Chapter 3

Heat transfer from

Extended Surfaces (Fins)

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 Chapter 3: Heat transfer from
Extended Surfaces (Fins)
Introduction
The term extended surface is used to depict an important special case
involving heat transfer by conduction (and/or radiation) from the
boundaries of a solid.

So far the direction of heat transfer from the boundaries has been taken to
be in the same direction as that within the solid

For an extended surface the direction of heat transfer from the boundaries
is perpendicular to the direction of the principle heat transfer in the solid

Extended surface may exist in many situations but are commonly used as
fins to enhance heat transfer by increasing the surface are available for
convection (and/or radiation).

2
 Assume a structural element connecting two walls at
different temperatures

T2 qx2
x T1

T,h
qconv

T2 T(x)
T1 qx1
T1>T2> T Causes the gradient
|dT/dx| to decrease with
increasing x

When such an extended surface is used to enhance the heat transfer

between the solid and the fluid then the extended surface is called a
FIN
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 How to improve heat transfer?

T, h

Increase h

q=hA(Ts-T)
Ts, A
Increase the difference between
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Ts and T
How to improve heat transfer?

T, h

q=hA(Ts-T)

Increase the area !

5
 Examples of fins
• Automotive radiator
• Inside your computer
• In heat exchangers
• In A/C evaporators and condensers
• Refrigerators

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Air-cooled Franklin automobile engine

Pentium 3 processor and attached heat sink

Air-Cooled Motorcycle Engine

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 Types of fins

Straight fin- uniform Straight fin- non- annular fin- uniform

CSA uniform CSA CSA

Pin fin- uniform CSA Pin fin- nonuniform 8

CSA
 The general energy (the heat transfer )
equation for a generic extended surface

dAs dqconv

qx+dx
x
qx

Ac(x)

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 qx  qxdx  dqconv

dT
qx  kAc
dx
dqx
qx  dx  qx  dx
dx
Fourier’s law

dT d  dT 
qx  dx  kAc  k  Ac  dx
dx dx  dx 
Infinitesimal thickness
assumption

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 qx  qxdx  dqconv

dT
qx  kAc
dx
dqx
qx  dx  qx  dx
dx

Substitute dT d  dT 
qx  dx  kAc  k  Ac  dx
dx dx  dx 

dqconv  hdAs T  T 
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 d  dT 
k  A c  dz  h dA s T  T   0
dx  dx

Divide by k.dx

d  dT   h d As 
 A c     T  T   0
dx  dx 
 k d x 
Divide by Ac

1 d  dT   h d As 
 Ac     T  T   0
Ac dx  d x   kA d x 
 c 
Develop the 1st term

d 2T  1 dAc  dT  1 h dAs 
2
    T  T   0
dx  Ac dx  dx  Ac k dx 
The general energy (heat transfer)
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equation for a generic extended surface
 • We derived the general
energy equation for a
generic extended
surface

d 2T  1 dAc  dT  1 h dAs 
2
    T  T   0
dx  Ac dx  dx  Ac k dx 

How do we find the Temperature distribution?

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•Carry out the appropriate
simplifications on the
energy equation
•Solve the differential
equation
•Apply the appropriate
boundary conditions 14
 Uniform CSA Fins
Straight fin- uniform CSA

No p for rectangular
configuration

Pin fin- uniform CSA

Uniform CSA means Ac is

Constant
As = Px Equation for
P depends
p is involved for circular on15
configuration configuration
Straight Fin
T,h

qconv

t
qf
L w

x Ac=wt

P = 2w+2t

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Pin Fin
T,h

qconv

qf D

Ac=pD2/4
x

P=pD

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 Since As =
0, Ac = const Px =>dAs/dx
=>dAc/dx = 0 =P

d 2T  1 dAc  dT  1 h dAs 
2
    T  T   0
dx  Ac dx  dx  Ac k dx 

The equation simplifies to

d 2T  hP 
2
  T  T   0
dx  Ac k  18
 d T  hP 
2

2
  T  T   0
dx  Ac k 

Define the excess

 ( x)  T ( x)  T
temperature  as :
i.e.

T ( x)   ( x)  T
Substituting

d   hP 
2
gives
2
   0
dx  Ac k  Where we
define
hP
m  2

d 2 kAc
2
m   0
2

dx 19
 d 2
A general solution for this
ODE
2
 m 2
 0
dx

is  x   C 1 e m x  C 2 e m x

Apply The Boundary Conditions

The first boundary condition is  (0)  Tb  T  b

The second B/C is dependent on the assumptions made about the

end (tip) of the fin.

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 BOUNDARY CONDITION 2
CASE1- Assume that the heat is convected away from the tip then for
this tip condition

dT
kAc
i.e from the surface at the end of dx
hAc T ( L)  T 
xL

the fin with area Ac and with

convective heat transfer
magnitude

This convected heat is equal to that conducted to the tip

dT
i.e. hAcT ( L)  T  kAc
dx xL

d
And in terms of the excess hAc ( L)  kAc
temperature dx xL
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 General solution  x   C 1 e m x  C 2 e m x
To process the first boundary condition
Substitute x=0

Then
substitute

gives
The boundary conditions are
 (0)  b b  C1  C2

d
hAc ( L)  kAc
dx xL

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To process the second boundary condition

Substitute x=L

General solution  x   C 1 e m x  C 2 e m x

d
The derivative of the  mC1 e m x  m C 2 e  m x
general solution wrt x dx

Then
substitute

The
d
second
boundary
hAc ( L)  kAc  (0)  b
dx xL
condition
is

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 b  C1  C2
After all substitutions the
two resulting B/C and
equations are h  C1emL  C2e  mL   km  C2e  mL  C1e mL 

Which can be solved simultaneously for

C1 and C2

General solution:  x   C 1 e m x  C 2 e m x

Substituting C1 and C2
back into the general
solution gives the excess
temperature distribution

h
cosh m  L  x   sinh m  L  x 
 mk

b cosh mL 
h
sinh mL
mk

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 h,T
qconv Hence the excess temperature profile is given
by

h
cosh m  L  x   sinh m  L  x 
 mk

b cosh mL 
h
sinh mL
mk
x

b It can be seen that the excess temperature

gradient decreases with increasing x.

0
0 L X

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 h,T One way to solve for the total flux through
qf the fin is by noting that
qf=qb The total heat flux transfer from the
fin qf passes through the base of
the fin qb
i.e.

dT d
qf  qb  k  k
dx x 0 dx x 0

h
0 cosh m  L  x   sinh m  L  x 
 mk
0 L X 
b cosh mL 
h
sinh mL
mk

Take the derivative d/dx

Substitute   0 in the derivatiave
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then substitute the derivative in Fourier’s Law
 sinhmL  ( h ) coshmL
This gives the total
qf  M  mk
flux for the fin
coshmL  ( h ) sinhmL
mk

where M  hPkAc  b

 h T ( x) T 
The other way to solve
for the total flux through qf  
the fin is by noting that Af
all the flux through the fin
is convected away i.e or

Where Af is the total fin Area

qf   h ( x)
Af
= As+Ac

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 h
b cosh m  L  x   sinh m  L  x 
qf   h ( x) 
cosh mL 
mk
h
sinh mL
Af
mk

sinhmL  ( h
) coshmL
Substitution for  also
gives the equation for
qf  M  mk
the total flux from the
coshmL  ( h ) sinhmL
fin mk

where M  hPkAc  b

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 BOUNDARY CONDITION 2
CASE 2 - If we assume that the heat convected away from the tip is
negligible then the problem can be approached by assuming that the
area Ac(x = L) is insulated i.e.

qf

d qb
i.e. 0
dx xL
Adiabatic
end
condition
Substituting zero for
the derivative of the d
general solution with  mC1 e m x  m C 2 e  m x
dx
respect to x

Then dividing by m gives C1 e m L  C 2 e m L  0

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 Using the equations b  C1  C2
C1 e m L  C 2 e m L  0
We can solve for C1 and

 cosh  m  L  x  
C2 and then substitute
the results in the general

solution which gives the b cosh  mL 
excess temperature field

And the heat

transfer rate
q f  M  tanhmL

where M  hPkAc  b

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 BOUNDARY CONDITION 2
CASE 3- If we prescribe a temperature at the tip

We can solve for the qf

excess temperature field
in a similar fashion qb

L
sinh  mx   sinh  m  L  x  
 b TL

b sinh  mL    L   L

(cosh mL 
L
and the heat b )
qf  M
transfer rate sinh mL

where M  hPkAc  b
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BOUNDARY CONDITION 2
Case 4: Finally If we assume a very long fin

qf

qb

The excess 
temperature  e mx
field b

And the heat

transfer rate
qf  M
where M  hPkAc  b

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33
How do we assess fin performance ?

qf
f  Heat transfer from the fin
hAc ,bb
Heat transfer from the body if the
fin did not exist

Fin effectiveness

Heuristic f 2 Otherwise the fin

is difficult to justify

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 For the very long fin assuming the convection coefficient is the same
with and without the fin the effectiveness is given by
•Fin Performance is enhanced by using higher
conductivity material – although cost must also be
taken into account
1/ 2
 kP  •Fin Performance is enhanced by using a larger
f   perimeter to CSA – i.e. the thinner and closer the
 hAc  fins the better
•Fins are more effective where the convective
coefficient is smaller – which is the reason why
fins are on the air side of an auto mobile radiator.
•Because of the infinite length assumption this
equation gives an upper limit for the effectiveness
of a fin.

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 Example 3.1
A 4-mm-diameter and 10-cm-long aluminum fin (k = 237 W/mK) is
attached to a surface. If the heat transfer coefficient is 12 W/m2K,
determine the fin effectiveness.

Solution
L
The ratio of the length of the fin and its diameter is :  25  L  D
D

So, we can assume that the fin is very long fin (infinite fin), then its
effectiveness is: kP
f 
hAc
where:
k = 237 W/mK,
h = 12 W/m2 K,  P  pD  p  0.004 m  0.0125 m
L = 10 cm = 0.1 m, pD 2 p  0.004 2
and Ac   m 2  1.256  10 -5 m 2
D = 4 mm = 0.004 m, 4 4

So, the fin effectiveness is

237  0.0125
f    f  140.198
12  1.256  10 5 36
 How do we assess fin
performance ?
qf
f  Heat transfer from the fin
hAf b
Heat transfer from the body if the
entire fin was at the base
temperature

Fin efficiency

b
Fin resistance: Rt , f 
qf
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38
39
 Overall Surface Efficiency

N fins in the array, each of surface area Af and

the area of the prime surface is designated as Ab, At  N A f  Ab
the total surface area is

The total rate of heat transfer by convection is q t  N f h Af  b  h Ab  b

o  1 
NAf
At
1  f  
o is the total heat transfer rate for the fin array

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Thermal resistance concept

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