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 Trapezoidal

Triangular Concave parabolic

Convex 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

conv = hdA s (T T )
&
dQ

Energy Balance:
dQ&
Q& x = Q& x + dx + d Q& conv &
= Qx + x dx + hdA ( T T )
s
dx
d dT h dA s
A c (T T ) = 0
dx dx k dx

d 2T 1 dA c dT 1 h dA s
+ (T T ) = 0
dx 2 A c dx dx A c k dx
 Fins with uniform cross sectional area
d 2T 1 dA c dT 1 h dA s
2
+ ( T T ) = 0
dx A c dx dx A c k dx
dA c
=0
dx
dA s
A s = Px = P
d
dx

d 2 T hP
2
( T T ) = 0
dx kA c
Excess temperature

( x ) T ( x ) T

d 2
2
m 2
=0 (a) Rectangular Fin (b) Pin fin
dx
 General solution and
Boundary Conditions
d 2
2
m 2
=0
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 &
Q

BCs dT
hA c [T ( L ) T ] = kA c |x = L
T (0 ) = T dx
d
(0 ) = Tb T b h ( L ) = k |x =L
dx

cosh m ( L x ) + ( h / mk ) sinh m ( L x )
=
b cosh mL + ( h / mk ) sinh mL
 Heat transfer from the fin surface:

& =Q& = kA dT | d
Q f b c x =0 = kA c |x =0
dx dx

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

Q f hPkA c b
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: ( x ) = C 1 e mx + C 2 e mx
d
BC
C 1: ( 0 ) = Tb T b BC 2: |x= L = 0
d
dx

h m( L x)
cosh
=
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
 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

cosh mL ( L b )
qf = hPkA c b
sinh
i h mL
L
 Infinitely
y Long
g Fin ((Tfin tip = T)

Boundary condition at the fin tip: ( L ) = T ( L ) T = 0 as L

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
hP
x
kA c
T ( x ) = T + ( T b T ) e

dT
Q longfin = kA c |x =0 = hPkA c ( T b T )
dx
 Corrected fin length
g
Ac
Corrected fin length:
g Lc = L +
P
Multiplying the relation above by
the perimeter gives
Acorrected = Afin (lateral) + Atip

t
Lc,rectangularfin = L +
2
D
L c,cylindrica lfin = L +
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

Q fin Actual heat transfer rate from the fin
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 )

Q fin hPkA c (Tb T ) 1 kA c 1
longfin =
= = =
Q fin , max hA fin (Tb T ) L hp mL

Q fin hPkA c (Tb T ) tanh mL tanh mL
insulatedt ip =
f
= =
Q fin , max hA fin (Tb T ) mL
 Fin Effectiveness

Heat transfer rate from
Q fin Q fin
fin =
= = the fin of base area Ab
Q nofin hA b (Tb T ) Heat transfer rate from
the surface of area Ab

Q fin kA c (Tb T )
hPkA
h kP
longfin =
= =
Q nofin hA b (Tb T ) 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

Heat transfer rate from
Q fin Q fin
fin =
= = th fifin off base
the b area Ab
Q nofin hA b (Tb T ) 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

Q total , fin h ( Aunfin + fin A fin )( Tb T )
fin , overall =
=
Q total , nofin 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 isi above
b 90 percentt