Practice Exercises-1

1. Find the steady state temperature distribution in an infinite slab of width b in which heat
generation rate per unit volume is given by q= ′′′ ax + bx 2 where ‘a’ and ‘b’ are constants. The
face x=0 is cooled by a fluid whose temperature is T ∞ and the associated heat transfer
coefficient is ‘h’ while the face x=b is perfectly insulated (i.e. no heat flows in or out at this
face).
Determine the temperature of the face at x=0 using the above temperature distribution.
Determine the temperature of this face by performing an overall energy balance.

2. You are in a hurry one morning and took out the immersion heater from the bucket and put it on
a nearby table without switching the power off. The heater can be modeled as a hollow cylinder
with insulation and metal coverings as shown in the figure. The ambient temperature is 300K and
the outer and inner wall (innermost radius = 50mm) are exposed to the surrounding atmosphere
with heat transfer coeff. of 10 W/m2 K. The numbers in the brackets are the thicknesses of the
various walls. The heater element is very thin and can be assumed to be isothermal. If the heater
can withstand a temperature of 1200 K do you think your heater will get damaged. Assume
steady 1-D conditions and that the heater power is 5000 W/m. Ignore any radiative transfer.
Assume Kmetal = 20 W/mK; Kinsulation = 0.1 W/mK.

.
Infinitely
long

Outer metal Top wall and

b 2
h = 10 W/m K
Outer insulation h =T10 2
= W/m
300 K
h,T∞ Perfectly Heater (0.0mm) K
insulated 300
Inner insulation
x Inner metal
h = 10 W/m2 K
Infinitely T = 300 K
long

3. A hot surface at 100 0C is to be cooled by attaching aluminum fins to it. Each fin is made by joining
two cylinders of length 2cm each and diameters 2cm and 1cm respectively as shown in the figure. If
the surrounding air is at 30 0C and the surrounding heat transfer coefficient can be assumed to be 10
W/ m2 K determine the heat lost by each fin. kAl = 240 W/mK

4. A Nuclear fuel element of thickness ‘2L’ is covered with a steel cladding of thickness ‘b’. Heat
generated within the nuclear fuel at a rate q’’’ is removed by a fluid at T∝ which adjoins one
surface and is characterized by a convective coefficient ‘h’. The other surface is well insulated,
and the fuel and steel have thermal conductivities of kf and ks respectively. (a) Obtain an
 equation of the temperature distribution T(x) in the nuclear fuel. Express your results in terms of
q’’’, kf , L, b, ks h and T∝ (b) Sketch the temperature distribution for the entire system.

Base of fin 100 0C Steel

h = 10 W/ m2 K Nuclear fuel
T = 30 0C Fin tip insulated
Insulation T∝, h
2 cm 1 cm
L L

2 cm 2 cm b b

Question 4
Question 2

5. A special computer chip has two thin regions 1 and 2 embedded in a matrix which has a thermal
conductivity of 4.0 W/K. Heat is generated in regions 1 and 2 only and equal to 50 kW/m2 and
13.33 kW/m2 respectively. The chip is convectively cooled at its outer surface, with a fluid
stream h1= 1000 W/ m2 and T∝1= 30 0C. The chip is joined to the circuit board at its inner
surface. The thermal contact resistance between the chip and the board surface can be ignored.
The board thickness and thermal conductivity are L = 1mm and k = 2.0 W/mK, respectively. The
other surface of the board is exposed to cooling air for which h2 = 1000 W/ m2 K and T∝2 = 20
0
C. Evaluate the steady temperatures of the two regions. Assume the heat generation regions to
have negligible thickness. The thickness of the surrounding matrix is shown in the figure.

6. A rod of length ‘L’, which acts as a handle, protrudes from a furnace door. Since it is perceived
to loose heat to the ambient, you have decided to insulate it. You know some heat transfer and
therefore think that the insulation should be thicker at the base and thinner at the tip and
therefore provide a linearly varying thickness of insulation as shown below with the diameter of
the insulation at the base being four times the diameter of the fin i.e. diameter of fin with
insulation is ‘4Dfin’ at the door edge. Note that it is reasonable to ignore transverse temperature
gradients in the fin but not so for the insulation.

Set up the equations required for obtaining the temperature profile within this rod. The furnace
door can be assumed to be at a constant temperature Tw. Assume that the surrounding air is at T∞
and the heat transfer coefficient is very large to permit you to make a suitable assumption, if
necessary.

Insulation
Furnace
door Dfin
7. A semicircular stainless steel pipe is used in a miniature furnace for removing heat from the
interior of the furnace as shown below. The radius of the pipe is 1cm and the pipe is very long to
permit a per unit length calculation. The pipe is mounted on the wall which has a very low
thermal conductivity and therefore the flat surface can be considered to be insulated. The furnace
gases can be assumed to be at a temperature of such that the entire pipe facing the gases is
maintained constant at 3000C while the fluid in the pipe can be assumed to be maintained at
2500C for some process application. The semicircular portion of the pipe is assumed to be of
negligible thickness while the plate that it is welded to, is 2mm thick. If the internal heat transfer
coefficient for the flowing fluid is 1000W/m2K, determine the heat being transferred to the fluid
if the flow rate is 1X10-6 kg/s. The specific heat of the pipe material and the fluid are 200J/kgK
and 2000J/kgK while the thermal conductivity of the pipe and fluid are 200 and 2 W/mK.

Furnace wall assumed

Furnace gases giving
insulated
heat to coolant pipe 1cm
Coolant fluid within
the tube

8. The furnace shown in the figure is used to cure chemical samples. A solid rod is inserted into the
furnace with the sample mounted on it and is kept there, till the sample has attained a
predetermined temperature and is then removed. The rod is to be positioned very accurately and
therefore manufactured with high precision and therefore overheating of the rod is not permitted.
Heat is therefore removed from the base of the rod maintaining it at 1000C using a control
mechanism. The conductivity of the rod can be assumed to be 100 W/mK, the diameter 10mm
and length 100mm. The furnace temperature is 10000C and in the computation of heat transfer to
the rod, the rod temperature can be assumed to be much smaller than the furnace temperature.
Thickness of furnace walls can be ignored and rod tip can be assumed insulated. Determine the
heat removal required at the base of the rod. Assume σ=5.67X10-8 W/K4m2, ε=1 for all surfaces.

Rod with
Furnace
samples

Base of
rod

9. You are evaluating a new chapatti ‘making and cooking’ machine. The system is made
horizontal, several dough balls are put in between the left plate and the middle plate and the left
plate is closed. The system is turned upside down and the same operation is performed with the
right plate. The system is made vertical and after a few seconds the two plates are separated and
the chapattis fall into a bottom tray and the process repeats. The left and right plates are identical
and made of a material with k=1W/mK. The left plate of 20mm thickness has a heater of
negligible thickness and power 10kW/m2, exactly in the middle as shown. You model the
process to be a steady one even though it really is not since the process is happening very fast
and the heaters are on during the entire operation. You also assume that all the chapattis together
 form a uniform sheet of chapatti of negligible thickness(and therefore no temperature gradients
within). The chapatti has to be maintained at 1000C for proper cooking. Using a 1D
approximation in the direction from top to middle to bottom plate, determine the heater
temperature that will exist.

20mm
Right Plate
Heater h1=5W/m2K,
T∞1=300C
Chapatti in
Left Plate between plates
h1=5W/m2K, Middle Plate
T∞1=300C

Hinge for
opening/closing plates

10. A builder wishes to insulate the wall of a room of a building by embedding wood within concrete
as shown below. The total thickness of the concrete and wood are 10cm and1cm respectively and
are fixed from structural constraints. Using a 1D analysis, determine the minimum heat leak into
the room if you are permitted to change the location of the wood within the concrete. Assume the
inner wall of the room is at 250C and outer wall is at 400C. Use Kconcrete=1.0W/mK,
Kwood=0.1W/mK.

250C Concrete Concrete 400C

1cm

11cm

11. At steady conditions the temperatures at the ends of a system consisting of two alloy steel plates
10cm and 20cm long joined together with a stone plate between them as shown are 1000 C and
500 C. There is no contact resistance between the plates. Determine the temperatures of the ends
of the stone plate if the temperature difference between the two faces is 200C.

1000C Steel Stone Steel

10cm 20cm 500C

12. The figure shown is a methodology for measuring the thermal conductivity of sample materials
with low thermal conductivity. The unknown material is sandwiched between two rods of known
thermal conductivity. A heater is located at one end which supplies a known heat input and the
end is maintained at convenient constant temperature. At steady conditions the temperatures are
noted on the rods at specified locations and the thermal conductivity of the sample is calculated.
Assuming the contact resistance between the sample and rod on either side is 0.001 m2K/W
determine the thermal conductivity of the sample. The temperatures measured at the two
locations shown are 1250C(x=5cm), 1000C(x=10cm), and the heater power is 5W. The sample
and the rods have a diameter of 5cm and the length of each rod and sample are 15cm and 1cm
respectively.

Heater 5W
Steel rod 5cm
5cm X
Temp. Sensor
5cm
Sample

15cm

Const Temp. Bath(0C)

1. Consider the 2D unsteady slab of length=width=’L’, problem worked out in class. In
class all the four sides were exposed to the same heat transfer coefficient and free stream
temperature and the solution was obtained as the product of the solutions for two 1D
cases. The following case is to be now considered: Free stream temperature on all walls
same but heat transfer coeff. different on opposite walls. Can a similar product solution
as discussed in class be used in the form shown in the figure below. Now assume a
slightly different case: Free stream temperature on opposite walls different but heat
transfer coefficient same. Again is the product solution as shown the figure valid here?
Assume initial temperature=Ti.

Till ‘∞’
T∞, h2
T∞, h2
T∞ T∞ Till ‘∞’ Till ‘∞’
T∞, h1 L T∞, h1 h1 h1
T∞, h2
T∞, h2
Till ‘∞’

Till ‘∞’
T∞1, h1
T∞1, h1
T∞ T∞ Till ‘∞’ Till ‘∞’
T∞, h1 T∞, h1
h1 h1
T∞1, h1
T∞1, h1
Till ‘∞’

2. Consider a regenerative heat exchanger where the material in the heat exchanger is
subjected to alternate hot and cold fluid streams. The hot gas gives heat to the material
and the cold gas takes up the heat and becomes hotter. The regenerative material is
assumed to be composed of a large number of spherical balls of 5mm diameter each. In a
typical cycle the balls are at 500C when they are exposed to hot fluid at 800C and after
5min the balls are exposed to cold fluid at 300C for another 1.5mins. Determine the
temperature of the balls at the end of 2.5mins and 6.0mins from the start of the cycle.
Each ball can be considered to be separate and not affected by the others for the analysis.
The heat transfer coefficient between the balls and fluid can be assumed to be 50W/m2K
and for the balls, ρ=3000 kg/m3, Cp= 800J/kgK, K=5W/mK. Use the Duhamel’s theorem
to obtain the solution.

3. Determine the temperature ‘T’, in the slab of length ‘L’ and width ‘W’ shown below as a
function of time. The left and bottom walls are perfectly insulated. The top and bottom
walls have wall flux that varies as shown in the figure. The slab is at temperature ‘Ti’
initially. Split the problem into simpler 1D problems for which solutions are already
available. The split should be mathematically justifiable. Assume all required properties
are known.
q′′ C2 (T − T1 )
=

Left Wall W
q′′ C1 (T − T1 )
=
L
Insulation

Bottom Wall
4. Obtain the temperature profile in the cross-section shown for heat conduction with no
heat generation for the boundary conditions as shown. Do not use separation of variables
to obtain the solution but use the solutions already discussed earlier and use
superposition to obtain the solution.
T=0

W
∂T
=0
∂x T = T1
y L
x

T=0

5. Solutions for steady temperature distribution for a few two dimensional problems have
been obtained in class for Cartesian coordinates. Now try to attempt the solution in radial
coordinates. The geometry is as shown below and is a 900 annulus with inner and outer
radii temperature ‘Ti=0’ and ‘To=0’ respectively. The temperatures at the θ=00 and θ=900
are ‘0’ and ‘T90=1’ respectively.

T90, θ=90

To,R0
T i Ri

T0, θ=0

(a) Write down the governing differential equation and boundary conditions that are
required to obtain a solution. Now attempt a separation of variables type solution and
obtain the resulting two one dimensional ordinary differential equations along with
their corresponding boundary equations.

(c) Now attempt a solution. As usual one of the above two equations will give the ‘λm’ and
the corresponding functions which we will call ‘Rm’ – this is chosen to be the radial
direction. You can assume the solution ‘Rm’ and ‘λm’ to be known. The other equation
you should be able to get a solution. Now, complete the solution for the above problem
in the form of a series solution. Obtain this with the constants ‘Cm’still undetermined.

(d) Now, obtain the constants ‘Cm’ in terms of the ‘Rm ’ and ‘λm ’ given above to complete
the solution. Leave the solution in the form of an integral since you will not be able to
perform the integration since ‘Rm’ is not obtained.
6. A copper block of density 8000 kg/m3 radius 5mm and specific heat 300J/kgK at
ambient temperature 300C is suddenly dipped into a hot water bath with temperature
600C. After time 10secs the hot water suddenly experiences a volumetric heat generating
source and the temperature immediately rises to 700C and stays at this level for another
10secs after which the water temperature again rises instantly to 800C and stays at this
level for another 10secs. The heat transfer coefficient between the water and the block
can be assumed to be constant and equal to 3000 W/m2K. Use the Duhamel’s theorem to
determine the temperature of the copper block after 25 secs from the start of the
transient.

7. Consider the solution for the temperature distribution for the 2D slab shown below that
has been discussed in one of the presentations:
T1

T1 T2 w
y
x
T1

The following condition is required for the evaluation of the constants in the proposed
series solution:

∫ Sin my Sin ny dy =0 for m ≠ n and m,n being integers

Show that this condition can be shown to be true without taking recourse to
trigonometric relations using appropriate forms of equations obtainable from the
governing equation and the boundary conditions for the problem.

8. A slab with insulated sides is initially at a uniform temperature Ti. At time t>0, a
uniform heat source is activated within the slab while the two sides are maintained
exposed to a flow with constant heat transfer coefficient at a temperature T∞. Determine
the variation of the temperature of the slab. Note that you can split this into two
problems for which solutions were derived in class.

9. Consider the solution of the temperature in a two dimensional rectangular geometry with
constant thermal conductivity. The four walls are at temperatures T1, T2, T3, T4. It is
possible to reduce this problem to sub-problems in such a way that the solution obtained
for the problem discussed with one non-zero temperature in class can be used without
needing to solve additional differential equations. Split the problem such that (a) four
subproblems need be solved and (b) only THREE subproblems need to be solved.
Explain your steps carefully and do not try to solve the sub-problems.
10. The top portion(i.e. y=t) of a thin plate of thickness ‘t’, and length ‘L’ is heated by a
uniform radiant flux qr W/m2 as shown in the figure. The plate is very long in the
direction normal to the plane of the paper and can be assumed to have constant thermal
conductivity ‘k’. The bottom portion(i.e. y=0) is insulated. The plate is cooled by
maintaining the two ends at x=0 and x=L at a constant temperature Tc. Determine the
maximum temperature of the plate and also the heat removed from either end per unit
width normal to the plane of the paper.

qr

Tc Tc
L

x Insulated

11. Consider the unsteady conduction in a long cylindrical rod of radius ‘r0’ and constant
thermal conductivity ‘k’. The initial temperature is uniform throughout at ‘Ti’. The
material is a strange composite material whose thermal diffusivity ‘α’ is a function of
the radius and is given to be ‘f(r)’, where ‘f(r)’ is a function which can be assumed to be
known. Suddenly the temperature of the entire outer surface of the rod is changed to
‘T0’ and kept at this value and the temperature within the rod is allowed to change.
Set up the differential equation for this situation along with the appropriate boundary
conditions for obtaining the temperature variation with time.
A separation of variables solution will work here. Show that a summation solution will
be required. Assume any unknown constants and functions can be numerically obtained
and represent them symbolically
Show the methodology to obtain the unknown constants in terms of the summation
solution.

12. A slab with insulated sides is initially at a uniform temperature Ti. At time t>0, a
uniform heat source is activated within the slab while the two sides are maintained
exposed to a flow with constant heat transfer coefficient at a temperature T∞. Determine
the variation of the temperature of the slab. Note that you can split this into two
problems for which solutions were derived in the handouts.

13. Consider the derivation of the Duhamel’s theorem in a slightly different form that done
in the text. Use a general conduction equation and split the initial condition on the lines
of the solved example problem.