COMSATS UNIVERSITY ISLAMABAD,
SAHIWAL CAMPUS
Assignment#2
Date:20-03-2025
Derivation of Temperature Distribution in an
Insulated Fin
Submitted By:
Ammar Akhter
Registration No:
FA22-BME-030
Submitted To:
Dr. Muhammad Abid
DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
Derivation of Temperature Distribution in an Insulated Fin.
In a one-dimensional fin characterized by uniform cross-sectional
area A , perimeter P, thermal conductivity k , and heat transfer
coefficient h, we start with the steady-state heat conduction
equation.
The heat conduction in the fin can be described by the following
equation.
2
d T hP
2
− ( T −T ∞ )=0
d x kA
where T is the temperature at a position x along the fin, and T ∞ is the
temperature of the surrounding fluid.
To facilitate the solution, we define a new variable representing the
excess temperature.
T ( x )−T ∞
Substituting this expression into the heat conduction equation
transforms it into:
2
d ( T −T ∞ ) hP
2
−
kA
( T −T ∞ )=0
dx
2
Letting m =
hP
kA
, the equation simplifies to:
2
d T 2
2
−m ( T −T ∞ ) =0
dx
This is a linear second-order ordinary differential equation. The
general solution to this equation can be expressed as:
mx −mx
T ( x )−T ∞ =C1 e +C 2 e
Here, C 1 and C 2 are constants that will be determined by the
boundary conditions.
We will apply boundary conditions for an
insulated fin tip:
we apply the boundary conditions. The first condition is at the base
of the fin, located at x=0 , where the temperature is specified as:
T ( 0 )=T b
This gives us:
T ( 0 )−T ∞=C 1+ C2
For the second boundary condition, at the tip of the fin located
at x=L, the fin is insulated, which implies that the heat flux at the tip
is zero. This condition can be mathematically expressed as:
dT
∣❑ x= L=0
dx
Calculating the derivative of the general solution, we have:
dT mx −mx
=mC 1 e −mC 2 e
dx
Setting this derivative to zero at x=L yields:
mL −mL
m C1 e −m C2 e =0
This can be simplified to:
mL −mL
C 1 e =C2 e
From this equation, we can express C 2 in terms of C 1:
2 mL
C 2=C1 e
Now, substituting this expression for C 2 back into the equation
derived from the first boundary condition, we have:
2mL
T ( 0 )−T ∞=C 1+ C1 e
This leads to:
C 1 ( 1+e 2 mL ) =T b−T ∞
From this relationship, we can solve for C 1:
T b−T ∞
C 1= 2 mL
1+ e
Next, we substitute C 1 back into the expression for C 2:
( T b −T ∞ ) e2 mL
C 2=
1+ e2 mL
Now that we have both constants, we substitute them back into the
general solution for the temperature distribution:
( T b−T ∞ ) ( T b−T ∞ ) e 2mL
T ( x )−T ∞ = 2 mL
mx
e + 2 mL
e−mx
1+ e 1+e
This expression can be further simplified and expressed in terms of
hyperbolic functions, leading to:
cosh ( m ( L−x ) )
T ( x )−T ∞ =( T b−T ∞ )
cosh ( mL )
The final expression for the temperature distribution in the fin is
given by:
cosh ( m ( L−x ) )
T ( x )=T ∞ + ( T b−T ∞ )
cosh ( mL )
In this formulation, m is defined as:
m=
√ hP
kA
This equation provides a clear representation of how the
temperature varies along the length of the fin, transitioning from the
base temperature T b at x=0 to the insulated tip at x=L, influenced by
the surrounding fluid temperature T ∞.
