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FEMforHeatTransferProblems(FiniteElementMethod)Part3

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FEMforHeatTransferProblems(Finite
ElementMethod)Part3
WorkedExample
Example12.1:HeattransferalongIDfinofrectangularcrosssection
Thetemperaturedistributioninthefin,asshowninFigure12.9,istobecalculatedusingthefinite
elementmethod.Thefinisrectangularinshape,8cmlong,0.4cmwide,and1cmthick.Assumethat
convectionheatlossoccursfromtherightendofthefin.
Analysisoftheproblem.Thefinisdivideduniformlyintofourelementswithatotaloffivenodes.
EachelementiswithalengthofI=2cm.Thesystemequationshouldbe5x5.Atnode1the
temperatureisspecified,thereforethereisnoneedtocalculatek^andfe)forelement1asonlythe
temperatureisrequested.Asnodes2,3and4areinternal,thereisalsononeedtocalculatek^and
f(e).Sinceheatconvectionisoccurringonnode5,wehavetocalculatek^andf(e)usingEqs.(12.52)
and(12.53).

Figure12.9.Aonedimensionalfinofarectangularcrosssection.

Datapreparation

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Solution.Thegeneralformsoftheelementmatricesforelements1,2and3are

Substitutingthedataintotheabovetwoequations,wehave

Thegeneralformsoftheelementmatricesforelement4are

Substitutingthedataintotheaboveequations,wehave

Thenextstepistoassembletheelementmatricestogethertoformtheglobalsystemequations.The
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assemblyiscarriedoutusingthedirectassemblyproceduredescribedintheprevioussection.We
obtain

Notethatatnode1thetemperatureistobefixedataparticularvalue.Thisrequiresaheatexchanger
(orheatsource)thereforittohappen.Theheatsourceisunknownatthisstage,andwedonotneedto
knowitactuallyincomputingthetemperaturedistribution.However,itisrequiredinbalancingthe
equation.WethereforesimplynoteitasQ*.Sincethetemperatureatnode1isgivenas80C,we
actuallyhavefourunknowntemperaturesina5x5matrixequation.Thisimpliesthatwecanactually
eliminateQ*inthefirstsystemequationasindicatedbelow,andstillsolvethefourunknownswith
theremaining4x4matrixequation.Notethattheterminthesecondrow,firstcolumn(circledterm)
mustalsobeaccountedforinthefourremainingsystemequations:

Solvingthe4x4equationgives

Remarks
Formulationsandexamplesgiveninthissectionhaveclearlyshownthattheheattransferproblem
isverysimilartothemechanicsproblemintermsofFEMtreatment.Thedisplacementandforce
correspondtothetemperatureandheatflux,respectively.Wealsoshowedtheanalogiesofsomeof
theelementmatricesandvectorsbetweenheattransferproblemsandmechanicsproblems.However,
wedidnotmentionthemechanicscounterpartsofmatrixandvectorthatcomefromtheheat
convectionboundary.Sincetheheatfluxontheboundarydependsupontheunknownfieldvariable
(temperature),theresultingterm(k^)needstobecombinedwiththeheatconvectionmatrix.Infact,
inmechanicsproblems,wecanalsohaveasimilarsituationwhenthestructureissupportedbyelastic
supportssuchassprings.Thereactionforceontheboundarydependsupontheunknownfieldvariable
(displacement)attheboundary.Forsuchamechanicssystem,wewillhaveanadditionalmatrix
correspondingtoandavectorcorrespondingtof^.However,inmechanicsproblems,itisoftenmore
convenienttoformulatesuchanelasticsupportusinganadditionalelement.Thestiffnessofthe
supportisthenassembledtotheglobalstiffnessinthesamesystematicdirectassemblyprocedure.
Thereactionforceoftheelasticsupportisfoundaftertheglobalequationssystemissolvedforthe
displacements.
WeconcludethattheGalerkinresidualformulationgivesexactlythesameFEequationsasthosewe
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obtainedusingtheenergyprinciplesdiscussedinprevioustopics.

CompositeWall
Considerheattransferthroughacompositewall,asshowninFigure12.10.Thegoverning
equationisgivenbyEq.(12.9).Ifthereisnoheatsourceorsinkinalayer(q=0withinthelayer),
onelinearelementisenoughformodellingtheentirelayer(why?)1.ForthecaseshowninFigure
12.10,atotalofthreeelements,oneforeachlayer,shouldbeusedifthereisnoheatsourcewithin
theselayers.Thisargumentholdsevenifthereisnoheatsourceorsinkintheinterfacebetweenthe
layers.
Asfortheboundaryconditions,atanyoneorbothoftheoutersurfaces,thetemperatureorheat
convectionorheatinsulationcouldbespecified.Theconvectiveboundaryconditionsaregivenas

Figure12.10.Heattransferthroughacompositewallofthreelayers.Oneelementissufficientto
modelalayerifthereisnoheatsupply/sinkinthelayers.
and

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Therefore,alltheelementsdevelopedinthesectionforthe1Dfinarealsovalidforthecaseofthe
compositewall,exceptthatandfQe)donotexistbecausethegandQvanishinthecaseofa
compositewall(seeEq.(12.10)).
Thegeneralformoftheelementstiffnessmatrixisgivenby

wherek^isobtainedeitherbyEqs.(12.52)or(12.55),ifthereisheatconvectionoccurringonthe
surface,orelsek^=0ifthesurfaceisinsulated.Asforasurfacewithaspecifiedtemperature,thereis
noneedtocalculatek^.Fortheforcevector,f^,itisobtainedeitherbyEqs.(12.53)or(12.56)ifthere
isheatconvectionoccurringonthesurface,orzeroifthesurfaceisinsulated.Inthecasewherethe
surfacehasaspecifictemperature,itisnotnecessarytohaveforcalculationofthetemperature.Itcan
alwaysbecalculatedafterthetemperaturefieldhasbeenfound.

WorkedExample
Example12.2:Heattransferthroughacompositewalloftwolayers
Figure12.11showsacompositewallconsistingoftwolayersofdifferentmaterials.Variousheat
transferparametersareshowninthefigure.Thetemperaturedistributionthroughthecompositewall
istobecalculatedbythefiniteelementmethod.

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Figure12.11.Heattransferthroughacompositewalloftwolayers.
Analysisofproblem.Thewallisdividedintotwoelementswithatotalofthreenodes.Hence,the
systemequationshouldbe3x3.Atnode3,thetemperatureisspecified,thereforethereisnoneedto
calculateandforelement2.Sincetheheatconvectionisoccurringonnode1,k^andf(ehavetobe
calculatedusingEqs.(12.55)and(12.56),respectively.
Datapreparation.Forelement(1),

Forelement(2),

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Solution.Theelementmatricesforelement(1)are

Theelementmatrixforelement(2)is

Thenextstepistoassembletheelementmatricesofthetwoelementstogethertoformtheglobal
systemequations,whichleadsto

NoteagainthatQ*isasyetunknown,butisrequiredtobalancetheequation,asthetemperatureat
node3isfixed.Havingonlytwounknownsoftemperature,thefirsttwoequationsintheabovegive

Theabovematrixequation(actuallyconsistingoftwosimultaneousequations)issolved,andthe
solutionisgivenas

Example12.3:Heattransferthroughlayersofthinfilms
Figure12.12showstheprocessofproducingthinfilmlayersofdifferentmaterialsonasubstrate
usingphysicaldepositiontechniques.Aheatsupplyisprovidedontheuppersurfaceoftheglass
substrate.AtthestageshowninFigure12.12,alayerofironandalayerofplatinumhavebeen
formed.Thethicknessoftheselayersandthethermalconductivitiesforthesematerialsoftheselayers
arealsoshowninthefigure.Convectionheatlossoccursonthelowerplatinumsurface,andthe
ambienttemperatureis150C.Aheatsupplyisprovidedtomaintainthetemperatureontheupper
surfaceoftheglasssubstrateat300C.Thetemperaturedistributionthroughthethicknessofthe
layersofthethinfilmsystemistobecalculatedbythefiniteelementmethod.
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Analysisofproblem.Thisproblemisactuallysimilartothepreviousexampleonthecompositewall.
Hence,1Delementscanbeusedforthispurpose.Thelayersaredividedintothreeelementswitha
totaloffournodes,asshowninFigure12.12.Sincethetemperatureisspecifiedatnode1,thereisno
needtocalculateandf^forelement1.k^andf^forelement2iszero,sincethereisnoheat
convectionoccurringateithernodes2or3.Sincethereisheatconvectionoccurringatnode4,k^and
f(e)havetobecalculatedusingEqs.(12.52)and(12.53),respectively.
Datapreparation.Forelement(1),

Forelement(2),

Figure12.12.Heattransferduringathinfilmdepositionprocess.
Forelement(3),

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Solution.Theelementmatrixforelement(1)is

Theelementmatrixforelement(2)is

Andfinally,theelementmatricesforelement(3)are

Thenextstepistoassembletheelementmatricesofthetwoelementstogethertoformtheglobal
systemequations,whichleadsto

Since1isgiventobe300C,wecanthereforereducetheaboveequationtoa3x3matrixtosolve
fortheremainingthreeunknowntemperatures:

Theabovematrixequationissolved,andthesolutionisgivenas

Tocalculatetheheatflux,Q*onthetopoftheglasssubstrate,wecannowsubstitutethetemperatures
intothefirstequationofthematrixequationinEq.(12.106)toobtain

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FEMforHeatTransferProblems(FiniteElementMethod)Part3

2DHeatTransferProblem
ElementEquations
ThissectiondealswithheattransferproblemsintwodimensionsthatisgovernedbyEq.(12.1).
TheprocedureforobtainingtheFEMequationsfor2Dheattransferproblemsisthesameasthatfor
the1Dproblemsdescribedintheprevioussections,exceptthatthemathematicalmanipulationis
moretediousduetotheadditionaldimension.
Letusassumethattheproblemdomainisdividedintoelements,asshowninFigure12.5.Forone
elementingeneral,theresidualcanbeobtainedbytheGalerkinmethodas

Notethattheminussignisaddedtotheresidualmainlyforconvenience.TheintegrationinEq.
(12.110)fortheresidualmustbeevaluatedsoastoobtaintheelementmatrices,butinthiscase,the
integrationismuchmorecomplexthanthe1Dcasebecausetheintegrationisperformedoverthearea
oftheelement.Recallthatinthe1Dcase,theintegralisevaluatedbyparts,butinthis2Dcasewe
needtouseGausssdivergencetheoreminstead.
Usingtheproductrulefordifferentiationfirst,thefollowingexpressioncanbeobtained:

ThefirstintegralinEq.(12.110)canthenbeobtainedby

whereAeistheareaoftheelement.Gausssdivergencetheoremcanbestatedmathematicallyforthis
caseas

whereistheangleoftheoutwardsnormalontheboundaryTeoftheelementwithrespecttothex
axis.Equation(12.113)isthussubstitutedintoEq.(12.112)toobtain

Inasimilarway,thesecondintegralinEq.(12.110)canbeevaluatedtoobtain
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ThetwointegralsinEqs.(12.114)and(12.115)aresubstitutedbackintotheresidualinEq.(12.110)
togive

ThefieldvariableisnowinterpolatedfromthenodalvariablesbyshapefunctionsasinEq.
(12.34),whichisthensubstitutedintoEq.(12.116)togive

orinmatrixform,

where

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Asinthe1Dcase,thevectorb(e)isrelatedtothederivativesoftemperature(heatflux)onthe
boundariesoftheelement.Itwillbeevaluatedinthenextsectionindetail.Fornow,Eqs.(12.120)
(12.122)willbeevaluatedandanalysed.
TheintegralinEq.(12.120)canberewritteninthematrixformbydefining

andthegradientvectoras

whereBisthestrainmatrixgivenby

Notethattoobtaintheaboveequation,theusualshapefunctiongivenbyEq.(12.28)isutilized.Using
Eqs.(12.123)(12.125),itcanbeeasilyverifiedthat

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Therefore,thegeneralelementstiffnessmatrixfor2DelementsgivenbyEq.(12.120)becomes

whichisexactlythesameasEq.(3.71)thatisobtainedusingHamiltonsprinciple,exceptthatthe
matrixofmaterialelasticityisreplacedbythematrixofheatconductivity.NotealsothatEq.(12.121)
kge)isthesameasthematrixgivenbyEq.(3.75)formechanicsproblems.Weobserveagainthatthe
GalerkinweightedresidualformulationproducesthesamesetofFEequationsasthoseproducedby
theenergyprinciple.

TriangularElements
Usingshapefunctionsofatriangularelement,thefieldfunctionoftemperature,,canbeinterpolated
asfollows:

whereNi(i=1,2,3)arethethreeshapefunctionsgivenbyEq.(7.22),andi(i=1,2,3)arethe
nodalvaluesoftemperatureatthethreenodesofthetriangularelementshowninFigure12.13.

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Figure12.13.Lineartriangularelement.
NotethatthestrainmatrixBisconstantfortriangularelements,andisgivenbyEq.(7.38).UsingEq.
(12.127),canbeevaluatedeasilyastheintegrandisaconstantmatrixifthematerialconstantsDxand
Dydonotchangewithintheelement:

Expandingthematrixproductyields

Itisnotedthatthestiffnessmatrixissymmetrical.
Thematrix,kgdefinedbyEq.(12.121)canbeevaluatedas

TheaboveintegraliscarriedoutusingthefollowingfactorialformulaEq.(7.43),andthefactthatthe
areacoordinatesarethesameastheshapefunctions,justaswehavedoneforthemassmatrix.For
example,

UsingtheareacoordinatesandthefactorialformulainEq.(7.43),thematrixkgisfoundas

TheelementforcevectorfQdefinedinEq.(12.122)alsoinvolvestheintegrationofshapefunctions,
andcanalsobeobtainedusingthefactorialformulainEq.(7.43):
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ItisassumedthatQisaconstantwithintheelement.ThevalueofQAisequallysharedbythethree
nodesoftherectangularelement.

RectangularElements
Considernowafournode,rectangularelementasshowninFigure7.8.Thefieldfunctionis
interpolatedovertheelementasfollows:

Notethatforrectangularelements,thenaturalcoordinatesystemisagainadopted,asinmechanics
problems(Figure7.8).TheshapefunctionsaregivenbyEq.(7.51),andareknownasbilinearshape
functions.ThestrainmatrixfortherectangularelementisgivenbyEq.(7.55).Notethatforbilinear
elements,thestrainmatrixisnolongerconstant.UsingEqs.(12.127),(7.51)and(7.55),canbe
evaluatedas

ThematrixkifedefinedbyEq.(12.121)canbeevaluatedas

whichresultsin

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Theelementforcevector,f^,definedinEq.(12.122)alsoinvolvestheintegrationoftheshape
functions,andwithsubstitutionoftheshapefunctions,Eq.(7.51),itcanbeobtainedas

Notethatintheabove,Qisassumedtobeconstantwithintheelement.ThevalueofQAisequally
sharedbythefournodesoftherectangularelement.
Inthissubsection,matricesk^,kg,fQhavebeenevaluatedexactlyandexplicitlyforrectangular
elements.Inengineeringpractice,however,itisveryraretouserectangularelementsunlessthe
geometryoftheproblemdomainisalsoarectangularone.Veryoften,quadrilateralelementswith
fournodesandfournonparallelsidesareusedforthecomplexgeometryoftheproblemdomain.
FormulatingFEMequationsforquadrilateralelementshasbeendetailedinSection7.4.Notethatwith
quadrilateralelements,itisdifficulttoworkouttheexactexplicitformoftheelementmatrices.
Nextpost:FEMforHeatTransferProblems(FiniteElementMethod)Part4
Previouspost:FEMforHeatTransferProblems(FiniteElementMethod)Part2

RelatedLinks
TheFiniteElementMethod
ComputationalModelling(FiniteElementMethod)
IntroductiontoMechanicsforSolidsandStructures(FiniteElementMethod)Part1
IntroductiontoMechanicsforSolidsandStructures(FiniteElementMethod)Part2
IntroductiontoMechanicsforSolidsandStructures(FiniteElementMethod)Part3
FundamentalsforFiniteElementMethodPart1

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