HEAT FLOW IN SEMI - INFINITE SOLID

Definition
A solid which extends itself infinitely in all directions of space is known as infinite
solid.

If an infinite solid is split in the middle by a plane, each half is known as semi infinite
solid.

In a semi infinite solid, at any instant of time, there is always a point where the effect
of heating (or cooling) at one of its boundaries is not felt at all. At this point the
temperature remains unchanged.

Temperature profile derivation:

In Semi infinite solid, heat transfer co-efficient or Biot number value is ∞

i.e. h  ∞
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 HEAT FLOW IN SEMI - INFINITE SOLID
Temperature profile distribution for a semi infinite body:

T  T  x 
 erf  
T0  T 2 t 
 
Where
T0 – Initial temperature of the solid, K
T – Intermediate temperature of the solid, K
T∞ – Surrounding (or) Ambient temperature, K
x – Length of heat conduction (m)
α – Thermal diffusivity (m2/s)
t – time (sec)

Criteria for transient heat flow in semi infinite body

For transient heat flow in semi infinite body,
Bi  ∞ i.e. h  ∞

Note: If a given transient heat conduction problem does not possess the value of ‘h’ in it,
then it is a semi infinite body problem
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