Prof. Lisneider Sánchez Ascanio.

Master in Mechanical Engineering

lsancheza@ufpso.edu.co
3152871841

Universidad Francisco de Paula Santander

Faculty of Engineering
Program of Mechanical Engineering
 The Thermal Resistance concept
It allows to extend the heat transfer problem of conduction, convection and
radiation, to more complex systems, using concepts from the theory of the
electrical circuits.

• There is an analogy between the diffusion of heat and electrical charge.

• Just as an electrical resistance is associated with the conduction of
electricity, a thermal resistance may be associated with the conduction
of heat.

Thermal resistance for conduction in a plane wall is:

For electrical conduction in the same system, Ohm’s law provides an
electrical resistance of the form

There is an analogy between Ohm’s law and heat transfer equations

Thermal resistance for convection is:

The heat transfer rate may be determined from separate consideration of
each element in the network. Since 𝑞𝑥 is constant throughout network, it
follows that

In terms of overall temperature difference, and the total thermal resistance,

the heat transfer rate may also be expressed as

For convection and conduction resistances in series

Radiation exchange between the surface and surrounding may also be
important if the convection heat transfer coefficient is small (as it often is
for natural convection in a gas)

A thermal resistance for radiation may be defined as

Surface radiation and convection resistances act in parallel
Thermal resistance in composite walls
It is often convenient to work with an overall heat transfer coefficient U,
which is defined by an expression analogous to Newton’s law of cooling.
Contact resistance

It is important to recognize that, in composite systems, the temperature drop

across the interface between materials may be appreciable.
This temperature change is attributed to what is known as the thermal
contact resistance.

The contact resistance may be viewed as two parallel resistances.

That due to the contact spots and that due to the gaps.

For solids whose thermal conductivities exceed that of the interfacial fluid, the contact
resistance may be reduced by increasing the area of the contact spots. Such an
increase may be affected by increasing the joint pressure and/or by reducing the
roughness of the mating surfaces.
 "
Although theories have been developed for predicting 𝑅𝑡,𝑐 , the most
reliable results are those that have been obtained experimentally.
References
Cengel, Y. A. (2007). Transferencia de Calor y Masa (3rd ed.).
Incropera, F. P., & Dewitt, D. P. (2011). Fundamentals o heat and mass transfer
(7th ed.). United States of America.