Investigation of moving trapezoidal and exponential fins with multiple nonlinearities

Abstract

In this article, we study moving longitudinal and exponential fins with variable thermal conductivity, thermal emissivity, and heat transfer coefficient. The problem is solved numerically using shooting technique. To compare the performance of trapezoidal fins with exponential fins, we introduce a novel idea of volume adjusted fin heat transfer rate, fin effectiveness, and fin efficiency. The result shows that heat transfer from the exponential fin is higher than from the trapezoidal fin. It is observed that the capability of an exponential fin is higher than the trapezoidal fin. With increasing thermal conductivity and radiation-conduction number as well as convection-conduction number, the fin’s efficiency increases. The results illustrate the effect of heat transfer coefficient, thermal emissivity, radiation-conduction and convection-conduction parameters, dimensionless radiation, and convection sink temperatures on the fin’s performance.

Keywords

• Exponential fins
• Trapezoidal fin
• Fin efficiency
• Variable thermal conductivity
• Thermal emissivity
• Heat transfer coefficient