Jubail Industrial College

Department of Mechanical Engineering

ME 441 – Computational Mechanics
Semester

ASSIGNMENT # 1

Student Name: ID: Section: 1

Q1
Use Crank-Nicolson method to solve for the temperature distribution in a long, thin rod with
a length of 12 cm and following values: k’ = 0.49 cal/(s.cm.oC) and Δt = 0.25 sec. At t = 0
sec (initial condition), the inner temperature of the entire rod is 25oC. The left Boundary is
initially at 90oC and the right boundary condition is 41oC. However, the left boundary
temperature increases by an amount of 2oC after every time step considered. The right
boundary condition is fixed at 41oC for all time steps. Note that the rod is aluminum with C
= 0.2174 cal/(g.oC) and ρ = 2.7 g/cm3. Find the temperature values on the inner grid nodes
for t = 0.5 sec. Use Thomas Algorithm to solve for the matrix form of the system of
equations for the unknown inner temperatures of the rod. The rod is shown below.
Grid nodes
T (x, 0) = 25oC
Initial
(0) (1) (2) (3) (4) 41oC
BC = 90oC
12 cm

(Note: Show all the steps in detail. Use and show appropriate units throughout the solution.
It is optional to develop a code for the Crank Nicolson problem, Q1)
[5 points]
 Jubail Industrial College
Department of Mechanical Engineering
ME 441 – Computational Mechanics
Semester

Q2. Use the Alternating Direction Implicit (ADI) method to solve for the temperature
distribution in the plate, shown in the figure below, at time t = 2 sec. Initially, the plate
surface is at 5oC with the given boundary conditions shown in the figure. The dimensions
and the nodes to find the temperatures on are also shown in the figure below. The time
interval Δt is 1 sec. The plate is made of a material with thermal diffusivity k = 0.745
cm2/sec. Find 𝑇 ,𝑇 ,𝑇 ,𝑎 𝑛 𝑑 𝑇
2 2 2 2
1 ,1 2 ,1 1 ,2 2 ,2 . The nodes are equally spaced in x- and y-
directions. After the obtaining the tri-diagonal coefficient matrix, use the Thomas
Algorithm to solve for the unknown temperatures for each time step. Indicate the
temperature values on the inner nodes in a separate diagram.

110oC

(1,2) (2, 2)

12 cm
45oC
68oC

(1,1) (2,1)

10oC
12 cm

(Note: Use and show the units throughout the solution. Show all the steps in detail)
[5 points]