ME315 2019-F Problem Set 1

1. The concrete slab of a basement is 11 m long, 8 m wide, and 0.20 m thick. During the winter,
temperatures are nominally 17°C and 10°C at the top and bottom surfaces, respectively. If the
concrete has a thermal conductivity of 1.4 W/m·K, what is the rate of heat loss through the slab?
If the basement is heated by a gas furnace operating at an efficiency of ηf = 0.90 and natural gas is
priced at Cg = $0.02/MJ, what is the daily cost of the heat loss?

2. Air at 40°C flows over a long, 25-mm-diameter cylinder with an embedded electrical heater. In
a series of tests, measurements were made of the power per unit length, P', required to maintain
the cylinder surface temperature at 300°C for different free stream velocities V of the air. The
results are as follows:
Air velocity, V (m/s) 1 2 4 8 12
Power, P' (W/m) 450 658 983 1507 1963

(a) Determine the convection coefficient for each velocity, and display your results graphically.
(b) Assuming the dependence of the convection coefficient on the velocity to be of the form h =
CVn, determine the parameters C and n from the results of part (a).

3. An aluminum plate 4 mm thick is mounted in a horizontal position, and its bottom surface is
well insulated. A special, thin coating is applied to the top surface such that it absorbs 80% of any
incident solar radiation, while having an emissivity of 0.25. The density ρ and specific heat c of
aluminum are known to be 2700 kg/m3 and 900 J/kg·K, respectively.
(a) Consider conditions for which the plate is at a temperature of 25°C and its top surface is
suddenly exposed to ambient air at T∞ = 20°C and to solar radiation that provides an incident flux
of 900 W/m2. The convection heat transfer coefficient between the surface and the air is h = 20
W/m2·K. What is the initial rate of change of the plate temperature?
(b) What will be the equilibrium temperature of the plate when steady-state conditions are reached?

4. Consider a surface-mount type transistor on a circuit board whose temperature is maintained at

35°C. Air at 20°C flows over the upper surface of dimensions 4 mm × 8 mm with a convection
coefficient of 50 W/m2•K. Three wire leads, each of cross section 1 mm × 0.25 mm and length 4
mm, conduct heat from the case to the circuit board. The gap between the case and the board is 0.2
mm.

1
 Air T∞=20°C

Wire leads x 3
Air/conductive paste
Transistor Tc

PCB Tb=35°C

Assuming the case is isothermal and neglecting radiation, estimate the case temperature when 150
mW is dissipated by the transistor and (i) stagnant air or (ii) a conductive paste fills the gap. The
thermal conductivities of the wire leads, air, and conductive paste are 25, 0.0263, and 0.12 W/m•K,
respectively.

5. A hot water pipe with outside radius r1 has a temperature T1. A thick insulation, applied to
reduce the heat loss, has an outer radius r2 and temperature T2. On T–r coordinates, sketch the
temperature distribution in the insulation for one-dimensional, steady-state heat transfer with
constant properties. Give a brief explanation, justifying the shape of your curve.

6. The steady-state temperature distribution in a one-dimensional wall of thermal conductivity k

and thickness L is of the form T = ax2 + bx + c. Derive expressions for the heat fluxes at the two
wall faces (x = 0, L), and the energy generation rate in the wall per unit wall area.