HEAT CONDUCTION THROUGH

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

Mech/IITD

Introduction
&
Q
conv = hA s (Ts T )

There are two ways to increase the rate of heat transfer

too increase
c e se thee convection
co vec o heat
e transfer
s e coefficient
coe c e h
to increase the surface area As
Increasing h may require the installation of a pump or fan,
Or replacing
p
g the existingg one with a larger
g one
The alternative is to increase the surface area by attaching to
the surface extended surfaces called fins
made of highly conductive materials such as aluminum

Heat sinks

Pin fins

The thin plate fins of a car radiator greatly

increase the rate of heat transfer to the air

Fins from nature

Longitudinal fins
Rectangular

Triangular

Convex parabolic

Trapezoidal

Concave parabolic

Radial fins:

Rectangular
g
p
profile

Triangular profile

Hyperbolic profile

Pins:

Radial fin coffee cup

(a)Cylindrical (b)conical (c) concave parabolic (d) convex parabolic

Fin Equation
dT
Q& x = kA c
dx
d Q& x
&
&
Q x + dx = Q x +
dx
dx

&
dQ
conv = hdA s (T T )

Energy Balance:
&
dQ
x dx + hdA ( T T )
&
= Qx +
s

dx
dT
h dA s
(T T ) = 0

dx
k dx

Q& x = Q& x + dx + d Q& conv

d
A
dx

d 2T
dx

1 dA c dT 1 h dA s
(T T ) = 0
+

A c dx dx A c k dx

Fins with uniform cross sectional area

1 dA c dT
d 2T
+

2
dx
A c dx dx
dA c
=0
dx
dA s
A s = Px
= P
d
dx

1 h dA s

( T T ) = 0
A c k dx

d 2 T hP
( T T ) = 0

2
dx
kA c
Excess temperature

( x ) T ( x ) T
d 2
2

m
=0
2
dx

(a) Rectangular Fin (b) Pin fin

General solution and

Boundary Conditions
d 2
2

m
=0
2
dx
hP
m2 =
kA c

( x ) T ( x ) T
The g
general solution is of the form

( x ) = C 1 e mx + C 2 e mx

Convection from tip

q denotes

BCs
T (0 ) = T
(0 ) = Tb T b

hA c [T ( L ) T ] = kA c

h ( L ) = k

cosh m ( L x ) + ( h / mk ) sinh m ( L x )
=
b
cosh mL + ( h / mk ) sinh mL

d
|x =L
dx

dT
|x = L
dx

&
Q

Heat transfer from the fin surface:

d
& =Q
& = kA dT |
Q
=

kA
|x =0
f
b
c
x =0
c
dx
dx

& =
Q
f

hPkA c b

sinh mL + ( h / mk ) cosh mL
cosh mL + ( h / mk ) sinh mL

Another way of finding Q

Q fin = A fin h [ T ( x ) T ]dA fin = A fin h ( x ) dA fin

Insulated tip
General Sol:
BC
C 1:

( x ) = C 1 e mx + C 2 e mx

( 0 ) = Tb T b

cosh
h m( L x)
=
b
cosh mL
dT
d
q f = q b = kA c
| x = 0 = kA c
|x=0
dx
dx

qf =

hPkA c b tanh mL

BC 2:

d
|x= L = 0
d
dx

Prescribed temperature
This is a condition when the temperature
p
at the tip
p is known
(for example, measured by a sensor)

( )sinh mx + sinh m ( L x )

= L b
b
sinh mL
qf =

hPkA c b

cosh mL ( L b )
sinh
i h mL
L

Infinitely
y Long
g Fin ((Tfin tip
( L ) = T ( L ) T = 0

Boundary condition at the fin tip:

The general solution is of the form
( x ) = C 1 e mx + C 2 e mx

Possible when C1 0

( x ) = C 2 e mx
Apply boundary condition at base and find T
T ( x ) = T + ( T b T ) e

Q longfin = kA c

dT
|x =0 =
dx

hP
kA c

hPkA

( T b T )

as

= T)

Corrected fin length

g
Corrected fin length:
g

Lc = L +

Ac
P

Multiplying the relation above by

the perimeter gives
Acorrected = Afin (lateral) + Atip
t
Lc,rectangularfin = L +
2

L c,cylindrica lfin = L +

D
4

Corrected fin length

g Lc is defined such that heat transfer from a fin of
length Lc with insulated tip is equal to heat transfer from the actual
fin of length L with convection at the fin tip.

Fin Efficiency
y

fin =

Actual heat transfer rate from the fin

Q fin

= Ideal heat transfer rate from the fin

Q fin , max

if the entire fin were at base

temperature

In the limiting case of zero thermal resistance or

infinite thermal cond
conductivity
cti it (k ),
) the temperat
temperature
re
of the fin will be uniform at the base value of Tb.

Q fin = fin Q fin , max = fin hA fin (Tb T )

longfin =

Q fin

Q fin , max

hPkA c (Tb T ) 1
=
hA fin (Tb T )
L

insulatedt ip =

Q fin
f

Q fin , max

kA c
1
=
hp
mL

hPkA c (Tb T ) tanh mL tanh mL

=
hA fin (Tb T )
mL

Fin Effectiveness

fin =

Q fin

Q nofin

Q fin
hA b (Tb T )

longfin =

Q fin

Q nofin

Heat transfer rate from

the fin of base area Ab
Heat transfer rate from
the surface of area Ab

hPkA
h
kA c (Tb T )
=
hA b (Tb T )

kP
hA c

1. k should be as high as possible, (copper, aluminum, iron).

Aluminum is p
preferred: low cost and weight,
g , resistance to corrosion.
2. p/Ac should be as high as possible. (Thin plate fins and slender pin fins)
3. Most effective in applications where h is low. (Use of fins justified if when the
medium is gas and heat transfer is by natural convection).

Fin Effectiveness

Q fin

fin =

Q nofin

Q fin
hA b (Tb T )

Heat transfer rate from

th fifin off base
the
b
area Ab
Heat transfer rate from
the surface of area Ab

fin = 1

Does not affect the heat transfer at all.

fin < 1

Fin act as insulation (if low k material is used)

fin > 1

Enhancing heat transfer (use of fins justified if fin>2)

Overall Fin Efficiency

y
When determining the rate of heat transfer
from a finned surface,, we must consider the
unfinned portion of the surface as well as the
fins. Therefore, the rate of heat transfer for a
surface containing n fins can be expressed as

Q total , fin = Q unfin + Q fin

= hA unfin (Tb T ) + fin hA fin (Tb T )
= h ( Aunfin + fin A fin )( Tb T )
We can also define an overall
effectiveness for a finned surface as the
ratio of the total heat transfer from the
finned surface to the heat transfer from the
same surface if there were no fins

fin , overall =

Q total , fin

Q total , nofin

h ( Aunfin + fin A fin )( Tb T )

hA nofin (Tb T )

Efficiency of circular, rectangular, and triangular fins on a plain surface of

width w (from Gardner, Ref 6).

Efficiency of
circular fins of
length L and
constant
thickness t (from
Gardner, Ref. 6).

Proper length of a fin

a means m

 Fins
Fi with
i h triangular
i
l andd parabolic
b li profiles
fil contain
i less
l
materialand are more efficient requiring minimum weight
An important consideration is the selection of the proper fin
length L. Increasing the length of the fin beyond a certain value
cannot be justified unless the added benefits outweigh the added
cost.
The
Th efficiency
ffi i
off mostt fins
fi usedd in
i practice
ti is
i above
b
90 percentt