Vi

View F
Factor

Dr. Prabal Talukdar

Associate Professor
p
Department of Mechanical Engineering
g g
IIT Delhi
 View/Configuration
g Factor

Also called shape factors

factors.
Radiation exchange between two or more
surfaces depends strongly on the surface
geometries and orientations, as well as on
their radiative properties and temperature
temperature.
To compute radiation exchange between
any two
t surfaces,
f we mustt first
fi t introduce
i t d
the concept of a view factor.
 Definition
The view factor Fij is defined as the fraction of the
radiation leaving a surface i that is intercepted by j.

dAjcosj
 Derivation
Rate at which radiation leaves dAi and is intercepted
by dAj may be expressed as
dqiJ=Ii cosi dAi dJ-i
Ii = intensity of radiation leaving surface i
dJ-i = soild angle subtended by dAJ when viewed from dAi
= cosJ dAJ/R2

dqiJ= Ii(cosi cosj/R2 )dAidAJ

Assuming surface i emits and reflects diffusely

dqqij=Ji((cosi cosJ/R2 ))dAidAJ
 Derivation ((contd))
The total rate at which radiation leaves surface i
and is intercepted by j may then be obtained by
integrating over the two surfaces. That is
cos i cos j
q i j = J i dA i dA j
Ai A j
R 2

where it is assumed that the radiosity Ji is

uniform over the surface Ai.
Fij = radiation that leaves Ai and is intercepted by Aj/total
radiation leaving Ai
= qij / AiJi
 Final Expression
p

1 cos i cos j
Fij =
Ai
Ai A j
R 2
dA i dA j

Similarly, the view factor Fji defined as the fraction of the radiation
that leaves Aj and intercepted
p byy Ai can be expressed
p as

1 cos i cos j
Fji =
Aj
Ai A j
R 2
dA i dA j

Assn: diffuse emitters and reflectors and have uniform radiosity

 View Factor Relations
Reciprocity
p y Relation:
AiFij = AjFji

Summation Rule:
N

F
j=1
ij =1

What is Fii ?
Value of Fii for a convex or flat surface?
Fii = 0
 View Factor Relations (contd)
( )
Radiation exchangeg in an enclosure of N surfaces: N2
view factors required
F11 F12 F1N
F F F
21 22 2N

F N1 F N 2 FNN
Summation rule can be applied to get N equations which
gives N view factors
Application of Reciprocity relation for N(N-1)/2 times
gives N(N-1)/2 view factors
So we need essentially N2-N-N(N-1)/2
 Example
p

For a 3 surface enclosure

enclosure, we need
32-3-3(3-1)/2=3

F12 = 1
F11
F11= 0
F21= A1/A2
F22= 1 A1/A2
1-A 1

2
 View Factor Relation

Additive nature of view factor

n
Fi ( j) = Fik
k =1
n
A i Fi ( j) = A i Fik = A i Fi1 + A i Fi 2 + A i Fi 3 + + A i Fin
k =1

A jFj( i ) = A1F1i + A 2 F2i + A 3 F3i + + A n Fni

j
n
A jFj( i ) = A k Fki
k =1
n

A F k ki
Fj(i ) = k =1
n

A
k =1
k
i
Problem
View factor for coaxial parallel
disks
 View factor for perpendicular
rectangles with a common edge
 The Crossed-Strings
g Method

View Factors between Infinitely Long

Surfaces
developed by H
H. C
C. Hottel in the 1950s