Chapter 3 2-D Heat conduction

(Material presented in this chapter are based on those in Chapter 4, Fundamentals of Heat and Mass Transfer, Fifth Edition by Incropera and DeWitt) Consider a slab of width W and length L (Fig. 3.1). For sake of brevity, assume that the slab is isotropic and the thermal conductivity is constant. Assume constant temperature of T1 at the boundaries x = 0, x = L, and y = 0 and T2 at y = W . Figure 3.1: 2-D Slab geometry Under steady state conditions, the energy balance for the 2-D system is 2T 2T + =0 x2 y 2 subject to the boundary conditions T (x = 0, y ) = T (x = L, y ) = T (x, y = 0) = T1 ; T (x, y = W ) = T2 Introducing the change of variable = 3.1, 3.2) can be rewritten in terms of as
T T1 , T2 T1

(3.1)

(3.2)

the model equation (Eqs

2T 2T + =0 x2 y 2 subject to the boundary conditions (0, y ) = (L, y ) = (x, 0) = 0; (x, W ) = 1 43

(3.3)

(3.4)

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CHAPTER 3. 2-D HEAT CONDUCTION

The solution of Eqs (3.3 - 3.4) can be obtained by using separation of variables technique. As the model equations are linear, the solution can be expressed as a product of two functions, viz. one that depends only on x and the other only on y , that is (x, y ) = X (x)Y (x) (3.5)

Substitution of Eq. (3.5) into the model equations (Eqs 3.3, 3.4) leads to Y d2 X d2 Y 1 d2 X 1 d2 Y + X = 0 = dx2 dy 2 X dx2 Y dy 2 (3.6)

As X = X (x) and Y = Y (y ), both lhs and rhs in Eq. (3.6) are independent. Independent quantities can be equal only when they are constants. Therefore, both lhs and rhs in Eq. (3.6) must be constant, say 2 , that is 1 d2 Y 1 d2 X = = 2 X dx2 Y dy 2 (3.7)

Eq. (3.7) can now be written as two independent second-order ODEs (or eigenvalue problems): d2 Y d2 X 2 + X = 0; 2 Y = 0 dx2 dy 2 (3.8)

Solving these two independent equations, (x, y ) = X (x)Y (y ) can be written as = (C1 cos x + C2 sin x)(C3 exp(y ) + C4 exp(y )) (3.9)

Using the boundary conditions (0, y ) = 0 and (x, 0) = 0, it can be detected that C1 = 0, that is C2 = 0 and C3 = C4 . Using the boundary condition (L, y ) = 0, the following condition can be arrived at: C2 C4 sin(L)(exp(y ) exp(y )) = 0 (3.10)

In Eq. (3.10, as C2 C4 cannot be zero, sin(L) = 0 which is the characteristic equation for the problem and the eigenvalues is given by = n , n = 1, 2, 3, ... L (3.11)

45 (Note that when C2 C4 = 0, then = 0 is the solution, which is incorrect. Moreover, = 0 is not a valid eigenvalue as zero eigenvalue will lead to no dependence on x which is not permissible.) As there are innite solutions to the problem, assuming Cn = 2C2 C4 and as there are innite permissible eigenvalues, the solution of the 2-D diusion in a slab can be written as

(x, y ) =
n=1

Cn sin

ny nx sinh L L

(3.12)

where, Cn is not known yet. (Note that exp(nx/L) exp(nx/L) = 2 sinh(ny/L).) The boundary condition (x, W ) = 1 can be used to obtain the following condition nW nx sinh (3.13) (x, W ) = 1 = Cn sin L L n=1 In order to nd Cn , multiply Eq. (3.13) by sin(nx/L) and integrate from x = 0, L. As the eigenfunction corresponding to every eigenvalue n is a term in Fourier series, they must be orthogonal to each other. Therefore, Cn =
L sin nx dx L 0 L 2 nx nW sin L L 0

sinh

dx

1 2 (1)n+1 + 1 n sinh nW L

(3.14)

Plugging in Cn from Eq. (3.14) into Eq. (3.12) leads to the expression for the temperature prole on a 2-D slab: (x, y ) = 2

n=1

(1)n+1 + 1 nx sinh sinh n L sinh

ny L nW L

(3.15)

The nal solution given by Eq. (3.15) is a convergent series and the value of can be computed for any position (x, y ). Figure (3.2) shows the temperature contours in the 2D slab. Compare the temperature prole with that obtained for a 1-D case (Fig. 1.4) which is linear. Introduction of a second dimension has introduced a temperature prole in the 2-D domain which is not linear any more.

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CHAPTER 3. 2-D HEAT CONDUCTION

Figure 3.2: Temperature contours during heat transfer in a 2-D plane wall.