Welcome to Fundamentals of Heat Transfer Part 2.

So far we have focused on heat transfer by conduction and have considered convection only as a possible boundary condition for conduction problems in part 1. we used the term convection to describe heat transfer between a surface and an adjacent fluid when they are at different temperatures. We learned also that knowledge of the convection coefficient is required to use Newton’s law of cooling to determine the convective heat flux. In addition to depending upon fluid properties, the convection coefficient depends upon the surface geometry and the flow conditions.

In this part, our first objective is to develop an understanding of boundary layer phenomena and the features that control the convection coefficient. Our second objective is to learn how to estimate convection coefficients in order to perform analyses on thermal systems experiencing different types of flow and heat transfer situations. We begin by addressing the problem of convection. We will discuss the hydrodynamic boundary layer concept and the thermal boundary layer which is the region of the fluid next to the surface in which energy exchange is occurring, and discuss its influence on the convection coefficient.

In this course, we will consider forced convection and introduce methods for estimating convection coefficients associated with external and internal flows. Moreover, we will consider free or natural convection and present methods for estimating the convection coefficients for common geometries.

I wish you good luck in learning heat transfer.

Enjoy and happy learning!!