j
T T T T T i j
T T T T T i j
T T T T T i j
+ + + = = =
+ + + = = =
+ + + = = =
+ + + = = =
(6)
Substituting the boundary condition temperatures,

0,0 1,0 2,0 0,1 0,2
3,1 1,3 2,3 3,2
200
0
T T T T T
T T T T
= = = = =
= = = =
(7)
Equation (6) reduces to

2,1 1,2 1,1
1,1 2,2 2,1
2,2 1,1 1,2
1,2 2,1 2,2
4 400; 1, 1
4 200; 2, 1
4 200; 1, 2
4 0; 2, 2




T T T i j
T T T i j
T T T i j
T T T i j
+ = = =
+ = = =
+ = = =
+ = = =
(8)
Rearranging and writing equation (8) in a matrix form,

2,1
1,1
2,2
1,2
4 1 1 0 200
1 4 0 1 400
1 0 4 1 0
0 1 1 4 200
T
T
T
T
(
(


(
=
` `
(

(


) )
(9)
The solution of equation (9) can be found as

2,1
1,1
2,2
1,2
100
150.0
50.0
100.0
T
T
T
T
=
=
=
=
(10)
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