TSINGHUA SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

ISSNll1007-0214ll03/21llpp12-16
Volume 14, Number S2, December 2009

Application of Lagrange Equations in Heat Conduction*

WU Jing ( ), GUO Zengyuan ()**, SONG Bai ( )

Key Laboratory for Thermal Science and Power Engineering of Ministry of Education,
School of Aerospace, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China

Abstract: Based on the new concept of thermal mass which refers to the equivalent mass of the thermal en-
ergy in an object according to Einstein’s mass-energy relation, the kinetic energy and potential energy of
thermal mass as well as its dissipation were introduced to establish the Lagrange equations in heat conduc-
tion. The results show that Fourier’s law is equivalent to the Lagrange equations with negligible inertia
forces. The application of Lagrange equations in heat conduction makes it possible to unify the treatment of
heat transfer and mechanics as well as electrics through the method of analytical mechanics.

Key words: Lagrange equations; thermal mass; heat conduction; analytical mechanics

gradient, it has been verified in numerous engineering

Introduction designs and has been widely applied.
Efforts of unifying the analysis of heat transfer proc-
Heat transfer, as a branch of general physics, studies
esses by methods analogous to those of classical me-
the transfer of thermal energy through matter, from a
chanics have been made in previous study although
region of higher temperature to that of lower one.
very limited. In 1950s, Biot[2-6] developed a variational
However, the study approach as well as the concepts
treatment of heat transfer from the ideas of irreversible
used in heat transfer is different from other fields of
thermodynamics. This work opens the way to a formu-
natural science such as mechanics or electrics. In 1822,
lation of heat transfer and dissipative phenomena in
Fourier, a French mathematician and physicist, pub-
complex systems by means of the concepts relative to
lished his famous monograph “Analytical Theory of
mechanics although the physical meanings of the dy-
Heat”, in which he pointed out that[1] “whatever may
namic quantities in Biot’s variational equations are not
be the range of the mechanical theories, they do not
further studied. Cao and Guo[7] established an equation
apply to the effects of heat. These make up a special
of motion for the phonon gas including the driving,
order of phenomena, which can not be explained by
inertial, and resistant forces using Newtonian dynamics.
the principles of motion and equilibrium. This part of
This work reveals the physical mechanism of Fourier’s
natural philosophy cannot be connected with dynami-
law that this law is valid only when the inertial force
cal theories, it has principles peculiar to itself”. Then
can be neglected. This paper provides a new approach
he proposed the famous Fourier’s law to characterize
to unify the treatment of heat transfer and mechanical
heat motion. Though Fourier’s law is an empirical re-
theories by the application of Lagrange equations in
lationship between the heat flux and the temperature
heat conduction processes.

Received: 2009-05-08; revised: 2009-06-20 1 Thermal Mass Theories

* Supported by the National Key Basic Research and Development
(973) Program of China (No. 2007CB206901) 1.1 Thermal mass
** To whom correspondence should be addressed.
E-mail: demgzy@tsinghua.edu.cn; Tel: 86-10-62782660 According to Einstein’s theory of relativity, the mass of
 WU Jing ( ) et al.
Application of Lagrange Equations in Heat Conduction
an object increases with its speed and can be expressed
by[7]
M0
M (1)
1 ! u 2 / c2
where M is the relativistic mass of the object, M0 is the
rest mass, u is the velocity, c = 3.0×108 m/s is the speed
of light in a vacuum.
With u << c, Eq. (1) can be simplified to
1 f h & h uh
M 0u 2
M M0 " 2 (2)
c2
where M0u2/2 is the kinetic energy of an object in
Newtonian mechanics.
Consider a rest object with mass M0 and temperature
T. The thermal vibration energy is assumed to be U,
and the atomic relativistic mass will then be larger than
the rest mass. When the velocities of the lattice vibra-
tions are much less than the speed of light, the in-
creased mass due to thermal vibration is approximately
U mass. The first term in Eq. (10) represents the inertial
Mh (3)
c2
Thus, Mh can be called the thermal mass, which has
been referred to as the thermal vibration mass or the
equivalent mass of phonon gas by Cao and Guo[7].
Moreover, the heat transfer can be regarded as the mo-
tion of the thermal mass and its velocity is described as
q which results in non-Fourier phenomena.
uh (4)
# CT
where and C denote the mass density and specific
heat of the solid respectively.
1.2 Equation of motion for thermal mass
In fluid mechanics, a conservative body force can be
expressed as the gradient of a potential function[8],
f !grad$ (5)
where f is the body force, $ is called the force po-
tential which equals to the potential energy per unit
mass.
Just as the pressure gradient is the driving force for
the fluid flow, the pressure gradient of the thermal
mass is the driving force for the thermal mass motion
in solid,
f drive !gradph (6)
where ph is the thermal mass pressure. It has been de-
duced from the Debye state equation[7],
13
%#
ph (CT )2 (7)
c2
where % is the Grüneisen constant.
When the thermal mass moves in a solid, it is coun-
teracted by a resistant force which arises from the non-
linearity of the lattice vibrations and defects in the sol-
id. The resistant force per unit volume is proportional
to the thermal mass velocity[7],
(8)
with the proportionality constant
2%# 2C 3T 2
&h (9)
c2k
where k is the thermal conductivity of a solid.
Thus, we can derive the equation of motion for
the thermal mass based on the analogy of fluid
mechanics[7],
Du
# h h " gradph " f h 0 (10)
Dt
where h= CT/c2 is the mass density of the thermal
force of the thermal mass, the second term is the pres-
sure gradient, and the third term is the flow resistance.
This equation reduces to Fourier’s law when the inertia
force can be neglected relative to the other forces.
When the heat flux density is so large that the inertial
force cannot be neglected, Fourier’s law breaks down
1.3 Vectorial and analytical mechanics
The analysis above focuses on the relationship between
the forces acting on the thermal mass and the motion
of thermal mass. It belongs to the category of Newto-
nian mechanics which is usually referred to as the term
of vectorial mechanics to contrast it with analytical
mechanics. As a significant branch of classical me-
chanics, analytical mechanics usually uses two scalar
properties of motion, the potential and kinetic energies,
instead of vector forces, to analyze the motion.
One part of analytical mechanics is Lagrange me-
chanics which was first introduced by Joseph Louis
Lagrange in 1788. Based on the D’Alembert’s princi-
ple for the virtual work of applied forces, the Lagrange
equations for a system can be obtained as follows.
d ' )L ( )L
* +! 0, k 1,2,...,n (11)
dt , )qk - )qk
 14 Tsinghua Science and Technology, December 2009, 14(S2): 12-17

where L T ! V is the Lagrange function which is volume through an arbitrary virtual displacement, r ,
equal to the kinetic energy, T, of the system minus its is
potential energy, V, qk are n independent generalized WR % f h r % 0 h uh r (15)
coordinates and qk dqk /dt. where the virtual displacement can be represented in
In more general conditions, some of the forces ap- terms of a set of generalized coordinates
n n
plied to the system could be viscous and non-conser- "r "u
r%1 qk % 1 h qk (16)
vative. The non-conservative forces can not be in- k %1 "qk k %1 "qk

cluded in the scalar potential field, V and the viscous Thus, the virtual work in Eq. (15) can be rewritten
forces are dissipative in nature and result in a loss of as
n n
energy. Thus, the Lagrange equations in Eq. (11) can " 1 2! "2h
WR % 1 & 0 h uh ' qk % 1 qk (17)
be rewritten in the form k %1 "qk ( 2 ) k %1 "qk

d "L ! "L "D in which 2h is the dissipation function per unit vol-
& '# $ % Qk , k % 1,2,...,n (12)
dt ( "qk ) "qk "qk ume and the term "2h /"qk denotes the generalized
where D is the Rayleigh dissipation[9-11] function and dissipative force. By integrating 2h over the volume
Qk is the non-conservative general force. * we obtain the Rayleigh dissipation function in heat
The usage of energy method as well as generalized conduction
coordinates in Lagrange equations can simplify a sys- 1
D % ,,, 0 h uh2d* (18)
tem’s analysis and thus leads to broader applications * 2

for solving dynamic problems with constraints com- Substituting Eq. (9) into Eq. (18), the dissipation func-
pared with classical Newtonian mechanics. Further- tion can be rewritten as
more, it is also applicable to analyze the dynamics of /C
D % ,,, 2 q 2d* (19)
electromechanical motion device[10,12-14] since the La- * c k

grange method allow one to integrate the dynamics of
mechanical and electrical components.
2 Lagrange Equations in Heat
Conduction
The energies of thermal mass will be introduced in this
section and hence the formulation of Lagrange me-
chanics can be applied in heat conduction analysis.
According to Eq. (4) the kinetic energy of the ther-
mal mass per unit volume can be expressed as
1
T % ,,, + h uh2d* (13)
* 2
Comparing Eq. (5) with Eq. (6), ph can be regarded
as a potential function in heat transfer which represents
the potential energy of the thermal mass per unit vol-
ume. Integrating over a volume * of a solid yields
V % ,,, ph d* % ,,,
/+ 2
- CT . d*
2 k
* * c
where V is the potential energy of the thermal mass in
this volume.
Now consider the dissipation function in heat con-
duction processes. The virtual work resulting from the
resistant force acting on the thermal mass per unit
We have obtained the terms of kinetic energy and
potential energy as well as the dissipation function cor-
responding to the terms in Lagrange equations in heat
conduction except the generalized force, Qk . Since it
has been verified that Fourier’s law is valid with the
inertia force of the thermal mass neglected, the expres-
sion of generalized force can be obtained by compar-
ing Fourier’s law with the Lagrange equations for heat
conduction in the condition of negligible inertia force.
Without the term of kinetic energy, the Lagrange
equations can be simplified to
"V "D
$ % Qk , k % 1,2,...,n (20)
"qk "qk
We multiply each equation above by its correspond-
ing variation of the generalized coordinate, qk , and
the sum of these n equations is
"V "D
(14) 1k "q qk $ 1k "q qk % 1k Qk qk (21)
k
which is equal to the expression
V $ D % 1 Qk qk (22)
k
From Eq. (14) and Eq. (18) we derive
2/ C 2/ C
V % # ,, 2 T H dA $ ,,, 2 H 3Td* (23)
A
c * c
 WU Jing ( ) et al.
Application of Lagrange Equations in Heat Conduction
and
2! C
D " ### 2 q H d (24)
ck
where A is the boundary surface of the solid, H is a
physical quantity introduced in the derivative process.
It is referred to as the heat displacement in Biot’s work
with the definition of $H /$t " q and the variation
form H " % ($H / $qk ) qk .
k
By taking into account Eqs. (23) and (24), Eq. (22)
is written as
2! C & q' 2! C
### c2 *, (T ) k +- Hd " %k Qk qk ) ##A c2 T HdA
(25)
Since the left term is zero according to the Fourier’s
law, q " .k (T , the last result implies the relation
2! C $H
Qk " . ## T dA (26)
A c2 $qk
The analysis shows that the Lagrange equations can
also be applied in heat conduction. When term of ki-
netic energy can be neglected relative to the other
terms, the Lagrange equations reduce to Fourier’s law.
This more fundamental description of heat transfer
based on the concept of thermal mass makes it possible
to analyze both heat conduction and dynamics phe-
nomena in a unified way. In addition, it provides an
indirect way to verify the existence of thermal mass
and its energy in a sense.
In Biot’s work[2-6], he proposed the similar concepts
of thermal potential and the dissipation function in his
derivation of differential heat conduction equation us-
ing variational principles. He noticed that the varia-
tional equation for heat conduction can be written to
the same form as those of Lagrange mechanics for the
slow motion of a dissipative system with negligible
inertia forces. However, he did not further expand on
the physical meaning of the thermal potential as well
as the dissipation function. For example, he pointed
out that the thermal potential plays a role analogous to
the potential energy without any comment on the ori-
gin of the energy and where it is stored. On the con-
trary, in this paper it is unambiguous that V is the po-
tential energy of thermal mass while D is the dissipa-
tion of energy derived from the resistance acting on the
thermal mass during its motion.
15
3 Application of Lagrange Equations
Application of the Lagrange equations in heat conduc-
tion is well illustrated by the following problem which
can also emphasizes a deeper sense of the concepts of
thermal mass and its energies.
Consider an infinite plate of thickness l with con-
stant values of thermal conductivity k and heat capac-
ity C as shown in Fig. 1. The plate is initially at the
temperature T = Ti. At t = 0 the left face of the plate
(x = 0) is suddenly cooled down to a constant tempera-
ture T = T0. The right face (x = l) is adiabatic[2].
Fig. 1 Distribution of for the first phase
The one-dimensional, unsteady heat conduction
process is divided into two phases. For simplicity, we
only consider the first phase that the heat has penetrate
to a depth x " / smaller than the thickness l and that
the temperature distribution can be written in this ap-
proximated form
x'
2
&
0 " 0 0 *1 . + (27)
, /-
where 0 " T . Ti and 00 " T0 . Ti are the excess
temperatures over the equilibrium temperature Ti . The
penetration depth / is a generalized coordinate with
a function of time.
It is sufficient to calculate the unit cross-section of
axis perpendicular to the wall. The potential energy of
the thermal mass in this volume is
/
!1 !1 C 20 02/ (28)
V " # 2 (C0 ) 2dx "
0 c 5c 2
The heat displacement is derived from the tempera-
ture 0 by using the expression of energy conservation
dH (29)
1 C0 " .
dx
By taking into account the boundary condition of
H = 0 at x " / , we can obtain
 16 Tsinghua Science and Technology, December 2009, 14(S2): 12-17

# x 2 x3 $
H % ! C" 0 ( & x ' & 2 ) (30)
4 Conclusions
*3 3 +
The method of analytical mechanics was introduced to
According to Eq. (18), the dissipation function is
the analysis of heat transport phenomena based on the
,C 13 ,! 2C 3" 02 2
D % - 2 q 2dx % (31) concept of thermal mass. The Lagrange equations in
0
ck 315 kc 2 heat conduction were derived including terms for the
The generalized force Q is obtained by Eq. (26) kinetic energy, the potential energy, the dissipation
2, C .H 2 ,! C 2 2 function, and the generalized forces.
Q % 2 "0 % "0 (32)
c . x %0 3 c 2 The Lagrange equations in heat conduction reduce to
The Lagrange equations for the unknown Lagrange Fourier’s law when the thermal mass velocity is so small
coordinate is that the kinetic energy can be neglected compared with
.V .D other energies. Therefore, this analysis approach makes
' %Q (33)
. . it possible to unify the treatment of heat transfer and
Substituting Eqs. (27), (30), and (31) yields mechanics. In addition, the Lagrange equations with
13 7 k clear physical meanings provide a way to verify the
% (34) existence of thermal mass as well as its energy.
315 30 ! C
With the initial condition % 0 at t % 0 we get References
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