INDIAN INSTITUTE OF SPACE SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM
B.Tech. Aerospace Engineering

AE222 HEAT TRANSFER

TUTORIAL–2

1. Consider the transient heat conduction in a long homogeneous, prismatic bar of constant cross-section
and length L, which is oriented along x-axis and is perfectly insulated laterally, so that the heat flows
only in the x-direction. The heat equation is then given by
∂u ∂ 2u
=α 2 0 < x < L, t >0
∂t ∂x
The initial temperature in the bar at time t = 0 is given by f (x). Using the method of separation
of variable, derive an expression for transient temperature profile for following initial and boundary
conditions:

(a) Cooling and heating of a rod from initial linear temperature to zero temperature:
The initial condition:
 
2x
u(x, 0) = f (x) = U 1 − 0≤x≤L
L
The boundary conditions:

u(0,t) = u(L,t) = 0 t >0

(b) Cooling of a rod from initial triangular temperature to zero temperature:

The initial condition:
(
x if 0 ≤ x ≤ L/2
u(x, 0) = f (x) = 0≤x≤L
L−x if L/2 ≤ x ≤ L

The boundary conditions:

u(0,t) = u(L,t) = 0 t >0

(c) Cooling/heating of a rod from initial linear temperature to final linear temperature:
Here we consider the heat conduction problem through a rod of length L with its left and right
ends maintained at u00 = 20◦ C and u0L = 50◦ C respectively until steady state conditions prevail.
Then the temperature at left and right ends are suddenly changed to u0 = 80◦ C and uL = 30◦ C
respectively and held fixed for all future time to come.
The initial condition:
u0L − u00
u(x, 0) = f (x) = x + u00 0≤x≤L
L
The boundary conditions:

u(0,t) = u0 , u(L,t) = uL t >0

1
 Plot the initial profile and three or four transient temperature profiles for each of the above cases.

2. Consider now the heat conduction problem through a rod of length L with internal source. Assuming
constant material properties and one-dimensional heat diffusion, the heat equation may be written as

∂u ∂ 2 u q̇g
=α 2 + 0<x<L
∂t ∂x c
where q̇g is the rate of heat generated per unit mass. If q̇g (x) > 0, heat is generated at x in the rod
and if q̇g (x) < 0, heat is absorbed. The initial and boundary conditions are specified as follows:

u(x, 0) = f (x) 0≤x≤L

u(0,t) = u0 , u(L,t) = uL t >0

Using the method of separation of variable, derive an expression for transient temperature profile and
plot the initial profile and three or four transient temperature profiles for f (x) = x.

3. Consider the temperature distribution in a long homogeneous bar of constant cross-section and length
L, which is oriented along x-axis and is perfectly insulated laterally, so the heat flows in the x-direction
only. The heat equation becomes the one-dimensional equation

∂u ∂ 2u
=α 2 0 < x < L, t >0
∂t ∂x
The initial temperature in the bar at time t = 0 is given by f (x) so that we have the initial condition

u(x, 0) = f (x) 0≤x≤L

The two ends of the bar are insulated, so that we have the boundary conditions
 
∂ u  ∂ u 
= =0 t >0
∂ x x=0 ∂ x x=L
Using the method of separation of variable, obtain an expression for transient temperature profile and
plot the initial profile and three or four transient temperature profiles for
ur − ul
f (x) = x + ul
L
where ul and ur are the left and right wall temperatures at t = 0.

4. Consider the case in which the initial temperature field is in the form of step function in an infinite
domain. That is, T = Tl for x ≤ 0 and T = Tr for x > 0. We want to investigate how the transient
temperature profile diffuses with respect to time. The governing equation is

∂T ∂ 2T
=α 2 − ∞ < x < ∞, t >0
∂t ∂x
with the step initial temperature profile
(
Tl if −∞ < x ≤ 0
T (x, 0) = g(x) =
Tr if 0<x<∞

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 and subject to the boundary conditions

T (−∞, t) = Tl 0≤t <∞

T (∞, t) = Tr 0≤t <∞

where Tl and Tr are constants. Using the similarity transformation method, obtain an expression
for transient temperature profile and plot the initial profile and three or four transient temperature
profiles.

PS: For plotting transient solutions you could choose any convenient numerical values for the variables in
the problem.