Heat Transfer through

Fins
Dr. P. C. Mishra
School of Mechanical Engineering
KIIT University, Bhubaneswar
Heat Transfer From Finned Surfaces
The need of fins:

As heat transfer generally increases with surface
area and as the resistance between the surface
and the ambient is often higher than any other
resistance, fins are often used to increase the
heat transfer from surfaces.
The thin plate fins of a car radiator greatly
increase the rate of heat transfer to the air
Schematic of Typical Finned-tube Heat Exchanger
Some innovative fin designs
ASSUMPTIONS
1. Steady state heat conduction
2. No heat generation within the fin
3. Uniform heat transfer coefficient (h) over the entire
surface of the fin
4. Isotropic fin material
5. Negligible thermal contact resistance
6. Unidirectional heat conduction
7. Negligible radiation









q
q
q
q
q
q
q
q
q
q
q
q
total
q
q
Fin Effectiveness:
( )

= =
T T hA
q
q
q
b b
fin
nofin
fin
fin
c
q
fin
q
no fin
Another Two Cases of Fins:

1. The fin is of finite length and loses heat by convection
from its ends.
2. The fin is very long and the temperature at the end of
the fin is essentially that of the surrounding fluid.
conv x x cond x cond
q q q + =
+A , ,
) )( (

= T T x p h q
conv
A
dx
dT
kA q
x cond
=
,

) (
,
dx
dT
kA
dx
d
dx
dT
kA q
x x cond
+ =
+A

x cond
q
,

x x cond
q
A + ,

conv
q
( )
( )
( ) 0
1
0
) (
0 ) (
2
2
2
2
=
|
.
|

\
|
+
= +
= +

T T
kA
hp
dx
dT
dx
dA
A dx
T d
T T hp
dx
kA d
dx
dT
dx
T d
kA
T T hp
dx
dT
kA
dx
d