Chapter 6: Radiation Heat

Transfer
The third method of heat transfer

How does heat energy get

from the Sun to the Earth? There are no particles between
the Sun and the Earth so it
CANNOT travel by conduction or
by convection.

RADIATION
?
Concept of Radiation
• Radiation heat transfer is concerned with the exchange of
thermal radiation energy between two or more bodies

• Thermal radiation is defined as electromagnetic radiation in the

wavelength range 0.1 to 100 microns and arises as a result of a
temperature difference between 2 bodies

• No medium needed/exist

• The heat transferred into or out of object by thermal radiation

include surface reflectivity, emissivity, surface area,
temperature, geometric orientation.
Radiation

Radiation travels in straight lines

True/False
Radiation can travel through a vacuum
True/False
Radiation requires particles to travel
True/False
Radiation travels at the speed of light
True/False
Emission experiment
Four containers were filled with warm water. Which
container would have the warmest water after ten minutes?

Dull metal Shiny black

Shiny metal Dull black

shiny metal
The __________ container would be the warmest after ten
minutes because its shiny surface reflects heat radiation
_______ back
dull black
into the container so less is lost. The ________ container
emitting
would be the coolest because it is the best at _______ heat
radiation.
Absorption experiment
Four containers were placed equidistant from a heater. Which
container would have the warmest water after ten minutes?

Dull metal Shiny black

Shiny metal Dull black

dull black
The __________ container would be the warmest after ten
radiation
minutes because its surface absorbs heat _______ the best.
shiny metal
The _________ container would be the coolest because it is
absorbing
the poorest at __________ heat radiation.
Radiation questions

Why are houses painted white in hot countries?

White reflects heat radiation and keeps the house cooler.

Why are shiny foil blankets wrapped around marathon runners at the end of a
race?

The shiny metal reflects the heat radiation from the runner back in, this stops
the runner getting cold.
 Objectives
When you finish studying this chapter, you
should be able to:
• Define view factor, and understand its
importance in radiation heat transfer
calculations,
• Develop view factor relations, and calculate
the unknown view factors in an enclosure by
using these relations,
• Calculate radiation heat transfer between
black surfaces,
 The View Factor
• Radiation heat transfer between surfaces depends on the
orientation of the surfaces relative to
each other as well as their radiation
properties and temperatures.
• View factor is defined to account for the
effects of orientation on radiation heat
transfer between two surfaces.
• View factor is a purely geometric
quantity and is independent of the surface properties and
temperature.
• Diffuse view factor ─ view factor based on the assumption that
the surfaces are diffuse emitters and diffuse reflectors.
• Specular view factor ─ view factor based on the assumption that
the surfaces are specular reflectors.
• Here we consider radiation exchange between diffuse surfaces
only, and thus the term view factor simply means diffuse view
factor.
• The view factor from a surface i to a surface j is
denoted by Fi→j or just Fij, and is defined as
• Fij=the fraction of the radiation leaving surface i
that strikes surface j directly.
• Consider two differential surfaces dA1 and dA2 on two
arbitrarily oriented surfaces A1 and A2, respectively.
• The rate at which radiation leaves
dA1 in the direction of q1 is:
I1cos q1dA1
• Noting that
dw21=dA2cos q2/r2,
• the portion of this radiation that strikes dA2 is
dA2 cos q 2
QdA dA  I1 cos q1dA1d w21  I1 cos q1dA1 2
(13-1)
1 2
r
• The total rate at which radiation leaves dA1 (via
emission and reflection) in all directions is the
radiosity (J1=pI1) times the surface area:
dQdA1  J1dA1  p I1dA1 (13-2)
• Then the differential view factor dFdA1→dA2 (the
fraction of radiation leaving dA1 that strikes
dA2) QdA dA cos q1 cos q 2
dFdA1 dA2  1 2
 dA2 (13-3)
QdA1 pr 2

• The view factor from a differential area dA1 to a

cos q1 cos q 2
dA  A  
finite area A2Fis: dA2 (13-4)
1 2
A2
2
pr
• The total rate at which radiation leaves the
entire A1 in all directions is
QA1  J1 A1  p I1 A1 (13-5)

• considering the radiation that leaves dA1 and

strikes dA2, and integrating it over A1,
I1 cos q1 cos q 2 dA2
QA1 dA2   QdA1 dA2  2
dA1 (13-6)
A1 A1
r

• Integration of this relation over A2 gives the

radiation that strikes the entire A2,
I1 cos q1 cos q 2
QA1  A2   QA1 dA2  2
dA1dA2 (13-7)
A2 A2 A1
r
• Dividing this by the total radiation leaving A1 (from Eq. 13–
5) gives the fraction of radiation leaving A1 that strikes A2,
which is the view factor F12,
QA  A 1 cos q1 cos q 2
F12  FA  A 
1 2
QA
1
 2
 
A1 A A pr 2
dA1dA2 (13-8)
1 2 1

• The view factor F21 is readily determined from Eq. 13–8

by interchanging the subscripts 1 and 2,
QA  A 1 cos q1 cos q 2
F21  FA  A 
2 1
QA
2
 1
 
A2 A A pr 2
dA1dA2 (13-9)
2 2 1

• Combining Eqs. 13–8 and 13–9 after multiplying the former

by A1 and the latter by A2 gives the reciprocity relation
A1F12  A2 F21 (13-10)
• When j=i:
Fii=the fraction of radiation leaving
surface i that strikes itself directly.
– Fii=0: for plane or convex surfaces and
– Fii≠0: for concave surfaces
• The value of the view factor ranges
between zero and one.
– Fij=0 ─ the two surfaces do not have a
direct view of each other,
– Fij=1─ surface j completely surrounds
surface.
View Factors Tables for Selected
Geometries (analytical form)
View Factors Figures for Selected
Geometries (graphical form)
 View Factor Relations
• Radiation analysis on an enclosure consisting
of N surfaces requires the evaluation of N2
view factors.
• Fundamental relations for view factors:
– the reciprocity relation,
– the summation rule,
– the superposition rule,
– the symmetry rule.
 The Reciprocity Relation
• We have shown earlier that the pair of view
factors Fij and Fji are related to each other
by
Ai Fi  j  Aj Fj i (13-11)

• This relation is referred to as the reciprocity

relation or the reciprocity rule.
• Note that:
Fj i  Fi  j when Ai  Aj
Fj i  Fi  j when Ai  Aj
 The Summation Rule
• The conservation of energy
principle requires that the entire
radiation leaving any surface i of
an enclosure be intercepted by the
surfaces of the enclosure.
• Summation rule ─ the sum of the
view factors from surface i of an
enclosure to all surfaces of the
enclosure, including to itself, must
equal unity. N
F
j 1
i j 1 (13-12)
• The summation rule can be applied to each surface of
an enclosure by varying i from 1 to N.
• The summation rule applied to each of the N surfaces
of an enclosure gives N relations for the determination
of the view factors.
• The reciprocity rule gives 1/2N(N-1) additional
relations.
• The total number of view factors that need to be
evaluated directly for an N-surface enclosure becomes
 1  1
N   N  N  N  1   N  N  1
2

 2  2
 The Superposition Rule
• Sometimes the view factor associated with a given
geometry is not available in standard tables and charts.
• Superposition rule ─ the view factor from a surface i
to a surface j is equal to the sum of the view factors
from surface i to the parts of surface j.
• Consider the geometry shown in the figure below.
• The view factor from surface 1 to the combined
surfaces of 2 and 3 is
F1 2,3  F12  F13 (13-13)
• From the chart in Table 13–2:
– F12 and F1(2,3)
and then from Eq. 13-13:
– F13
 The Symmetry Rule
• Symmetry rule ─ two (or
more) surfaces that possess
symmetry about a third
surface will have identical
view factors from that surface.
• If the surfaces j and k are symmetric about the surface i
then
Fi  j  Fi k

• Using the reciprocity rule, it can be shown that

Fj i  Fk i
View Factors between Infinitely Long
Surfaces: The Crossed-Strings Method
• The view factor between two-dimensional surfaces
can be determined by the simple crossed-strings
method developed by H. C. Hottel in the 1950s.
• Consider the geometry shown in the figure.
• Hottel has shown that the view factor
F1 2 can be expressed in terms of
the lengths of the stretched strings as

F12 
 L5  L6    L3  L4 
(13-16)
2 L1