Chapter 7.

4: Radiative Heat
Transfer
Faculty of Chemical Engineering
UiTM Pasir Gudang
 Objectives
When you finish studying this chapter, you
should be able to:
• Define view factor, and understand its
importance in radiation heat transfer
calculations,
• Develop view factor relations, and calculate
the unknown view factors in an enclosure by
using these relations,
• Calculate radiation heat transfer between
black surfaces,
 The View Factor
• Radiation heat transfer between surfaces depends on the
orientation of the surfaces relative to
each other as well as their radiation
properties and temperatures.
• View factor is defined to account for the
effects of orientation on radiation heat
transfer between two surfaces.
• View factor is a purely geometric
quantity and is independent of the surface properties and
temperature.
• Diffuse view factor ─ view factor based on the assumption that
the surfaces are diffuse emitters and diffuse reflectors.
• Specular view factor ─ view factor based on the assumption that
the surfaces are specular reflectors.
• Here we consider radiation exchange between diffuse surfaces
only, and thus the term view factor simply means diffuse view
factor.
• The view factor from a surface i to a surface j is
denoted by Fi→j or just Fij, and is defined as
• Fij=the fraction of the radiation leaving surface i
that strikes surface j directly.
• Consider two differential surfaces dA1 and dA2 on two
arbitrarily oriented surfaces A1 and A2, respectively.
• The rate at which radiation leaves
dA1 in the direction of q1 is:
I1cos q1dA1
• Noting that
dw21=dA2cos q2/r2,
• the portion of this radiation that strikes dA2 is
dA2 cos q 2
QdA dA  I1 cos q1dA1dw21  I1 cos q1dA1 2
(13-1)
1 2
r
• The total rate at which radiation leaves dA1 (via
emission and reflection) in all directions is the
radiosity (J1=pI1) times the surface area:
dQdA1  J1dA1  p I1dA1 (13-2)
• Then the differential view factor dFdA1→dA2 (the
fraction of radiation leaving dA1 that strikes
dA2) QdA dA cos q1 cos q 2
dFdA1 dA2  1 2
 dA2 (13-3)
QdA1 pr 2

• The view factor from a differential area dA1 to a

cos q1 cos q 2
dA  A  
finite area A2Fis: dA2 (13-4)
1 2
A2
2
pr
• The total rate at which radiation leaves the
entire A1 in all directions is
QA1  J1 A1  p I1 A1 (13-5)

• considering the radiation that leaves dA1 and

strikes dA2, and integrating it over A1,
I1 cos q1 cos q 2 dA2
QA1 dA2   QdA1 dA2  2
dA1 (13-6)
A1 A1
r

• Integration of this relation over A2 gives the

radiation that strikes the entire A2,
I1 cos q1 cos q 2
QA1  A2   QA1 dA2  2
dA1dA2 (13-7)
A2 A2 A1
r
• Dividing this by the total radiation leaving A1 (from Eq. 13–
5) gives the fraction of radiation leaving A1 that strikes A2,
which is the view factor F12,
QA  A 1 cos q1 cos q 2
F12  FA  A 
1 2
QA
1
 2
 
A1 A A pr 2
dA1dA2 (13-8)
1 2 1

• The view factor F21 is readily determined from Eq. 13–8

by interchanging the subscripts 1 and 2,
QA  A 1 cos q1 cos q 2
F21  FA  A 
2 1
QA
2
 1
 
A2 A A pr 2
dA1dA2 (13-9)
2 2 1

• Combining Eqs. 13–8 and 13–9 after multiplying the former

by A1 and the latter by A2 gives the reciprocity relation
A1 F12  A2 F21 (13-10)
• When j=i:
Fii=the fraction of radiation leaving
surface i that strikes itself directly.
– Fii=0: for plane or convex surfaces and
– Fii≠0: for concave surfaces
• The value of the view factor ranges
between zero and one.
– Fij=0 ─ the two surfaces do not have a
direct view of each other,
– Fij=1─ surface j completely surrounds
surface.
View Factors Tables for Selected
Geometries (analytical form)
View Factors Figures for Selected
Geometries (graphical form)
 View Factor Relations
• Radiation analysis on an enclosure consisting
of N surfaces requires the evaluation of N2
view factors.
• Fundamental relations for view factors:
– the reciprocity relation,
– the summation rule,
– the superposition rule,
– the symmetry rule.
 The Reciprocity Relation
• We have shown earlier that the pair of view
factors Fij and Fji are related to each other
by
Ai Fi j  Aj Fj i (13-11)

• This relation is referred to as the reciprocity

relation or the reciprocity rule.
• Note that:
Fj i  Fi  j when Ai  Aj
Fj i  Fi  j when Ai  Aj
 The Summation Rule
• The conservation of energy
principle requires that the entire
radiation leaving any surface i of
an enclosure be intercepted by the
surfaces of the enclosure.
• Summation rule ─ the sum of the
view factors from surface i of an
enclosure to all surfaces of the
enclosure, including to itself, must
equal unity. N
F
j 1
i j 1 (13-12)
• The summation rule can be applied to each surface of
an enclosure by varying i from 1 to N.
• The summation rule applied to each of the N surfaces
of an enclosure gives N relations for the determination
of the view factors.
• The reciprocity rule gives 1/2N(N-1) additional
relations.
• The total number of view factors that need to be
evaluated directly for an N-surface enclosure becomes
 1  1
N   N  N  N  1  N  N  1
2

 2  2
 The Superposition Rule
• Sometimes the view factor associated with a given
geometry is not available in standard tables and charts.
• Superposition rule ─ the view factor from a surface i
to a surface j is equal to the sum of the view factors
from surface i to the parts of surface j.
• Consider the geometry shown in the figure below.
• The view factor from surface 1 to the combined
surfaces of 2 and 3 is
F1 2,3  F12  F13 (13-13)
• From the chart in Table 13–2:
– F12 and F1(2,3)
and then from Eq. 13-13:
– F13
 The Symmetry Rule
• Symmetry rule ─ two (or
more) surfaces that possess
symmetry about a third
surface will have identical
view factors from that surface.
• If the surfaces j and k are symmetric about the surface i
then
Fi j  Fik
• Using the reciprocity rule, it can be shown that
Fj i  Fk i
View Factors between Infinitely Long
Surfaces: The Crossed-Strings Method
• The view factor between two-dimensional surfaces
can be determined by the simple crossed-strings
method developed by H. C. Hottel in the 1950s.
• Consider the geometry shown in the figure.
• Hottel has shown that the view factor
F1 2 can be expressed in terms of
the lengths of the stretched strings as

F12 
 L5  L6    L3  L4 
(13-16)
2 L1