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The Effect of Surface Area and Thermal Diffusivity in Transient Cooling

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Conference

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Location

San Antonio, Texas

Publication Date

June 10, 2012

Start Date

June 10, 2012

End Date

June 13, 2012

ISSN

2153-5965

Conference Session

Laboratory Innovations

Tagged Division

Mechanical Engineering

Page Count

19

Page Numbers

25.1295.1 - 25.1295.19

DOI

10.18260/1-2--22052

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/22052

Download Count

885

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Paper Authors

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Awlad Hossain Eastern Washington University

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Awlad Hossain is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Engineering and Design at Eastern Washington University, Cheney. His research interests involve the computational and experimental analysis of lightweight space structures and composite materials. Hossain received M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in materials engineering and science from South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, Rapid City, South Dakota.

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Hani Serhal Saad Eastern Washington University

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Martin W. Weiser Eastern Washington University

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Martin Weiser is an Assistant Professor in the Engineering and Design Department at Eastern Washington University. He earned his B.S. in ceramic engineering from the Ohio State University and his M.S. and Ph.D. in materials science and mineral engineering from the University of California, Berkeley. He then joined the Mechanical Engineering Department at the University of New Mexico, where he taught materials science, thermodynamics, manufacturing engineering, and technical communication. Weiser then joined Johnson Matthey Electronics/Honeywell Electronic Materials, where he held positions in technical service, product management, Six Sigma, and research and development. He is inventor on a dozen patents and patent applications and has published more than 30 papers and book chapters on topics including ceramic processing, Pb-free solder development, experimental design, and biomechanics.

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Abstract

The Effect of Surface Area and Thermal Diffusivity in Transient CoolingAbstractWe have recently developed a new one-quarter heat transfer course as part of our MechanicalEngineering curriculum. This course includes a significant laboratory component to reinforce thematerial taught in the lecture. The students normally do not have too much trouble with steadystate heat transfer. However, transient heat transfer often causes confusion due to a combinationof more difficult mathematics and the use of material parameters that are less intuitive.Therefore, we use a combination of analytical, numerical, and experimental studies to improvethe students’ understanding of this topic. This paper documents development of this integratedheat transfer project and how it impacts the students’ understanding of transient heat transfer.The project varies the surface area and thermal diffusivity of samples to show that theseparameters are important in transient cooling. In the first project, the temperature distribution ofdifferent objects (or shapes) having the same volume but different surface area are analyzed andmeasured. The use of finite element analysis is necessary for some of the shapes since analyticalsolutions do not exist. Comparison of the analytical, numerical, and experimental resultsimproves the student’s confidence in the techniques and teaches them to test their models usingsimplified geometry before fully trusting any one technique. Transient heat transfer dependsupon the thermal diffusivity of the material that is often a difficult concept for students. Duringthe second project, the analysis and measurements are repeated for the same shapes but preparedfrom materials with different thermal diffusivities such as metals (aluminum and copper) andnon-metals (maple, lignum vitae, and basswood). This paper will explain the details of thisteaching methodology and discuss the educational outcomes obtained in our heat transfercurriculum.

Hossain, A., & Saad, H. S., & Weiser, M. W. (2012, June), The Effect of Surface Area and Thermal Diffusivity in Transient Cooling Paper presented at 2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, San Antonio, Texas. 10.18260/1-2--22052

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