1D STEADY STATE HEAT

CONDUCTION (2)
Prabal Talukdar
Associate Professor
Department of Mechanical Engineering
IIT Delhi
E-mail: prabal@mech.iitd.ac.in
p

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Thermal Contact Resistance

Temperature distribution and heat flow lines along two solid plates
pressed against each other for the case of perfect and imperfect contact
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Consider heat transfer through two metal rods of cross-sectional area A that
are pressed against each other
other. Heat transfer through the interface of these two
rods is the sum of the heat transfers through the solid contact spots and the
gaps in the noncontact areas and can be expressed as

Q = Q

Mostexperimentallydetermined
Most
experimentally determined
valuesofthethermalcontactresistancefall
between0.000005and0.0005m2C/W(the
correspondingrangeofthermalcontact
conductanceis2000to200,000W/m2C).

contact

+ Q

gap

Q = h c A T int

erface

where A is the apparent interface area (which is the same as the crosssectional area of the rods) and Tinterface is the effective temperature
difference at the interface. The quantity hc, which corresponds to the
convection heat transfer coefficient, is called the thermal contact
conductance and is expressed as

(W/m2 oC)

int

erface

It is related to thermal contact resistance by

R
PTalukdar/Mech-IITD

1
h c

int

erface

(m2 oC/W)

Importance of consideration

Th th
The
thermall contact
t t resistance
i t
range:
between 0.000005 and 0.0005 m2C/W

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Two parallel layers

Q = Q

+ Q

T1 T
R1

T1 T
R 2

= (T1 T

R1 =

Q =

T1 T
R total

1
1
)
+
R 2
R1

L1
k 1 A 1'

'
2

where
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1
R

total

1
1
+
R1
R 2

total

R1R 2
R1 + R

Combined series-parallel
series parallel

Q =

T1 T
R total

R1 R 2
+ R 3 + R conv
R1 + R 2

R total = R 12 + R 3 + R conv =

R1 =

conv

L1
k 1 A 1'

1
hA

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L
k

'
2

L
k

A 3'

Series and parallel composite wall and its thermal circuit

RD

RA
R1

RC

T1

R = R 1 +

R2

RE

T2

RF

RB

1
1
1

+
RA RB

+ RC +

1
1
1
1

+
+
RD RE RF

+ R 2

Q = UA T

(W)

where U is the overall heat transfer coefficient

UA =
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1
R total

T1

T2

T3 T4

Complex multi-dimensional problems as 1-D problems

1 Any plane wall normal to the x-axis is isothermal
1.
2. Any plane parallel to x-axis is adiabatic

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Heat conduction in cylinder

Q cond ,cyl = kA

dT
dr

A = 2 rL
L

r
r2= r
1

Q cond ,cyl
A

dr = T2=T kdT
1

Substituting A = 2rL and performing the integrations give

Q cond ,cyl

T T2
= 2 Lk 1
ln( r2 r1 )

Q cond

, cyl

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T1 T 2
R cyl
R cyl =

Q cond ,cyl

=constant at steady state

(W)
ln( r2 r1 )
2 Lk

ln(outer radius/inner radius)

2(length)(thermal conductivity)

Heat conduction in sphere

T1 T2
&
Q
=
cond ,sphere
R sph

For sphere

r r
Rsph = 2 1
4r1r2k

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outer radius - inner radius

4(outer radius)(inner radius)(thermal conductivity)

Resistance Network
cylindrical
R total = R conv ,1 + R cond + R conv , 2
=

ln (r 2 r1 )
1
1
+
+
(2 r1 L )h 1
2 Lk
( 2 r2 L ) h 2

spherical
R total = R conv
=

(4 r )h
1

The thermal resistance network for a cylindrical (or

spherical) shell subjected to convection from
both the inner and the outer sides.
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+
1

,1

+ R sph + R conv

,2

r 2 r1
1
+
4 r1 r 2 k
( 4 r2 2 ) h

Multilayered cylinder

R total = R conv ,1 + R cyl ,1 + R cyl , 2 + R cyl , 3 + R conv , 2

=
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ln (r 2 r1 ) ln (r 3 r 2 ) ln (r 4 r 3 )
1
1
+
+
+
+
h 1A 1
2 Lk 1
2 Lk 2
2 Lk 3
h 2A

Radial heat conduction through cylindrical systems

1 T 1 T T
T
k.r
+ k. + g& = C
k.r
+ 2
r r z z
t
r r
d dT
r
=0
dr dr

Integrating the above equation twice

twice, T=C1ln r + C2
Subject to the boundary conditions, T=T1 at r = r1 and T=T2 at r = r2

T =

T 2 T1
T ln r 2 T 2 ln r1
ln (r ) + 1
r
r
ln 2
ln 2
r1
r1

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C1
ddT
Q = kA r
|r = r1 = k.2r1L.
dr
r1
Q = k.2r1L.(T2 T1 ).

2kL(T1 T2 )
r2
ln
r1

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1
r
r1 ln 2
r1

Critical Radius of Insulation

1. Steady state conditions
2. One-dimensional heat flow only in
the radial direction
3. Negligible thermal resistance due to
cylinder wall
4 Negligible radiation exchange
4.
between outer surface of insulation
and surroundings

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Insulation

r2

T , h

r1

Thin wall
Ts

Critical Radius of Insulation

Practically, it turns out that adding insulation in cylindrical and spherical

exposed
p
walls can initiallyy cause the thermal resistance to decrease,, thereby
y
increasing the heat transfer rate because the outside area for convection
heat transfer is getting larger. At some critical thickness, rcr, the thermal
resistance increases again and consequently the heat transfer is reduced.
To find an expression for rcr, consider the thermal circuit below for an
insulated cylindrical wall with thermal conductivity k:

& T1
Q
Insulation

r2

T , h

r1
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Thin wall
Ts

Ts
ln(r2 r1 )
2k

Rt

T
1
2r2h

An insulated cylindrical pipe exposed

to convection from the outer surface
and the thermal resistance network
associated with it.

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 Tofindrcr,settheoverallthermalresistancedRt/dr=0and
solveforr:
Rt =

ln(r ri )
1
+
2k
2rh

ri = inner radius

dRt
1
1
=

=0
2
dr
2kr 2r h
k
r = rcr =
h

Similarly for a sphere

2k
rcr =
h

For
Forinsulationthicknesslessthatr
insulation thickness less that rcr theheatlossincreases
the heat loss increases
withincreasingrandforinsulationthicknessgreaterthat
rcr theheatlossdecreaseswithincreasingr
Ifk=0.03W/(mK)andh=10W/(m2K):
k 0.03 W/(mK)
= 0.003m = 3mm
cylinder rcr = =
2
h

10 W/(m
( K))

2k
= 6mm
sphere rcr =
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h

Values of r1, h and k are constant

To see the condition maximizes or
minimizes the total resistance
d 2 R total
dr2 2

1
2kr22

1
r23 h

At r2=k/h
Total thermal resistance per unit length

d 2 R total

r
ln 2
r
1
= 1+
2k
2r2 h

dr2 2

R total

Heat transfer p
per unit length
g

1
1 1
=
>0

2 k 2k
3 2
2k h
(k h )
1

Always positive, total resistance

at k/h is minimum

Q T Ti
=
L
Rtotal

Optimum thickness is associated with r2, dRtotal

1
1

=0
2kr2 2r22 h

dr2
r2 =

k
h

rcr ,cylinder =

=0

k
h

(m)

rcr , max =

k max, insulation
h min

0 .05 W m o C

5 W m 2o C

) = 0.01m = 1cm

We can insulate hot water pipes and steam lines without

worrying the critical radius of insulation
Insulation of electric wires:
-Radius of electric wires may be smaller than the critical radius
-Addition
Addition of insulation material increases heat transfer
Critical radius of insulation for spherical shell:

rcr ,sphere =

2k
h

Summary
Table3.3
Table 3 3

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1D Conduction with Heat

Generation

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d T
q
+
= 0
2
dx
k

T (x ) =

q 2
x + C1x + C 2
2k

Boundaryy conditions:

T ( L ) = T s ,1
T (L ) = T s , 2

qL 2
T (x) =
2k
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C1 =

T s , 2 T s ,1

2L

T s , 2 + T s ,1
q
2
=
L +
2k
2

T s , 2 + T s ,1

x 2 T s , 2 T s ,1 x
1 2 +
+
2
2
L
L

Ts ,1 = Ts , 2 Ts

qL 2
T (x) =
2k

x2
1 2 + T s
L

qL
L2
T (0) To =
+ Ts
2k

Put x = 0

If the surface temperature of the heat generating body is

unknown and the surrounding fluid temperature is T
Find temperature gradient
dT
| x = L = h(Ts T ) from the above Eq.
Using
g energy
gy balance k
q at x = L

d
dx

We can obtain the surface temperature

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qL
Ts = T +
h

1 d dT q
+ = 0
r
r dr dr k

dT
q r2
r
=
+ C1
d
dr
2k

q r2
T (r ) =
+ C 1 ln r + C 2
4k

Boundary conditions:

dT
|r = 0 = 0
dr

T ( ro ) = T s

C1 = 0
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q ro
T (r ) =
4k

C 2 = Ts +

q ro
4k

r2
1 2 + T s
ro

q ro2 L = h ( 2 ro L )( T s T )

q ro
Ts = T +
2h