It is often desirable to simplify heat transfer problems by working in dimensionless quantities. In some situations it is desirable to apply formal non-dimensionalization approaches such as the Buckingham Pi theorem. In other cases, there are obvious non-dimensional groups. Sometimes it is most convenient to only partly non-dimensionalize a problem. Normally, this process yields three significant benefits:
(1) it often simplifies the governing differential equation or the boundary conditions
(2) it results in a general solution (creates a fixed scale for the problem)
(3) it identifies significant groups
As an example, we can examine a simple textbook case.
and the boundary conditions are:
Note that there are 5 parameters in this problem (including boundary conditions): k, rho, c, L, and h.
We can non-dimensionalize using the following definitions:
in preparation for substituting into the original problem, these definitions can be re-arranged as follows:
substituting into the original differential equation:
cancelling terms leaves:
for the boundary conditions:
The group hL/k is commonly referred to as the Biot Number, Bi. From the definition of T*, it can be seen that the rest of the right hand side is simply T*(x*=1).
The final problem with boundary and initial conditions is now:
–Note that the parameter count has shrunk from five to one (Bi)
–The group that was termed t* is often called the Fourier Number, Fo.
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