Section 2.

4: Superposition

Lecture slides adapted from

Heat Transfer
Cambridge University Press
ME EN 5650-6650
Intermediate Heat Transfer
Department of Mechanical Engineering
University of Utah

Superposition
Superposition allows you to split a problem with many non-
homogeneous components (e.g., BCs or terms in the PDE) into sub-
problems that each contain only a single non-homogeneous
component

For example:
• a 1-D plane wall with a uniform rate of volumetric generation
L

TLHS g  TRHS

• This problem has three non-homogeneous components:

1. the generation term in the PDE
2. the non-homogeneous BC at x = 0
3. the non-homogeneous BC at x = L

1
 Superposition Applied to a 1-D Problem

2
d T g  Tx  L  TRHS
2

dx k
Tx  0  TLHS x
3 non-homogeneous
components of the
complete problem for T
problem
This problem can be split into three sub-problems that each contain only
one of the non-homogeneous components:
• sub-problem A considers the LHS BC
• the RHS BC and PDE are replaced with their homogeneous equivalents
• sub-problem B considers the RHS BC
• the LHS BC and PDE are replaced with their homogeneous equivalents
• sub-problem C considers the generation term in the PDE
• the BCs are replaced with their homogeneous equivalents
Superposition allows the solution to be written as:
T  TA  TB  TC

Break Problem into Sub-Problems and Solve

2
d T g  Tx  L  TRHS
2

dx k
Tx  0  TLHS x

complete problem for T

2 TA, x  L  0 TB , x  L  TRHS TC , x  L  0
g 
2 2
d TA d TB d TC
2  0 2
0 2  
dx TB , x 0  0 dx TC , x  0  0 dx k
TA, x  0  TLHS x x
x

sub-problem A for TA sub-problem B for TB sub-problem C for TC

T T T
TLHS

TA
TRHS TC
TB
0 x 0 x 0 x
0 L 0 L 0 L

2
 Add the Solutions of the Sub-Problems

p A B C
T T T
TLHS

TA
TRHS TC
TB
0 x 0 x 0 x
0 L 0 L 0 L

T=TA + TB + TC
T
TLHS
T
TA
TC
TRHS
TB
0 x
0 L

Superposition for Separation of Variables

The real advantage of superposition becomes apparent when it is
applied to 2-D or 3-D problems.

Separation of variables requires homogeneous boundary conditions in

one direction.
• Real problems rarely satisfy this criteria
• Simple transformations are not usually sufficient

Superposition allows you to break the problem into two sub-problems.

• Sub-problem A replaces the non-homogeneous BCs in the x-direction
with their homogeneous equivalents.
• Sub-problem B replaces the non-homogeneous BCs in the y-direction
with their homogeneous equivalents
• These sub-problems can each be solved using separation of variables
• The solution is the sum (the superposition) of these solutions to the sub-
problems

3
 Problem Specification
A problem with all non-homogeneous boundary conditions
• there is no homogeneous direction for this problem
• it cannot be solved using separation of variables

h , T H

Tx  0  TLHS Tx W  TRHS
y
x

q 
 2T  2T
partial differential equation:  0
x 2 y 2
x-direction boundary conditions: Tx 0  TLHS Tx W  TRHS
 T   T 
y -direction boundary conditions: q   k   k   h Ty  H  T 
 y  y 0  y  y  H

Sub-Problem A
Sub-problem A replaces the BCs in the x-direction with their
homogeneous equivalent
• sub-problem A can be solved using separation of variables (x is the
homogeneous direction) h , T H

TA, x  0  0 TA , x W  0
y
x

q 
 2TA  2TA
partial differential equation:  2 0
x 2 y
x-direction boundary conditions: TA, x 0  0 TA, xW  0
 T   T 
y -direction boundary conditions: q   k  A  k A   h TA, y  H  T 
 y  y 0  y  y  H

4
 Sub-Problem B
Sub-problem B replaces the BCs in the y-direction with their
homogeneous equivalent
• sub-problem B can also be solved using separation of variables (y is the
homogeneous direction)
h , T  0 H

TB , x W  TLHS TB , x W  TRHS
y
x

 2TB  2TB
partial differential equation:  2 0
x 2 y
x-direction boundary conditions: TB , x 0  TLHS TB , xW  TRHS
 T   T 
y -direction boundary conditions:  k  B  =0  k  B   h TB , y  H
 y  y 0  y  y  H

Superposition
The sum of the solutions to sub-problems A and B satisfies the original
PDE and all of the original BCs
T  TA  TB

 2T  2T  2 TA  TB   2 TA  TB 
PDE:  2 0  0
x 2
y x 2 y 2
 2TA  2TA  2TB  2TB
 2  2  2 0
x 2 y x y
 
0 for sub-problem A  0for sub-problem B

x-direction BCs: Tx0  TLHS  TA, x 0  TB , x 0  TLHS

 
0 for sub-problem B BC
sub-problem A

Tx W  TRHS  TA, x W  TB , x W  TRHS

 
0 for sub-problem B BC
sub-problem A

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5
 Superposition
The sum of the solutions to sub-problems A and B satisfies the original
PDE and all of the original BCs
T  TA  TB

 T   TB   TA 
y -direction BCs:  k 
y   q   k  y  k  y   q 
  y 0   y 0   y 0
 
0 for sub-problem B BC for sub-problem A

LHS of BC for
sub-problem B
   RHS of BC for
sub-problem B
 
 T   TB   TA 
k    h Ty  H  T   k   k    h TB , y  H  h TA, y  H  T 
 y  y  H  y  y  H  y  y  H  
   LHS of BC for
LHS of BC for sub-problem A
sub-problem A

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