F INITE -D IFFERENCE S OLUTION TO THE 2-D

H EAT E QUATION

MSE 350

MSE 350 2-D Heat Equation

P ROBLEM OVERVIEW

Given:
Initial temperature in a 2-D plate
Boundary conditions along the boundaries of the plate.
Find: Temperature in the plate as a function of time and
position.

MSE 350 2-D Heat Equation

M ATHEMATICAL F ORMULATION

Energy equation:

T T 2T
 2 
Cp =k +
t x2 y2
T(x, 0, t) = given
T(x, H, t) = given
T(0, y, t) = given
T(W, y, t) = given
T(x, y, 0) = given
MSE 350 2-D Heat Equation
S OLUTION OVERVIEW
Approach: discretize the temperatures in the plate, and convert the
heat equation to finite-difference form.
y

Ti1,j+1 Ti,j+1 Ti+1,j+1

H
Ti1,j Ti,j Ti+1,j

Ti1,j1 Ti,j1 Ti+1,j1

x
W

MSE 350 2-D Heat Equation

N OMENCLATURE

Ti,jk
i, j = location (node numbers)
k = time (time step number)

MSE 350 2-D Heat Equation

D ISCRETIZING THE H EAT E QUATION (E XPLICIT )
y

Ti1,j+1 Ti,j+1 Ti+1,j+1

H
Ti1,j Ti,j Ti+1,j

Ti1,j1 Ti,j1 Ti+1,j1

x
W

x, y = node spacings in the x and y directions.

 2
2T

T T
= + 2
t x2 y
k+1
" ! !#
k k k + Tk
Ti1,j 2Ti,j k k + Tk
2Ti,j
Ti,j Ti,j i+1,j Ti,j1 i,j+1
= +
t x2 y2

MSE 350 2-D Heat Equation

D ISCRETIZING THE H EAT E QUATION (E XPLICIT )

If x = y = h:

T 2T 2T
 
= + 2
t x2 y
!
Ti,jk+1 Ti,jk k
Ti,j1 k
+ Ti1,j 4Ti,jk + Ti+1,j
k k
+ Ti,j+1
=
t h2

MSE 350 2-D Heat Equation

D ISCRETIZING THE H EAT E QUATION (E XPLICIT )

If x = y = h:

T T 2T
 2 
= + 2
t x2 y
!
k k
Ti,j1 + Ti1,j 4Ti,jk + Ti+1,j
k k
+ Ti,j+1
Ti,jk+1 = Ti,jk + t
h2

MSE 350 2-D Heat Equation

S TABILITY

If x = y = h:
!
k k k k
Ti,j1 + Ti1,j + Ti+1,j + Ti,j+1
 
4t
Ti,jk+1 = 1 Ti,jk + t
h2 h2

Coefficient on Ti,jk must be non-negative for stability.

MSE 350 2-D Heat Equation

S TABILITY

Hence,
 
4t
1 2 0
h
so
h2
t
4

MSE 350 2-D Heat Equation

B OUNDARIES
y

Ti1,j+1 Ti,j+1 Ti+1,j+1

H
Ti1,j Ti,j Ti+1,j

Ti1,j1 Ti,j1 Ti+1,j1

x
W

What do we do about the edges? Same as in a 1-D bar.

MSE 350 2-D Heat Equation
B OUNDARIES

What do we do about the edges?

If we know the temperature of the boundaries already, we dont
need to write equations for those nodes.
If we know the temperature derivitive there, we invent a phantom
node such that T T
x or y at the edge is the prescribed value.

MSE 350 2-D Heat Equation

S TEADY-S TATE

At steady-state, time derivatives are zero:

2T 2T
 
+ 2 =0
x2 y
" ! !#
k
Ti1,j k + Tk
2Ti,j k k k
Ti,j1 2Ti,j + Ti,j+1
i+1,j
+ =0
x2 y2

MSE 350 2-D Heat Equation

S TEADY-S TATE

Same x and y ( h):

1
Ti,j = (Ti,j1 + Ti1,j + Ti+1,j + Ti,j+1 )
4

MSE 350 2-D Heat Equation