ME 512, Conduction Heat Transfer Homework 3

Fall 2014, L.L. Pauley

- Due Wednesday, September 24 in class.
- You can discuss the problems in a group but the work that you turn in must be your own.
- Late homework will be accepted before class on Monday, September 29 with 15% penalty.
- Do not submit this assignment page with your homework.
- Please start each problem on a new sheet of paper.
- Use the Homework Format for problems 3, 4, and 5.

Problem 1 (20 points)
Derive the temperature distribution and rate of heat transfer at base 1 for a thin fin with
prescribed end temperatures, T
1
and T
2
as shown in the figure. The fin is round and has a
diameter of D. Assume uniform fin conductivity of k.


Problem 2 (25 points)
Derive the temperature distribution and fin efficiency for a circular fin with an adiabatic tip
condition. Far from the fin, the air temperature is T

and the air flow creates a convection

coefficient of h. The base temperature of the fin is T
b
. The fin has a uniform conductivity
of k. Hint: You will want to put the ODE into the form of a modified Bessel function using
the substitution r=as. You can group the constant factors as one variable, m. After
substituting into the ODE, define the variable a so that the factors in front of the last term,
-mr
2
q, are removed and the ODE exactly matches the modified Bessel function from
Lecture 8. (Use the Bessel function equations from the class notes. Do not use another
reference that has already applied these transformations to the equation and solution.)



Problem 3 (5 points)
Use the rate of heat transfer expressions from the lecture notes (Table 3.4) to determine
the fin length required for a fin with adiabatic tip to be approximated as infinite length.
That is, find the fin length when the infinite length fin heat transfer is within 1% of the
adiabatic tip heat transfer. Use the following fin measurements:
Thickness: t= 0.8 mm Width: w= 11 cm
Conductivity of aluminum: k
Al
= 238 W/(m K)
Convection Coefficient: h= 15 W/(m
2
K)
This is the geometry of the fin array from my stereo power supply.


Problem 4 (20 points)
Now analyze the actual fin array from my stereo power supply using the fin efficiency and
a thermal circuit. Use the adiabatic tip fin efficiency. Determine the power output when
the temperature at the bottom of the base (in contact with the power supply) is 55C and
the air temperature is 23C.
Use the following fin measurements:
Fin measurements: Thickness: t= 0.8 mm Width: w= 11 cm Length: L= 5.2 cm
The bent section at the top of each fin pair has length c=4 mm. The corrected fin length
will be L
c
=L+c/2
The bottom plate measures: 0.5 cm 10.6 cm 13.0 cm
Conductivity of aluminum: k
Al
= 238 W/(m K)
Convection Coefficient: h= 15 W/(m
2
K)

Problem 5 (25 points)
Consider a rod of diameter D, thermal conductivity k, and length 2L that is perfectly
insulated over one portion of its length, Lx0, and experiences convection with a fluid
(T, h) over the other portion 0xL. One end is maintained at T
1
while the other is
separated from a heat sink at T
4
by an interfacial thermal contact resistance R"
t,c
.


a. Sketch (by hand) the temperature distribution and identify its key features such as
discontinuities in the temperature gradient. Assume that T
1
>T
4
>T

.
b. Derive an expression for the midpoint temperature, T
2
, in terms of the thermal and
geometric parameters of the system. Then derive an expression for the temperature to
the left of the contact, T
3
. You do not need to derive expressions from the conduction
equation; you can start with the expressions in Table 3.4 of Incropera & DeWitt. Only
use variables in this step of the problem; do not substitute values yet.
Hint: Solve in terms of ' s u and then substitute for
2 2
. T T u

= + Note that
1 2 1 2
T T u u = and
c b
M mkA u = . Your solution can be written using
1/ 2
c
hP
m
kA
(
=
(

.

c. For T
1
=200C, T
4
=100C, and the values given in the figure, calculate T
2
and T
3
using
EXCEL or other software. Plot the temperature distribution from L x L < < (in EXCEL
or other software). Describe key features of the distribution and compare it to your
sketch in part a. Turn in your plot; you do not need to turn in the tabulated values.

T
4
T
3