February 5, 2015

Heat Transfer lab

Batch 1 - Roll Nos:14 to 19

EVALUATION OF OVERALL HEAT TRANSFER COEFFICIENT AND THERMAL
CONDUCTIVITY OF ALUMINIUM
Chintaginjala Dileep Kumar, Fahd Bin Abdul Hasis, Gautam Kumar Jha,
Ghosh Partho Shankar, Gowtham S, Himanshu Kumar
B.Tech, Fourth semester
Department of Aerospace Engineering
Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology

ABSTRACT
The experiment was conducted to determine the thermal
conductivity of a sample by using an idealized one-dimensional
conducting apparatus. The sample having unknown conductivity
was placed in between two metal pieces having known conductivity. The temperature differences across each interface as well as
across the sample were measured using thermocouples at regular
intervals until steady state was achieved. Using the Fourier law
of heat conduction, the required conductivity was calculated.

by applying the Fourier law of heat conduction.

THEORY
When a temperature gradient exists in a body, experience shows us that there is an energy transfer from the hightemperature region to the low-temperature region. The energy
thus transferred is by the process of conduction and the heat
transfer rate per unit area is proportional to the normal temperature gradient.

INTRODUCTION
Heat transfer can be defined as the process by which there is
a transfer of energy from one location to other, provided a proper
temperature gradient exists. This transfer can be caused by the
various mechanisms like conduction, convection and radiation.
Conduction can be defined as the transfer of energy from a
higher temperature region to lower temperature region by means
of the free electron movement and also the lattice vibration. The
heat transfer rate for steady one dimensional transfer can be given
as q = KA(OT ), where k(W /mK) is called the thermal conductivity of the material. Thermal conductivity can be defined
as the ability of the material to conduct heat and its reciprocal is
called thermal resistivity. Materials having a higher k value will
have higher heat transfer rate than the materials having a lower
k value. Thus the materials of higher k values can be used as
heat sink application and materials of lower k value can be used
for the insulation applications. Generally, k value of the material depends on the temperature. Study of thermal conductivity
finds an application in various fields like material science, insulation, high operating temperature conditions etc.. This report
deals with the systematic way to find the thermal conductivity of
the aluminum specimen and also the thermal contact resistance

q T

A
x
When the proportionality constant is inserted, we get

q = kA

T
x

where q is the heat transfer rate and T

x is the temperature gradient in the direction of heat flow. The positive constant k is called
the thermal conductivity of the material. The minus indicates that
the flow is downhill. This equation is known as Fouriers law of
heat conduction.
a) Determining the overall heat transfer coefficient
The heated, intermediate and cooled sections are clamped
tightly together, so that the end faces are in good thermal
contact, and create a composite bar with a Aluminium section
sandwiched between two Brass sections as shown below.
For continuity, the steady heat flow through the successive
1

Figure 1. TEMPERATURE DISTRIBUTION ALONG THE LENGTH OF

THE SPECIMEN

(=0.03m)
Therefore,

pic_1.png

Thermocouples T3 and T6 are located 7.5 mm from the end face

compared with a distance of 15mm between adjacent thermocouples (half the distance), therefore:
In the case of heated section the temperature of the end face (hot
face) will be lower than T3 and can be calculated as follows:

pic_2.png

Figure 2.

Qxint
Aint (Thot f ace Tcold f ace )

kint =

(T2 T3 )
2

Thot f ace = T3

TEMPERATURE DISTRIBUTION ACROSS THE INSULATOR

Similarly

pic_3.png

Tcold f ace = T6 +
sections must be the same so Fouriers Law can be applied to the
three sections as follows:

c) Determining the thermal conductivity of an insulator

Material such as paper and cork have very low values of thermal conductivity which means only a small amount of heat will
pass through the material even though a high temperature difference may exist across its two faces. Such materials are known
as insulators and are practically utilized in situations where it is
required to reduce heat loss from a hot body to its surroundings.
The heated and cooled sections are clamped tightly together with
the cork disk in between to create a composite bar with the insulated disk of unknown thermal conductivity sandwiched between
two brass sections.
Because of the low value of k for an insulator the dimension must
be small and only a small amount of heat(low power) must flow
through the specimen to prevent a large temperature difference
which will trip the thermostat.

kint Tint
Q khot Thot
kcold Tcold
=
=
=
A
Xhot
Xint
Xcold
From which it follows that:
(T1 T8 ) = (Thot + Tint + Tcold ) =

Q
A

Xhot Xint Xcold

+
+
khot
kint
kcold

or
1
Q
= U(T1 TB )where =
A
U

Xhot Xint Xcold

+
+
khot
kint
kcold

where U is the overall heat transfer coefficient and

sistance to heat flow R.

1
U

T6 T7
2


=R
Q = kins
is the re-

Tins
where Tins = (Thot f ace Tcold f ace )
xint

Therefore
kins =

b) Determining the thermal conductivity of the metal

The heated, intermediate and cooled sections are clamped
tightly together so that the end faces are in full thermal contact,
and create a composite bar with a metal specimen of unknown
thermal conductivity sandwiched between two brass sections.
int
From Fouriers law Q = kint Aint T
xint where Tint = (Thot f ace
Tcold f ace ) and xint is the length of the intermediate specimen

q
Ains (Thot

f ace Tcold f ace )

In the case of heated section the temperature of end face (hot

face) will be lower than T3 and can be calculated as follows
Thot
2

f ace

= T3

(T2 T3 )
2

 Same procedure was repeated by changing voltage value

(15V).

In the case of cooled section the temperature of end face (cold

face) will be lower than T6 and can be calculated as follows
Tcold

f ace

= T6 +

(T6 T7 )
2

OBSERVATIONS

APPARATUS

Table 1.

Aluminium heat conducting specimen

A multi-section bar for the examination of linear conduction.
Insulator material
The aluminium specimen is sandwiched between two sections which are covered by insulator material and are
clamped tightly.
Electrical console
Provides electrical power for heaters in the specimens and
digital readout of the temperature at any of the selected
points along the heat-conducting paths.
Thermocouples
Three thermocouples are located on each brass sections with
a distance of 15mm between adjacent thermocouples.
Heat Transfer Service device
Thermocouples are connected to the Heat Transfer Service
device which displays the temperature.
Flow sensor
Cold water is supplied in pipe which passes through a
solenoid valve and a flow sensor. Flow sensor is used to
measure the flow rate.
Heat sink compound
Heat sink compound is applied between the joints to ensure
proper conduction between them.

OBSERVATION TABLE

Time (mins)

T1 oC

T2 oC

T3 oC

T6 oC

T7 oC

T8 oC

40.2

38.1

36.2

32.6

31.4

30.9

46.1

43.4

40.9

35.5

33.5

32.4

48.9

46.2

43.6

38

36.1

35.2

52.2

49.3

46.7

41.4

39.4

38.6

12

54.3

51.6

49

43.6

41.7

40.7

15

56.2

53.4

50.7

44.5

42.2

40.9

18

57.3

54.3

51.4

44.6

42

40.4

21

57.4

54.4

51.4

44.2

41.5

39.5

30

57.5

54.4

51.6

42.8

40.3

38.5

33

58

55.2

51.8

42.6

40.1

38.4

35

58.5

55.9

53.4

42.3

39.7

38.1

38

58.2

55.2

52

43.3

40.5

38.5

41

58.1

55

51.9

43.2

40.4

38.4

RESULTS
Following results were observed after conducting the experiment.

PROCEDURE
All the thermostat cables were attached to the Heat Transfer
service unit and to the temprature measuring points on the
sample.
Aluminium specimen was fixed in between the heat source
and sink.
Cold water supply for cooling the heat sink was turned on
and auxiliary control was used to adjust the flow rate as required.
Voltage(10V for first case), current and water flow rate wasset.
Temperature values of thermocouples(T1,T2,T3,T6,T7,T8)
are recorded for every 3 minutes.
. The graph of temperatures is plotted to find out the steady
state temperatures.
Temperature values of hot and cold surfaces was found using
steady state temperature values.
Thermal conductivity value of aluminium and overall heat
transfer coefficient of composite bar was calculated.

1. The steady state assumption for specimen was verified and

found to hold after a sufficient time interval.
2. Thermal conductivity of aluminium alloy was found to be
111.6019 W /m K with a deviation of 38% from the actual
value 180 W /m K.

SOURCES OF ERROR
1. Heat loss through nylon insulation.
2. Fluctuations in the water flow rate.
3. There may have been fluctuations in the supply voltage
4. Convection losses may have caused faulty results.
5. Thermocouple error may have been present.
6. Thermal contact resistance between aluminium and brass
section both on upper and lower side.
3

Figure 3.

TIME vs TEMPERATURE PLOT

Taking the observation at time t = 41 minutes (from 3 and 4):

Thot f ace = 50.35 oC Tcold f ace = 44.6 oC Using 5:
T = (50.35 44.6) = 5.75 oC
Now we finally use 6 to calculate the thermal conductivity of the
intermediate material:
kint =

10.5 0.03
W
(
)
4
4.909 10 (50.35 44.6) m K

Thus,

kint = 111.60
REFERENCES
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Thermal conduction
[2] Yunus A. Cengel, Af- shin J. Ghajar, Heat and Mass transfer, McGraw Hill Education (India) Private Limited.
[3] Heat Transfer Lab manual, Aerospace Engineering Department, IIST

W
mK

APPENDIX B: Error Analysis

Individual errors in x,d,T,V and I would contribute in the
net error while calculating the thermal conductivity k.

1 =

k
Q
x =
0.0001 = 0.372
x
AT

APPENDIX A: Sample Calculations

Q = V I W
A = r2 m2
T2 T3 o
Thot f ace = T3
( C)
2
T6 T7 o
Tcold f ace = T6 +
( C)
2
Tint = (Thot f ace Tcold f ace ) (oC)
Qxint
kint =
Aint (Thot f ace Tcold f ace )

2 =

k
8Qx
d = 3
0.0001 = 0.893
d
d T

3 =

k
Qx
0.1 = 1.941
T =
T
AT 2

(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)

4 =

k
Ix
V =
0.1 = 1.116
V
AT

5 =

k
Vx
I =
0.01 = 1.063
I
AT

(6)

V = 10V
I = 1.05 A
total =

(0.372)2 + (0.893)2 + (1.941)2 + (1.116)2 + (1.063)2

From 1:
Q = 10 1.05 = 10.5W Using 2:

A =

= 2.66

0.0252 2
m = 4.909 104 m2
4

%Error =
4

2.66
100 = 2.38%
111.60

APPENDIX C: Proposed Experiment

Measurement of Thermal Contact Resistance
In the analysis of the heat conduction through two bodies,
we assume that the contact between them is perfect, and that no
temperature drop appears across the interface. This is an ideal
case that occurs when the surfaces are assumed to be entirely
smooth without any irregularities. However, in practice there are
always voids due to the irregularity formation and these voids are
filled by air. Thus the interface offers resistance to heat transfer
and such a resistance per unit area is called thermal contact resistance, Rc .
Therefore, the heat transfer through two bodies pressed together
is actually due to the point to point contact of each of the crusts
of the irregularities, and also the heat transfer through the voids
in the non contact areas which is actually a major contributor.
Q = Qcontact + Qgap

Figure 4.

Qgap = hc A Tinter f ace

Thermal contact resistance,

Rc =

Tinter f ace
Q/A

The value of thermal contact resistance depends on the surface

roughness and the material properties as well as the temperature
and pressure at the interface and the type of fluid trapped at the
interface. Thus, to minimize this resistance, a thermally conducting liquid called a thermal grease such as silicon oil is applied on
the surfaces before they are pressed together. Another method is
to replace the air by better conducting gases such as helium or
hydrogen (for specific applications that require minimum thermal resistance).
It is because of the presence of thermal contact resistance that
the thermocouples in our experiment are attached a little away
from the interface. The air gaps cause a non-uniformity in the
flow at the interface. But as we move away from the interface,
the heat transfer becomes more uniform and can be considered
as one-dimension heat flow.
Various loses do occur other than due to contact resistance. There
could be radiations loses, as well as convection loses if the bodies
are not fixed tightly.

MEASURING THERMAL CONTACT RESISTANCE