Dr.

Eunice Tam
Room: FG629; Phone: 2766.5207
E-mail: eunice.tam@polyu.edu.hk

Transient Heat Transfer

Transient implies variation with time or time dependence.

If a solid body is suddenly subjected to a change in environment, some time

must elapse before an equilibrium temperature conduction will prevail in
the body.

In transient heating or cooling process that takes place in the interim

period before equilibrium, is established, the analysis must be modified to
take into account the change in internal energy of the body with time, and
the boundary conditions must be adjusted to match the physical situation
that is apparent in the unsteady state heat transfer problem

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 Unsteady State Conduction
T
Consider an infinite plane of thickness 2L, the plate is
at uniform temperature Ti initially. At time zero the
surfaces suddenly lowered to T = T1. The governing
Ti
equation is

T1
Assume = T - T1
x

……(*)

With initial and boundary conditions

Unsteady State Conduction

The general solution become

By Fourier expansion and initial condition (a), Cn can be determined as

where n = 1, 3, 5, ….

The final solution can be expressed as

where n = 1, 3, 5, ….

For t = 0, for all values of x

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 Lumped Heat Capacity System
Transient heat conduction can be analyzed by assuming uniform temperature in
the body of the system at any instant – Lumped Heat Capacity System

Note: smaller the physical size of the body, the more realistic the assumption of a uniform
temperature throughout.

In the lumped heat capacity analysis, the resistance to heat transfer by

conduction is small (~negligible) compared with the convection resistance at the
surface, thus, the major temperature gradient would occur through the fluid
layer at the surface.

The convection heat loss will equal to the decrease in the internal energy of the
body.

=-c …… (**)

where A is the surface area of convection, V is the volume, c is specific heat, is the density 5

Lumped Heat Capacity System

The general solution can be obtained as below

=-c

=
c

t+ = ln …… (***)
c

Apply initial condition, = ln

(***) t +ln = ln
c

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Lumped Heat Capacity System
The lumped heat capacity system can be represent by a electric circuit diagram
=-c S
T0

Cth = cV

1/hA

The thermal and electric system has the relation as follow

Lumped Heat Capacity System

When t = ,
=

= 0.368

The above assumptions can reach a reasonable thermal evaluation (+ 5%) when

where V/A = s ; the characteristic dimension of the solid

Also
= Biot number = Bi
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Example – Steel Ball Cooling in Air
A 5-cm-diameter steel ball with specific heat 0.46 kJ/kg, conductivity 35W/moC
and density 7800kg/m3, is keep at a uniform temperature 450oC initially. It is then
placed in a controlled environment at 100oC. If the convection heat transfer
coefficient is 10W/m2, calculate the time required for the ball to attain a
temperature of 150oC

Example – Steel Ball Cooling in Air

Bi = =

t
= c

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Transient Heat Flow in a Semi-Infinite Solid

To
Ti

……(1)
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Transient Heat Flow in a Semi-Infinite Solid

erf

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Transient Heat Flow in a Semi-Infinite Solid

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Transient Heat Flow in a Semi-Infinite Solid

(a) Constant
Ti
=

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Transient Heat Flow in a Semi-Infinite Solid

T1

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Example – Semi-Infinite Solid with Sudden Change in

Surface Conditions

A large block of steel (k = 45W/m oC, = 1.4 x 10-5 m2/s) is initially at a

uniform temperature of 35 oC. The surface is exposed to a heat flux (a) by
suddenly raising the surface temperature to 250 oC and (b) through a constant
surface heat flux of 3.2 x 105 W/m2. Calculate (i) the temperature at a depth of
2.5 cm and surface temperature after a time of 0.5 min for both these cases.

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Example – Semi-Infinite Solid with Sudden Change in
Surface Conditions
Solution (i) T(0.025 m, 30s)
(a) Suddenly raising the surface temperature

= 0.61164

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Example – Semi-Infinite Solid with Sudden Change in

Surface Conditions

(b) Constant surface heat flux

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Example – Semi-Infinite Solid with Sudden Change in
Surface Conditions

(ii) Surface temperature T ( m, 30s)

(a)

(b)

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Example – Pulse Energy at Surface of Semi-Infinite Solid

An instantaneous laser pulse of 10 MJ/m2 is imposed on a slab of stainless

steel having properties of = 7800 kg/m3 , c= 460 J/kg oC, and = 0.44 x
10-5 m2/s. The slab is initially at a uniform temperature of 40 oC. Estimate
the temperature at the surface and at the depth of 2mm after a time of 2s

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Example – Pulse Energy at Surface of Semi-Infinite Solid

At surface x =0,

10 x 106
0.44 x 10 5 0.44 x 10 5

530.07

At surface x =0.002m,

0.44 x 10 5

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Convection Boundary Conditions

- x

The relation is indicated in the following page ! 22

Convection Boundary Conditions

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X

Convection Boundary Conditions

Common cases regarding

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Convection Boundary Conditions

In all cases, the convection environment temperature is T and the center

temperature for x = 0 or r = 0 is T0. And at t = 0, each solid is assumed to have
uniform initial temperature Ti.

During calculation, it is assumed that

If the center temperature in the solids is desired, the following graphs can be
used to obtain the value of and .

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Convection Boundary Conditions

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Convection Boundary Conditions

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Convection Boundary Conditions

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Convection Boundary Conditions

If the off-center temperature in the solids is required, the following charts (iv)-
(vi) together with graph (i), (ii) and (iii) can be employed to obtain the product

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Convection Boundary Conditions

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Convection Boundary Conditions

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Convection Boundary Conditions

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Convection Boundary Conditions

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Convection Boundary Conditions

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Convection Boundary Conditions

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Convection Boundary Conditions

When dealing with the dimensionless temperature profiles and heat flows, two
dimensionless parameters are normally adopted.

Biot number = Bi =

Fourier number = Fo = =

S designates a characteristic dimension of the body; for the plate it is the half-
thickness, whereas for the cylinder and sphere it is the radius

The biot number compares the relative magnitudes of surface-convection and

internal-conduction resistances to heat transfer. The Fourier number compares
a characteristic body dimension with an approximate temperature-wave
penetration depth for a given time t.
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Convection Boundary Conditions

A very low value of Biot number means the internal-conduction resistance is

negligible in comparison with surface –convection resistance
Nearly uniform temperature throughout the solid
Lumped-capacity method can be employed

Bi Fo =

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Convection Boundary Conditions

The initial internal energy content of the body in reference to the environment
temperature can be evaluated as

The heat losses (Q) by the body, i.e. infinite plate, infinite cylinder, and sphere,
in time t can then be obtained by using dimensionless heat loss diagrams

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Convection Boundary Conditions

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Convection Boundary Conditions

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Convection Boundary Conditions

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