MECE 6333 CONDUCTION & RADIATION FALL, 2010

Instructor: D. Keith Hollingsworth Time: 2:30 - 4:00 M W

Office: N217, Building D Room: W 236-D3
Email: Hollingsworth@uh.edu
Phone: 713-743-4534

Text: A. F. Mills, Heat Transfer, 2nd Edition, Prentice Hall Inc. (available in paperback)

Course Description:
MECE 6333 is a first-semester graduate introduction to techniques for analyzing basic
problems in conduction and radiation heat transfer. The course replaces traditional
“Conduction” and “Radiation” courses; the treatment of the material must therefore be
less extensive than that of two full courses. The goal is for this course to be a gateway
into courses such as Convection and Phase-Change Heat Transfer, but it is also
accessible to students outside of thermal science who desire a first and only graduate-
level course in heat transfer.
The content is divided into three sections:
1. a review of thermodynamics and an introduction to basic heat transfer concepts
2. a classical treatment of conduction
3. a classical treatment of radiation
The lectures follow the chapters of Mills dealing with elementary heat transfer (chapter
1), conduction (chapters 2 & 3), and radiation (chapter 6) and will include supplementary
material from other sources. Problems that couple both modes are of particular interest.
The treatment of convection will be limited to its use as a boundary condition.
Suggested homework problems will be assigned on-line with solutions provided. Except
for a few specific problems, homework will not be collected or graded. Desktop
computer resources are sufficient for computational problems. Midterm and Final exams
will be given. A tentative grade weighting is given here.

Selected Homework Assignments: 15%

Midterm Exam (through II (D) in the outline): 40%
Final Exam (II (E) & (F), radiation): 45%

Additional References (not required): A list of useful texts is attached.

Important dates: The last day to add a course is Monday, August 30. The last day to
drop a course without receiving a grade is Wednesday, Sept. 8. The last day to Withdraw
with a “W” is Wednesday, Nov. 3. The last day of classes is Saturday, Dec. 4.
Thanksgiving holiday is Wednesday – Saturday, Nov. 24-27. The scheduled time for the
Final Exam is Monday, Dec. 13, from 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm.
MECE 6333 CONDUCTION & RADIATION
Course Outline
MECE 6333 CONDUCTION & RADIATION
I. Introduction
A. Production bookkeeping formulation of the fundamental equations of thermal science
B. Basic concepts and constitutive equations: Fourier’s law, Stefan-Boltzmann equation
C. Introduction to one-dimensional heat transfer and the thermal circuit
D. The coupled radiative and convective boundary condition
II. Conduction Heat Transfer
A. Fourier’s Law as a vector equation
B. Derivation of the multi-dimensional heat conduction equation with boundary conditions
C. One-dimensional heat conduction in domains with variable cross-sectional area and
thermal energy generation
1. Steady conduction in cylindrical and spherical regions (with critical radius problem)
2. Steady conduction in fins (includes review of Bessel functions and equations)
D. Steady conduction in two and three dimensions
1. Separation of variables (includes review of orthogonal functions)
2. Conduction shape factors
E. Unsteady conduction in a semi-infinite solid (includes review of similarity solutions)
F. Moving boundary problems: solidification, melting, and ablation
G. Finite difference solution method in two dimensions
III. Radiation Heat Transfer
A. Physics of radiation: electromagnetic spectrum, properties of real surfaces
B. Radiation exchange between surfaces
1. Exchange between black surfaces
2. Radiation shape factors
3. Network analogy for radiation
4. Exchange between diffuse gray surfaces and through passages
C. Solar radiation: irradiation, absorptance, and transmittance
D. Directional and spectral characteristics of surface radiation
1. Isotropic radiation: Lambert’s law
2. Computation of shape factors for isotropic radiation
3. Directional properties for real surfaces
4. Spectral properties
E. Radiation transfer through gases
1. The transfer equation and gas radiation properties
2. Radiative exchange between an isothermal gas and a gray enclosure
MECE 6333 CONDUCTION & RADIATION
List of Additional References

Conduction of Heat in Solids, H. S. Carslaw, and J. C. Jaeger, 2nd Ed., 1959, Oxford
University Press. QC321.C321. The classic of analytical treatments of conduction.

Analytical Methods in Conduction Heat Transfer, G. Myers, 1971, McGraw-Hill.

QC320.M9. A very popular graduate text for a conduction-only course. There is now
newer edition available.

Heat Conduction, S. Kakac, and Y. Yener, 3rd Ed., 1993, Taylor and Francis.
QC320.K35. Good introductory material.

Conduction Heat Transfer, D. Poulikakos, 1994, Prentice-Hall. TJ260.P634. A new

graduate-level conduction text.

Radiation Heat Transfer Notes, D. K. Edwards, 1981, Hemisphere. TJ260.E318. A

concise, graduate-level set of notes on radiation heat transfer. Good discussion of
radiative properties.

Thermal Radiation Heat Transfer, R. Siegel, and J. R. Howell, 3rd Ed., 1992,
Hemisphere. QC331.5.T562. The acknowledged classic in radiation.

Thermal Radiative Transfer and Properties, M. Q. Brewster, 1992, Wiley Interscience.

A reasonably new graduate-level radiation text.

Radiative Heat Transfer, M. Modest, 1993, McGraw-Hill. QC320.M63. A new graduate-

level radiation text.

Fundamentals of Statistical and Thermal Physics, F. Reif, 1965, McGraw-Hill.

QC175.R361. Taken from a list for a similar course - could be useful.

Tabulations of Physical Properties

Thermophysical Properties of Matter, edited by Y. S. Touloukian, 14 volumes, 1970 -

1978, Purdue University Press. TA418.52.P985 REF.

Tables on the Thermophysical Properties of Liquids and Gases, N. B. Vargaftik, 2nd Ed.,
1975, Hemisphere. QC145.4.T5.V29713 REF.

The Properties of Gases and Liquids, R. C. Reid, J. M. Prausnitz, and B. E. Poling, 4th
Ed., 1987, McGraw-Hill. TP242.R4.
MECE 6333 CONDUCTION & RADIATION
Suggested Format for Homework Problems

The format given in the introductory section in the text is a standard format used in both
undergraduate and graduate courses. I recommend that you use this format for problems
submitted in this course. I see no need for a full restatement of a text-book problem
(Problem Statement), so this section may be written very briefly or omitted.

Some words of caution concerning the Given and the Assumptions sections: students
often have trouble distinguishing between the two. Facts about the problem that can be
clearly observed from the problem statement (for example, no mass flux through a solid
surface, air is a Newtonian fluid, stated values of conductivity) are given information,
and not assumptions. Assumptions are items of information the analyst infers from the
situation. These suppositions are accepted as true without proof for the sole purpose of
moving the analysis toward a solution. Avoid the popular mistake of producing a long
list of assumptions that have nothing to do with the problem; the only assumptions that
should be listed are those that are clearly used in the analysis.

Assignment #1

 Review the Lecture on Production Bookkeeping.

 Read Chapter 1. The “Heat Exchangers” section, pp. 37-46 may be omitted. The
“Convection” section is not of primary concern, but it should be read for breath.
 Problem due:

A Production Bookkeeping Problem:

The Rate of Entropy Production During Conduction
Given: Heat is flowing at a rate Q through the cross-hatched body. The
energy enters through the uniform-temperature inner boundary at T1 and
exits at the outer boundary which is uniformly T2. Given that T1  T2, and
the body is in steady state, derive an expression for the rate of production
of entropy within the body in terms of Q , T1, and T2,

T2
T1