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Analytical Solution for Three-Dimensional, Unsteady Heat Conduction in a Multilayer Sphere

Journal Article · · Journal of Heat Transfer
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4033536· OSTI ID:1324037
 [1];  [2];  [3]
  1. Indian Inst. of Technology (IIT) Bombay, Mumbai (India). Dept. of Energy Science and Engineering
  2. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Reactor and Nuclear Systems Division
  3. Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL (United States). Dept. of Nuclear, Plasma and Radiological Engineering

An analytical solution has been obtained for the transient problem of three-dimensional multilayer heat conduction in a sphere with layers in the radial direction. The solution procedure can be applied to a hollow sphere or a solid sphere composed of several layers of various materials. In general, the separation of variables applied to 3D spherical coordinates has unique characteristics due to the presence of associated Legendre functions as the eigenfunctions. Moreover, an eigenvalue problem in the azimuthal direction also requires solution; again, its properties are unique owing to periodicity in the azimuthal direction. Therefore, extending existing solutions in 2D spherical coordinates to 3D spherical coordinates is not straightforward. In a spherical coordinate system, one can solve a 3D transient multilayer heat conduction problem without the presence of imaginary eigenvalues. A 2D cylindrical polar coordinate system is the only other case in which such multidimensional problems can be solved without the use of imaginary eigenvalues. The absence of imaginary eigenvalues renders the solution methodology significantly more useful for practical applications. The methodology described can be used for all three types of boundary conditions in the outer and inner surface of the sphere. Lastly, the solution procedure is demonstrated on an illustrative problem for which results are obtained.

Research Organization:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
DOE Contract Number:
AC05-00OR22725
OSTI ID:
1324037
Journal Information:
Journal of Heat Transfer, Journal Name: Journal of Heat Transfer Journal Issue: 10 Vol. 138; ISSN 0022-1481
Publisher:
ASME
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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