APPLICATION OF AN INTEGRAL NUMERICAL TECHNIQUE FOR A TEMPERATURE-DEPENDENT THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY FIN WITH INTERNAL HEAT GENERATION

A numerical study of convective heat transfer in a longitudinal fi n with temperature-dependent thermal conductivity and internal heat generation is undertaken. Integral calculations are implemented on each generic element of the discretized problem domain. The resulting systems of nonlinear equations are solved effi ciently because of the coeffi cient matrix sparsity to yield both the dependent variable and its fl ux. In order to validate the formulation, the effects of the thermogeometric parameter, nonlinearity due to the temperature-dependent thermal conductivity, and of the heat transfer coeffi cient on the fi n temperature distribution are investigated. The results are found to be in agreement with those for similar problems described in the literature and with the physics of the problem. 
   
Author:  O. O. Onyejekwe, G. Tamiru, T. Amha, F. Habtamu Y. Demiss, N. Alemseged, and B. Mengistu
Keywords:  convective heat transfer, longitudinal fi n, temperature-dependent thermal conductivity, systems of nonlinear equations, discretized problem domain, sparsity of coeffi cient matrix, integral calculations, generic element, thermogeometric parameter
Page:  1574