ME 144: Heat Transfer

Introduction to Radiation (v 1.0)

J. M. Meyers

Initial Concepts
Heat transfer by conduction and convection requires the presence of a temperature gradient
in some form of matter.
Heat transfer by thermal radiation requires no matter.
It is an extremely important process, and in the physical sense it is perhaps the most
interesting of the heat transfer modes.
It is relevant to many industrial heating, cooling, and drying processes, as well as to energy
conversion methods that involve fossil fuel combustion and solar radiation
Very important in high speed aerodynamics and reentry aerothermodynamics

ME 144: Heat Transfer | Radiation

J. M. Meyers

Initial Concepts
Consider a solid that is initially at a higher temperature
but around which there exists a vacuum

than that of its surroundings

The presence of the vacuum precludes energy loss from the surface of the solid by conduction
or convection
This cooling is associated with a reduction in the internal energy stored by the solid and is a
direct consequence of the emission of thermal radiation from the surface.
In turn, the surface will intercept and absorb
radiation originating from the surroundings.
However, if >
the net heat transfer rate by
radiation
is from the surface, and the
,
surface will cool until reaches
.

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Initial Concepts
All forms of matter emit radiation. For gases and for semitransparent solids, such as glass and
salt crystals at elevated temperatures, emission is a volumetric phenomenon
we concentrate on situations for which radiation can be treated as a surface phenomenon. In
most solids and liquids, radiation emitted from interior molecules is strongly absorbed by
adjoining molecules.
Accordingly, radiation that is emitted from a solid or a liquid originates from molecules that are
within a distance of approximately

ME 144: Heat Transfer | Radiation

J. M. Meyers

Initial Concepts
We know that radiation originates due to emission by matter and that its subsequent
transport does not require the presence of any matter.
One theory views radiation as the propagation of a collection of particles termed
photons or quanta.
Alternatively, radiation may be viewed as the propagation of electromagnetic
waves.
Regardless, we will use the standard wave properties of frequency and wavelength when
dealing with radiation exchanges.
These two properties are related by

wavelength
speed of light in a vacuum [2.998 10. m/s]
frequency

ME 144: Heat Transfer | Radiation

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Initial Concepts
ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM

A region containing a portion of the UV and all of the visible and infrared (IR) is termed
thermal radiation because it is both caused by and affects the thermal state or
temperature of matter for this reason, thermal radiation is pertinent to heat transfer.
ME 144: Heat Transfer | Radiation
J. M. Meyers

Initial Concepts
Thermal radiation emitted by a surface encompasses a range of wavelengths
The magnitude of the radiation varies with wavelength, and the term spectral is used to refer to
the nature of this dependence.
This spectral distribution will vary with the nature and temperature of the emitting surface
A surface may emit preferentially in certain directions, creating a directional distribution of
the emitted radiation.

ME 144: Heat Transfer | Radiation

J. M. Meyers

Radiation Heat Fluxes

Various types of heat fluxes are pertinent to the analysis of radiation heat transfer
Emissive power, 4 [W/m6 ], rate at which radiation is emitted from a surface per unit surface
area, over all wavelengths and in all directions. Recall our treatment of radiation emission:
4 = 78

ME 144: Heat Transfer | Radiation

J. M. Meyers

Radiation Heat Fluxes

Irradiation, : [W/m6 ], rate at which radiation is incident upon the surface per unit surface area,
over all wavelengths and from all directions.
All of the irradiation must be reflected, absorbed, or transmitted, it follows that
;+=+> =1
A medium that experiences no transmission is termed opaque, in which case:
;+= =1

ME 144: Heat Transfer | Radiation

J. M. Meyers

Radiation Heat Fluxes

Radiosity, J (W/m2), of a surface accounts for all the radiant energy leaving the surface.
For an opaque surface, it includes emission and the reflected portion of the irradiation,

?=4+:

ME 144: Heat Transfer | Radiation

J. M. Meyers

= 4 + ;:

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Radiation Heat Fluxes

Net radiative flux from a surface, (W/m2), is the difference between the outgoing and incoming
radiation
"
=?:
Combining previous relations:
"

ME 144: Heat Transfer | Radiation

J. M. Meyers

= 4 + ;: : = 78

=:

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Radiation Heat Fluxes

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Radiation Intensity
Radiation leaving a surface can propagate in all directions
thus its directional distribution is important.
Radiation incident upon a surface may come from different
directions and the manner in which the surface responds to
this radiation depends on the direction.
These directional effects are quite important in determining
the net radiative heat transfer rate and may be treated by
introducing the concept of radiation intensity.
Due to its nature, mathematical treatment of radiation heat
transfer involves the extensive use of the spherical
coordinate system.

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Radiation Intensity
Mathematical Definitions
The differential solid angle CD is defined by a region between the rays of a sphere and is
measured as the ratio of the area CE on the sphere to the spheres radius squared:
CE
CD = 6
F

ME 144: Heat Transfer | Radiation

J. M. Meyers

The unit of the solid angle is the steradian (sr),

analogous to radians for plane angles.

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Radiation Intensity
Mathematical Definitions

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Radiation Intensity
Radiation Intensity and Its Relation to Emission

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Radiation Intensity
Radiation Intensity and Its Relation to Emission
The total, hemispherical emissive power, 4 (W/m2), is the rate at which radiation is emitted
per unit area at all possible wavelengths and in all possible directions.

Although the directional distribution of surface emission varies according to the nature
of the surface, there is a special case that provides a reasonable approximation for many
surfaces.
A diffuse emitter is a surface for which the intensity of the emitted radiation is independent
of direction, in which case GH, , I, J = GH, ( , ):

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Radiation Intensity
Radiation Intensity and Its Relation to Irradiance

The intensity of the incident radiation may be related to

the irradiation, which encompasses radiation incident from
all directions.
The spectral irradiation :(W/m2Mm) is defined as the rate
at which radiation of wavelength is incident on a surface,
per unit area of the surface and per unit wavelength
interval C about :
Eq. 12.18

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Blackbody Radiation
1. A blackbody absorbs all incident radiation, regardless of wavelength and direction.
2. For a prescribed temperature and wavelength, no surface can emit more energy than a
blackbody
3. Although the radiation emitted by a blackbody is a function of wavelength and
temperature, it is independent of direction. That is, the blackbody is a diffuse emitter.
As the perfect absorber and emitter, the blackbody serves as a standard against
which the radiative properties of actual surfaces may be compared.

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Blackbody Radiation
PLANCK DISTRIBUTION
Black body emission can be described by the well known Planck distribution:
GH,N

2 P 6
exp P / ST

= 6.626 10VW9 Js
ST = 1.381 10V6W J/K
P

4H,N

First Radiation Constant:

Second Radiation Constant:

ME 144: Heat Transfer | Radiation

J. M. Meyers

= 2.998 10. m/s

= \GH,N

]^ = 2\

=
6

Planck constant
Boltzmann constant
Speed of light

]^
exp ]6 /

= 3.742 10. Wm9 /m6

P
]6 =
= 1.439 109 mK
ST
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Blackbody Radiation
PLANCK DISTRIBUTION

Log scale
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Blackbody Radiation
PLANCK DISTRIBUTION
Several important features should be noted:
1. The emitted radiation varies continuously with wavelength
2. At any wavelength the magnitude of the emitted radiation increases with increasing
Temperature
3. The spectral region in which the radiation is concentrated depends on temperature, with
comparatively more radiation appearing at shorter wavelengths as the temperature
increases.
4. A significant fraction of the radiation emitted by the sun, which may be approximated as a
blackbody at 5800 K, is in the visible region of the spectrum. In contrast, for T < 800 K,
emission is predominantly in the infrared region of the spectrum and is not visible to the
eye.

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Blackbody Radiation
WIENS LAW
The blackbody spectral distribution has a maximum and that the corresponding wavelength max
depends on temperature
The nature of this dependence may be obtained by differentiating Plancks Law with respect to
and setting the result equal to zero, which leads to:
b c

= ]W

Wiens Law

Where the third radiation constant is ]W = 2898 mK

According to this result, the maximum spectral emissive power is displaced to shorter
wavelengths with increasing temperature
This emission is in the middle of the visible spectrum (
the sun emits approximately as a blackbody at 5800 K.
A tungsten filament lamp operating at 2900 K (
of the emission remains in the IR region
ME 144: Heat Transfer | Radiation
J. M. Meyers

b c

b c

0.5 m) for solar radiation, since

= 1 m) emits white light, although most

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Blackbody Radiation
WIENS LAW

IR thermography
temperatures

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Blackbody Radiation
STEPHAN-BOLTZMAN LAW
Determining the total, hemispherical emissive power, using Plancks Law yields the StephanBoltzman Law

Performing the integration, it may be shown that

where the Stefan-Boltzmann constant, which depends on C1 and C2, has the numerical value:

This Stefan-Boltzmann law enables calculation of the amount of radiation emitted in all
directions and over all wavelengths simply from knowledge of the temperature of the
blackbody.
ME 144: Heat Transfer | Radiation
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Band Emission
To account for spectral effects, it is often necessary to know the fraction of the total emission
from a blackbody that is in a certain wavelength interval or band

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Emission From Real Surfaces

7 ,

4 ,
4N ,

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Absorption, Reflection, and Transmission by Real Surfaces

ABSORPTIVITY
The absorptivity is a property that determines the fraction of the irradiation absorbed by a
surface.

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Absorption, Reflection, and Transmission by Real Surfaces

REFLECTIVITY
The reflectivity is a property that determines the fraction of the incident radiation reflected
by a surface.
Surfaces may be idealized as diffuse or specular, according to the manner in which they
reflect radiation

diffuse

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J. M. Meyers

specular

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Absorption, Reflection, and Transmission by Real Surfaces

TRANSMISSIVITY
Deals with the of the response of a semitransparent material to incident radiation

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Absorption, Reflection, and Transmission by Real Surfaces

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Absorption, Reflection, and Transmission by Real Surfaces

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Environmental Radiation

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Environmental Radiation

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Environmental Radiation
OUR SUN

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Environmental Radiation

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Environmental Radiation
NASA Glenn Research Center

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Some Practical Radiation Studies

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Some Practical Radiation Studies

A. M. Brandis, et al., Validation of CO 4th Positive Radiation for Mars Entry, NASA Ames
Research Center, AIAA 2012-1145

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Some Practical Radiation Studies

A. M. Brandis, et al., Validation of CO 4th Positive Radiation for Mars Entry, NASA Ames
Research Center, AIAA 2012-1145

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Radiation Exchange Between Surfaces (Chpt. 13)

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Radiation Exchange Between Surfaces (Chpt. 13)

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J. M. Meyers

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Radiation Exchange Between Surfaces (Chpt. 13)

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References

Bergman, Lavine, Incropera, and Dewitt, Fundamentals of Heat and Mass Transfer, 7th Ed.,
Wiley, 2011

Chapman, Heat Transfer, 3rd Ed., MacMillan, 1974

Y. A. engel and A. J. Ghajar, Heat and Mass Transfer, 5th Ed., Wiley, 2015

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