Applied Electromagnetics Using QuickField and MATLAB

Chapter 11 - Thermal Analysis: The Heat Equation

In This Chapter

  • The Heat Equation
  • Steady State Heat Flow
  • Transient Heat Flow
  • Thermal Analysis in QuickField
  • Coupled AC Magnetic and Heat Transfer Problems
  • Coupled Current Flow and Heat transfer Problems

Thermal conduction acts to equalize temperature differences between regions of higher and lower temperatures. The rate of thermal energy Q transferred between two reservoirs at temperatures T1 and T2 separated by an insulator of thickness Δx is given by

where A is the cross-sectional area and λ is the thermal conductivity of the insulating barrier. The rate ΔQ/Δt is positive in the lower temperature reservoir and vice versa as energy is transferred from the high temperature to the low temperature reservoir. Equation (11.1) may be written as a partial differential equation describing local heat flow in a material body with a one-dimensional temperature gradient

We seek to write equation (11.2) as a partial differential equation over a single scalar field T(x,t). The thermal energy stored in a body of volume V with constant temperature is given by Q = mcT, or with variable temperature and mass density

where c is the specific heat in J/kg • K, T is the absolute temperature in Kelvins, and ρ is the mass density in kg/m3. The power loss due to the dissipation of thermal energy through a surface bounding the volume V is given by

Setting the time derivate of equation (11.3) equal to equation (11.4) and applying Gauss' divergence theorem gives

Note that equation (11.5) holds over arbitrary volumes so that the integrands can be equated giving the heat equation

where α = λ/cρ.

 

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