MEC 536 Heat Transfer by

Convection

Dr. Mohamed Salem Elmnefi

Department of Aeronautical Engineering
Faculty of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Engineering
University of Turkish Aeronautical
Association (UTAA)

Conservation of Energy Equation

The energy balance for any system
undergoing any process is expressed as

During a steady-flow process

ΔEsystem=0.
• Energy can be transferred by
– heat, work, and mass.
• The energy balance for a steady-flow
control volume can be written explicitly as

(25)
Energy is a scalar quantity, and thus energy interactions in all directions can be
combined in one equation.
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 Energy Transfer by Mass
• The total energy of a flowing fluid stream per unit
mass is
(26)

•Noting that mass flow rate of the fluid entering the control
volume from the left is ρu(dy·1), the rate of energy transfer to
the control volume by mass in the x-direction is

(27)

(28)

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• Repeating this for the y-direction and adding the results, the
net rate of energy transfer to the control volume by mass is
determined to be
(29)

Note that ∂u/∂x + ∂v/∂y = 0 from the continuity equation.

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 Energy Transfer by Heat Conduction
• The net rate of heat conduction to the volume element in the
x-direction is

(30)

(31)

Repeating this for the y-direction and adding the results, the net
rate of energy transfer to the control volume by heat conduction
becomes

(32)

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Energy Transfer by Work

• The work done by a body force is determined by multiplying this
force by the velocity in the direction of the force and the volume of
the fluid element.

• This work needs to be considered only in the presence of significant

gravitational, electric, or magnetic effects.

• The work done by pressure (the flow work) is already accounted for
in the analysis above by using enthalpy for the microscopic energy
of the fluid instead of internal energy.

• The shear stresses that result from viscous effects are usually very
small, and can be neglected in many cases.

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 The Energy Equation
• The energy equation is obtained by substituting Eqs. 29 and 32
into Eq. 25 to be
(33)

• When the viscous shear stresses are not negligible,

(34)

• where the viscous dissipation function is obtained after a

lengthy analysis to be
(35)

Viscous dissipation may play a dominant role in high-speed.

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The Navier-Stokes Equations of Motion

• We note first that momentum is a vector quantity. Thus conservation
of momentum (Newton’s law of motion) provides three equations,
one in each of the three coordinates. Application of Newton’s law of
motion to the element shown in Figure

(a)

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 Application of (a) in the x-direction, gives

(b)

The mass of the element is

(c)

Based on the assumption of continuum, the total acceleration of

the element in the x-direction, ax , is

(d)

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Substituting (c) and (d) into (b)

(e)

Next we determine the sum of all external forces acting on the

element in the x-direction. We classify external forces as:
(i) Body force. This is a force that acts on every particle of the
material or element. Examples include gravity and magnetic
forces.
(ii) Surface force. This is a force that acts on the surface of the
element. Examples include tangential forces (shear) and normal
forces (pressure and stress).
Thus we write
(f)

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 We consider gravity as the only body force acting on the element.
The x-component of this force is
(g)

where is gravitational acceleration component in the plus

x-direction. Next we formulate an expression for the surface
forces in the x-direction. These forces are shown in the figure

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(h)

Similar expressions are obtained for surface forces in the y and

z-directions. Substituting (f), (g) and (h) into (e), gives the x-direction
equation
(36a)

Similarly, applying Newton’s law of motion in the y and z-directions

gives the two corresponding momentum equations. By analogy with
(36a), these

(36b)

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and

(36c)

Application of the moment of momentum principle to a

differential element gives

•To further reduce the number of unknown variables, an important

restriction is introduced. The basic idea is to relate normal and
shearing stresses to the velocity field.
•This is accomplished through the introduction
of experimentally based relations known as constitutive equations.

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Eqs, (37a, 37b, and 37c) Eqs, (37d, 37e, and 37f)

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The Navier-Stokes Equations of Motion for x, y , and z directions are
given as

(38a)

(38b)

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(38c)

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 Non-dimensional Form of the Governing
Equations: Dynamic and Thermal Similarity
Parameters
• Useful information can be obtained without solving the
governing equations by rewriting them in dimensionless
form.
This procedure is carried out to:
(1) identify the governing parameters,
(2) plan experiments,
(3) guide in the presentation of experimental results and
theoretical solutions.
• To appreciate the importance of this process we consider an
object of characteristic length L which is exchanging heat by
convection with an ambient fluid.
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• For simplicity we assume constant properties. In general the

unknown variables are: and these variables
depend on the four independent variables x, y, z and t.
In addition various quantities affect the solutions. They are: 

and fluid properties

• Furthermore, the geometry of the object is also a factor. To map

the effect of these quantities experimentally or numerically for
a single geometry requires extensive effort.

•However, in dimensionless formulation these quantities are

consolidated into four dimensionless groups called parameters.
This dramatically simplifies the mapping process.

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 Dimensionless Variables
• To non-dimensionalize the dependent and independent
variables, we use characteristic quantities that are constant
throughout the flow and temperature fields. These
quantities are
• We consider Cartesian coordinates and define the
following dimensionless dependent and independent
variables:

(39)

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• Note that in the above the subscript ∞ refers to the

characteristic condition, say far away from the object. is the
magnitude of the velocity vector at ∞ and g is the magnitude of
the gravitational acceleration vector. Equation (39) is first used
to construct the dimensionless form of
the operators

(40.a)

(40.b)

(40.c)

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 Dimensionless Form of Continuity

Substituting (39) and (40) into continuity equation for

compressible flow

(41)
gives

(42)

We note that the dimensionless form of continuity

reveals no parameters.

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Dimensionless form of the Navier-Stokes Equations of motion

• Substituting (39) and (40) into Navier-Stokes Equations in x, y, and
z directions, ( 38a, 38b, and 38c)

gives
(43)

where the parameters Re and Gr are the Reynolds and Grashof

numbers,

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 Reynolds number, (44)

Grashof number, (45)

Where is coefficient of thermal expansion

Dimensionless Form of the Energy Equation
•We consider two special cases of the energy equation.
(i) Incompressible, constant conductivity
Substituting (39) and (40) into the energy equation for constant
conductivity
(46)

Where is dissipation function which associated with energy dissipation due to

friction. It is important in high speed flow and for very viscous fluids.

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Gives,
(47.a)
where the parameters Pr and Ec are the Prandtl and Eckert numbers,
Prandtl number,
(48)

Eckert number (49)

The dimensionless dissipation function is determined by
substituting (36) and (37) into the following equation

(50)

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 gives,
(51)

(ii) Ideal gas, constant conductivity and viscosity

substituting (36) and (37) into the following energy equation for
the ideal gases,
(52)

gives
(47.b)

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Significance of the Governing Parameters

The non-dimensional form of the governing equations (42), (43),
and (47) are governed by four parameters: Re, Pr, Gr, and Ec.
Thus the temperature solution for convection can be expressed
as:
(53)
The following observations are made:
(1) The Reynolds number is associated with viscous flow while the
Prandtl number is a heat transfer parameter which is a fluid property.
The Grashof number represents buoyancy effect and the Eckert
number is associated with viscous dissipation and is important in high
speed flow and very viscous fluids.
(2) In dimensional formulation six quantities,
and five properties affect the solution.
In dimensionless formulation these factors are consolidated into four
dimensionless parameters: Re, Pr, Gr and Ec.
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(3) The number of parameters can be reduced in two special cases:
(i) If fluid motion is dominated by forced convection (negligible
free convection), the Grashof number can be eliminated.
(ii) If viscous dissipation is negligible, the Eckert number can be
dropped. Thus under these common conditions the solution is
simplified to
(54)
(4) The implication of (51) and (51) is that geometrically similar
bodies have the same dimensionless velocity and temperature
solutions if the similarity parameters are the same for all bodies.
(5) By identifying the important dimensionless parameters governing
a given problem, experimental investigations can be planned
accordingly. Instead of varying the relevant physical quantities,
one can vary the similarity parameters. This will vastly reduce the
number of experiments needed. The same is true if numerical
results are to be generated.
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(6) Presentation of results such as heat transfer coefficient,

pressure drop, and drag, whether experimental or numerical, is
most efficiently done when expressed in terms of
dimensionless parameters.

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