Chapter5-3e

Example 5.3-1 Two concentric spherical metallic shells of radii a and b are separated by a solid thermal insulator as shown in Figure 5.3-1.

At r = a, u(a,q) = u1

At r = b, u(b,q) = u2 + u3cosq + u4cos2q

The rate at which solid conducts heat away from the

sphere of radius a is given by

Q = -ka2 sinq dq Figure 5.3-1. Concentric spherical shells

where k is the thermal conductivity of the insulator. How should u1, u2, u3, and u4 be plotted against heat input Q so that k can be determined?

Solution

The Laplace’s equation with axial symmetry in spherical coordinate has the following form

= + = 0 (5.3-7)

We assume that u(r,q) can be separated into R(r), a function of r alone, and T(q), a function of q alone.

u(r,q) = R(r) T(q) (5.3-8)

Differentiating the partial derivative, we get

= R Þ = R

= T Þ = T

In terms of R(r) and T(q), Eq. (5.3-7) becomes

T+ + R= 0 (5.3-9)

Multiply Eq. (5.3-9) by to obtain

+ = - = m = n(n + 1) (5.3-10)

Since the RHS of Eq. (5.3-10) depends on r only, and the LHS depends on q only, they must equal to a constant m. The ODE on r is

+ - n(n + 1) = 0

The equation for R is an Euler equation that has the following solution

R = ra

The constant a can be determined by substituting R = ra and its derivatives into the original ODE to obtain

a(a - 1)ra + 2ara - n(n + 1)ra = 0

a2 + a - n(n + 1) = 0 Þ a = n, and a = - (n + 1)

The solution for R is

R(r) = Arn + Br-(n+1)

From Eq. (5.3-10), the ODE on q is

= - n(n + 1) (5.3-11)

Let s = cos q Þ = = - sin q

= = - cos q- sin q

= - cos q- sin q = - cos q+ sin2 q

Substituting the new independent variable s and the derivative with respect to s yields

- cos q+ sin2 q- cos q+ n(n + 1)T = 0

(1 - s2) - 2s+ n(n + 1)T = 0

The ODE for T is Legendre’s differential equation of order n so that the solution is given as

Tn = Cn Pn(s) + Dn Qn(s)

At q = 0, s = cos q = 1. Since Qn(1) = ¥, Dn must be equal to zero for a finite solution

u(r,q) = (Anrn + Bnr-(n+1)) Pn(cos)

At r = a, u(a,q) = u1

At r = b, u(b,q) = u2 + u3cosq + u4cos2q

P0(x) = 1 P1(x) = x

P2(x) = (3x2 - 1) Þ x2 = (2 P2(x) + 1)

Expressing the boundary condition at r = b in terms of Legendre polynomials yields

u2 + u3cosq + u4cos2q = u2P0(cosq) + u3P1(cosq) + u4(2 P2(cosq) + 1)

Collecting the terms with the same degree of Legendre polynomials yields

u2 + u3cosq + u4cos2q =( u2 + u4)P0(cosq) + u3P1(cosq) + u4P2(cosq)

The temperature gradient can be evaluated from the temperature distribution to give

= [nAnrn-1 - (n - 1)Bnr-n-2] Pn(cos)

= [nAnan-1 - (n - 1)Bna-n-2]Pn(cos)

From the expression for the heat transfer rate Q = -ka2 sinq dq, the constants An and Bn may be determined

Q = -k2p a2 [nAnan-1 - (n - 1)Bna-n-2] Pn(cos)sinq dq

Let x = cos q Þ dx = - sin q dq

q = 0 Þ x = cos q = 1

q = p Þ x = cos q = - 1

Q = -2p k a2 [nAnan-1 - (n - 1)Bna-n-2] dx

Since P0(x) = 1 Þ dx = 0 for n ¹ 0

dx = 2

The expression for the heat rate Q is then

Q = -2p k a2[ - B0a-2](2) = 4p kB0

The constant B0 must now be find in terms of u1, u2, u3, and u4.

At r = a, u(a,q) = u1 = (Anan + Bna-(n+1)) Pn(cosq)

u1 P0(cosq) = (A0 + B0a-1) P0(cosq) (5.3-12)

At r = b, u(b,q) = u2 + u3cosq + u4cos2q

u(b,q) = ( u2 + u4)P0(cosq) + u3P1(cosq) + u4P2(cosq) (5.3-13a)

u(b,q) = (A0 + B0b-1) P0(cosq) + (A1b + B1b-2) P1(cosq) + ... (5.3-13b)

From Eq. (5.3-12)

u1 = A0 + B0a-1 (5.3-14a)

From Eqs. (5.3-13a) and (5.3-13b)

u2 + u4 = A0 + B0b-1 (5.3-14b)

Substracting Eq. (5.3-14a) by (5.3-14b)

u1 - ( u2 + u4) = B0(a-1 - b-1)

B0 = =

The heat rate Q in terms of all the known parameters is

Q = 4p kB0 =

The thermal conductivity k can be obtained from plotting Q versus . The slope of the resulting straight line is that can be used to determined k. For a numerical example, experimental data are given in Table 5.3-1 for the heat transfer rate at various temperatures. Two concentric spherical metallic shells of radii a = 0.15 m and b = 0.20 m are separated by a solid thermal insulator. Use these data to determine the thermal conductivity k.

______Table 5.3-1 Experimental values of Q and temperatures ______

Q(W/s) / u1(oC) / u2(oC) / u4(oC)
630
605
576
553
528
503
475
450
429
404
377 / 200
210
220
230
240
250
260
270
280
290
300 / 100
110
120
130
140
150
160
170
180
190
200 / 50
60
70
80
90
100
110
120
130
140
150

The Matlab program used to plot Q versus is listed in Table 5.3-2 and the graph is shown in Figure 5.3-2.

______Table 5.3-2 Matlab program to evaluate k for example 5.3-1 ______

% Least square curve fit to determine the slope and k

%

u1=200:10:300;u2=u1-100;u4=u2-50;

a=.15;b=0.2;

Q=[630 605 576 553 528 503 475 450 429 404 377];

u=u1-u2-u4/3;

c=polyfit(u,Q,1);

slope=c(1);

k=slope*(b-a)/(4*pi*a*b);

fprintf('k(W/m.C) = %5.2f \n',k)

x=[u(1) u(11)];

y=c(1)*x+c(2);

plot(x,y,u,Q,'o')

xlabel('u1 - u2 -u4/3');ylabel('Q')

Figure 5.3-2 Experimental and fitted value for Q versus

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