20
Chapter
1
Introduction
Eq. (1.21) is due to the fact that heat flows in the direction of decreasing temper-
ature. Equation (1.21) can be written in a difference form in terms of the spacing
between the nodes (length of the element)
t!
and the respective temperatures of
the nodes
i
and
i
+
1, Ti and Ti+,
,
according to the equation
In the field of heat transfer, it is also common to write Eq. (1.22) in terms of
the thermal transmittance coefficient U, or, as it is often called, the U-factor
(U
=
4).
The U-factor represents thermal transmission through a unit area and
has the units of Btu/hr.ft2-F. It is the reciprocal of thermal resistance. So,
q
=
UA(T,+l
-
Ti)
(1.23)
The steady state thermal behavior of elements (1) and
(6)
may be modeled
using Newton's Law of Cooling. Convection heat transfer occurs when a fluid in
motion comes into contact with a surface whose temperature differs from the mov-
ing
fluid.The overall heat transfer rate between the fluid and the surface is gov-
erned by Newton's Law of Cooling, according to the equation
q
=
hA(T,
-
Tf)
(1.24)
where h is the heat transfer coefficient, T, is the surface temperature, and Tf rep-
resents the temperature of the moving fluid.Newton's Law of Cooling can also be
written in terms of the U-factor, such that
q
=
UA(T,
-
Tf)
(1.25)
where U
=
h, and it represents the reciprocal of thermal resistance due to con-
vection boundary conditions. Under steady state conduction, the application of
energy balance to a surface requires that the energy transferred to this surface via
conduction must be equal to the energy transfer by convection. This principle,
is depicted in Figure 1.9.
FIGURE
1.9
Energy
balance at a
surface
with a convective heat transfer.
Section
1.5
Direct Formulation
21
Now that we understand the two modes of heat transfer involved in this
problem, we can apply the energy balance to the various surfaces of the wall, start-
ing with the wall's exterior surface located at node 2. The heat loss through the
wall due to conduction must equal the heat loss to the surrounding cold air by
convection. That is,
U2A(T3
-
T2)
=
Ul A(T2
-
TI)
The application of energy balance to surfaces located at nodes
3,4,
and
5
yields the
equations
U3A(T4
-
T3)
=
U2A(T3
-
T2)
U4A(T5
-
T4)
=
U3A(T4
-
T3)
U5 A(T6
-
T5)
=
U4A(T5
-
T4)
For the interior surface of the wall, located at node
6,
the heat loss by convection
of warm air is equal to the heat transfer by conduction through the gypsum board,
according to the equation
Separating the known temperatures from the unknown temperatures, we have:
+(Ul
+
U2)AT2 -U2 AT,
=
Ul AT,
-U2AT2 +(U2+U3)AT3 -U3AT4
=
0
-U3AT3 +(U3
+
U4)AT4 -U4AT5
=
0
-U4AT4 +(U4+U5)AT5 -U5AT6
=
0
-U5 AT5 +(Us
+
U6)AT6
=
U6AT,
The above relationships can be represented in matrix form as
Note that the relationship given by Eq. (1.27) was developed by applying the con-
servation of energy to the surfaces located at nodes 2,3,4,5, and
6.
Next, we
will
con-
sider the elemental formulation of this problem, which
will
lead to the same results
3.
Develop equations for
an
element.
In
general, for conduction problems, the heat transfer rates, q, and q,, ,and the nodal
temperatures, Ti and Ti+,
,
for an element are related according to the equations