Energy Conversion and Management 45 (2004) 927937

www.elsevier.com/locate/enconman

Numerical solutions of conjugate heat transfer

and thermal stresses in a circular pipe externally
heated with non-uniform heat ux
H
useyin Yapc *, Bilge Albayrak
niversitesi, 38039 Kayseri, Turkey
Muhendislik Fakultesi, Erciyes U
Received 21 October 2002; received in revised form 5 March 2003; accepted 16 July 2003

Abstract
Conjugate heat transfer by forced convection through an externally heated pipe has many important
engineering applications. In the present work, the radial and axial heat conductions and thermal stresses in
a pipe with uniform or non-uniform wall heat ux of fully developed laminar forced convective conjugate
heat transfer have been considered for analysis. The analysis is based on the two-dimensional steady-state
heat conduction equation and laminar boundary layer equation for the owing uid by using a nite
dierence scheme. Water has been used as a uid. Numerical calculations have been performed by using the
FLUENT 4.5 and HEATING7 computer codes. The temperature and stress ratio distributions inside the
pipe wall, heated from the outer surface by applying uniform and non-uniform heat uxes, have been
presented for two dierent mean ow velocities. The temperature distributions of the owing uid inside
the pipe have also been presented for all investigated cases.
2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Conjugate heat transfer; Thermal stress; Circular pipe; Fully developed laminar ow; Computational uid
dynamics

1. Introduction
The heat transfer occurring in pipe ow has wide interest in designing and operation of heat
transfer devices. One of the widely used devices is heat exchangers in which conduction occurs in
the solid tube and convection occurs in the uid owing within the outer surface. Therefore,

Corresponding author. Tel.: +90-352-4374901/32125; fax: +90-352-4375784.

E-mail address: yapici@erciyes.edu.tr (H. Yapc).

0196-8904/$ - see front matter 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/S0196-8904(03)00195-X

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H. Yapc, B. Albayrak / Energy Conversion and Management 45 (2004) 927937

Nomenclature
cp
E
k
L
q00
r
ri
ro
T
u
v
x
Greek
a
h
q
m

specic heat
modulus of elasticity
thermal conductivity
length of pipe
heat ux per unit area
radial coordinate
inner radius of pipe
outer radius of pipe
temperature
velocity component in axial direction
velocity component in radial direction
axial coordinate
symbols
thermal diusivity or thermal expansion coecient
relative temperature (T
Tm )
density
kinematic viscosity or Poissons ratio

Subscripts
s
solid
f
uid
m
mean

conduction and convection heat transfer must be simultaneously analysed for compact design of
these kinds of devices. Conjugate heat transfer is a uidsolid problem where the heat exchanges
between the uid and the solid are a priori unknown, yet signicant. Typically, the desired unknown is the interface temperature, which should be determined from some knowledge of the heat
source. Therefore, analyses of this type of heat transfer must be performed with both conduction
in the solid and convection in the uid. The continuity conditions of the temperature and heat ux
have to be supplied at the uid and solid interface. Many engineering applications have conjugate
heat transfer, such as heat exchangers, ns and nuclear fuel rods.
Conjugate heat transfer problems for several geometries and boundary conditions were solved
in previous works. Luna et al. [1] presented the steady-state analysis of conjugate heat transfer for
the thermal entrance region of a developed laminar forced convection ow in a circular tube. They
applied a uniform heat ux at the external surface of the tube and solved the energy equation
analytically by using the integral boundary layer approximation and by neglecting the heat
generation by viscous dissipation and the axial heat conduction in the uid. M
endez and Trevi~
no
[2] analysed the steady-state heat transfer characteristics of a thin vertical strip with internal heat
generation. Bilir [3] analysed an unsteady conjugate heat transfer problem by a nite dierence
method in thermally developing laminar pipe ow. Merkin and Pop [4] investigated the dimen-

H. Yapc, B. Albayrak / Energy Conversion and Management 45 (2004) 927937

929

sionless governing equations for conjugate free convection boundary layer ow on a vertical plate
by using a nite dierence scheme.
On the other hand, the operating conditions of the piping systems may involve severe temperature gradients. The high temperature gradients produce thermal stresses. Liu et al. [5] investigated the thermal stresses induced by temperature dierences in the tube sheet of heat transfer
equipment. They used the nite element method to compute the temperature and stress elds.
They suggested some measures to reduce or eliminate the thermal stresses in the sheet. Guerriri
and Cossa [6] gave formulae and graphs that enabled estimates to be made of heat ow, temperature and stresses through the thickness of a circular cylindrical shell. Some previous works
contain both conjugate heat transfer and thermal stress calculations. Al-Zaharnah et al. [7,8]
analysed the thermal stresses in fully developed laminar pipe ow. They applied a uniform heat
ux from the external surface of the pipe and solved the governing ow and energy equations
numerically by using a control volume approach. Al-Zaharnah et al. [9] considered fully developed laminar ow through a uniformly heated pipe from an external source. They computed the
thermal stresses numerically due to the development of the temperature eld under the uniform
heat ux.
In light of the above arguments, in this study, the temperature and thermal stress distributions
of fully developed laminar ow inside a circular tube under uniform and non-uniform heat ux
have been presented for dierent mean ow velocities. A numerical technique is introduced when
solving the governing ow, energy and stress equations.

2. Mathematical modeling
Cylindrical shapes and containers are widely used in industrial applications and naturally occurring phenomena. Accordingly, greater understanding of the uid ow and heat transfer within
cylinders should prove extremely useful in a variety of disciplines. The physical model associated
with the pipe ow and conjugate heating is shown in Fig. 1.
Two phenomena have been considered, conduction inside the pipe wall and convection from
the inner surface of the pipe to the uid owing inside it. Boundary layer equations are used to
solve the temperature and velocity distributions in the ow eld, while the temperature distribution inside the pipe wall is solved by a two-dimensional heat conduction equation. The analysis
is based on the steady-state, two-dimensional continuity, momentum and energy equations. The

Fig. 1. Coordinate system and physical model.

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H. Yapc, B. Albayrak / Energy Conversion and Management 45 (2004) 927937

conservative form of the boundary layer equations governing the ow within the cylinder can be
expressed as follows:
The boundary layer equations in the ow eld (0 < x 6 L and 0 6 r 6 ri ):
Continuity :
Momentum :

Energy :

ou ov v
0
ox or r

ou
ou
u m m
ox
or

ohf
ohf
m
a
u
ox
or

o2 u 1 ou

or2 r or

o2 hf 1 ohf

r or
or2


2


3

where hf is the relative temperature and

hf x; r Tf x; r
Tm

Boundary conditions:
At the pipe inlet (x 0):



r2
and hf 0; r 0
ur 2  um  1
2
ri
Since the proles of velocity and temperature are both symmetric with respect to the axis of the
pipe, the relevant boundary conditions at the pipe axis (r 0) are
oux; 0
ohf x; 0
0 and
0
or
or
At the inner surface of the pipe (r ri ):
ux; ri 0;

vx; ri 0

and hf x; ri hs x; ri

In the solid side (0 6 x 6 L and ri 6 r 6 ro ), the governing conduction equation is

o2 hs o2 hs 1 ohs
2 
0
r or
ox2
or
hs x; r can be described as
Heat conduction :

hs x; r Ts x; r
Tm

Boundary conditions:
ohs 0; r
0
or

at x 0

ohs L; r
0 at x L
or
At the outer surface of the pipe (r ro ):
q00 x ks

ohs
or

H. Yapc, B. Albayrak / Energy Conversion and Management 45 (2004) 927937

It is assumed that q00 x varies with the length of the pipe as follows:

x=L
for 0 6 x 6 L=2
q00 x 4  q0 
1
x=L for L=2 < x 6 L

931

At the inner surface of the pipe (r ri ):

hs x; ri hf x; ri and ks

ohs x; ri
ohf x; ri
kf
or
or

The governing thermal stress equations for hollow cylinders [10] are:

 2
Z ro
Z r
Ea
r ri2
2


T
r

r

dr

T
r

r

dr


T
r

r
rh
1
m  r2 ro2
ri2 ri
ri
 2

Z ro
Z r
Ea
r
ri2


T r  r  dr

T r  r  dr
rr
1
m  r2 ro2
ri2 ri
ri


Z ro
Ea
2
rx

T r  r  dr
T r

1
m ro2
ri2 ri
The eective stress according to the Von-Mises theory [10] is
q
reff r2h r2r r2x
rh rr rh rx rr rx

10

11

The following important assumptions are made in the present analysis:

the
the
the
the

ow is steady, laminar and two-dimensional,

thermophysical property variations of the uid are negligible,
thermal conductivity of the pipe material does not change with temperature, and
pipe material is homogeneous and isotropic.

The calculations have been performed for two dierent heat ux types individually and for
various mean ow velocities in the range of 0.050.1 m/s, stepped by 0.01 m/s.
The physical values used in these mathematical formulations are selected as:
L 1 m, ri 0:005 m and ro 0:007 m,
q0 =ks 1000 K/m,
um 0:050:1 stepped by 0.01 m/s,
cpf 4217 J/kg K,
kf 0:569 W/m K,
mf 1:792  10
6 m2 /s, and qf 1000 kg/m3 .
Note that the computed temperature values are relative temperature values, and they will increase linearly with increasing q0 values.

932

H. Yapc, B. Albayrak / Energy Conversion and Management 45 (2004) 927937

3. Numerical solutions
A numerical study has been conducted to investigate the two-dimensional, steady, conjugate
heat transfer of forced convection and conduction in the pipe wall with uniform and non-uniform
heat uxes at the external surface of the pipe. Any computational uid dynamics (CFD) computer
code can be used to solve the governing equations by the nite dierence method.
Computational uid dynamics is the process by which uid ow can be predicted through
arbitrary geometries giving such information as ow speed, pressures, residence times, ow patterns etc.
The FLUENT 4.5 [11] computer code was used for the conjugate heat transfer and conduction
heat transfer calculations. The conduction heat transfer calculation inside the pipe wall has been
checked by using the HEATING7 [12] computer code with the inner surface temperature
boundary conditions obtained from the conjugate heat transfer calculations.
Calculational analyses have been performed on conjugate heat transfer within the pipe and
owing uid and only conduction heat transfer within the pipe wall. Firstly, the inside surface
temperature of the pipe has been obtained by conjugate heat transfer analyses, and then, the
temperature distributions within the pipe wall have been determined by using only conduction
heat transfer with this obtained inner surface temperature as the boundary condition.
um=0.05 m/s

4
8

Radius [m]

32

20

12

24

56

40

28

48

36

16

0.003

60

44

0.005
0.004

52

36

28

24

16

0.006

48

20

12

0.007

52

44

0.000
0.0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

48

16

36

24

28

20

12

0.001

40

32

0.002

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

1.0

Length [m]

um=0.10 m/s

Radius [m]

20

86
2

0.005

1 2 10

0.006

0.004

30

18

0.007

14

22

16

24

36

26 28

32

0.002

30
2 6 28
2
22 4

20

14

0.001

34

18

12
10

0.003

42

38

16

18

12

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

20

10

0.000
0.0

0.7

0.8

0.9

1.0

Length [m]

Fig. 2. Relative temperature contours in the case of uniform heat ux.

H. Yapc, B. Albayrak / Energy Conversion and Management 45 (2004) 927937

933

Temperature distributions of the pipe wall and owing uid are shown in Fig. 2 for uniform
heat ux and two dierent mean ow velocities. The temperatures of the inner surface of the pipe
vary between 666 and 439 C for 0.05 and 0.1 m/s mean ow velocities, respectively. The
temperature dierence along the pipe length is lower in the 0.05 m/s mean ow velocity as predicted. The maximum centerline uid temperature reaches 48 and 20 C for the 0.05 and 0.1 m/s
mean ow velocities, respectively. The temperature dierence between the inner surface and the
centerline at the same axial distance is higher in the case of the 0.1 m/s mean ow velocity as
shown in this gure.
The temperature distributions of the physical model drawn in Fig. 1 are depicted in Fig. 3 for
non-uniform heat ux and two dierent mean ow velocities. The maximum inner surface temperatures of the pipe are 31 and 19.5 C for the 0.05 and 0.1 m/s mean ow velocities, respectively.
They occur over the ranges of 0.720.82 and 0.580.80 m length of the pipe for the 0.05 and 0.1 m/
s mean ow velocities, respectively. The maximum temperature inside the pipe wall occurs at
x 0:74 m in the case of 0.05 m/s mean ow velocity. The temperature distribution inside the pipe
wall is not uniform in Fig. 3 as in Fig. 2.
The inner surface temperatures of the pipe along the pipe length are depicted in Fig. 4 for the
case of uniform and non-uniform heat ux and for the six dierent mean ow velocities from

32

28

Radius [m]

3209
26 24
22
20 8
1

31

0.004

0.005

16
14
12
10
8

0.006

0.003

16
14

20
18

29
22

30

26
24

0.002

10 12

29

um=0.05 m/s

0.007

2
6

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

26

0.000
0.0

16
14

12
10

0.001

0.7

0.8

0.9

1.0

Length [m]

17
18

17

16

Radius [m]

12 14

0.004

19

16
15

0.005

20

2120
18

10

0.006

19

um=0.10 m/s

0.007

10

0.003

15

12

0.002

10

0.001
2

0.000
0.0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

1.0

Length [m]

Fig. 3. Relative temperature contours in the case of non-uniform heat ux.

934

H. Yapc, B. Albayrak / Energy Conversion and Management 45 (2004) 927937

in the case of
uniform heat flux

70

um
60

0.05
0.06
0.07
0.08
0.09
0.10

o
(x) [ C]

50
40
30
20
10
0
0.0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

1.0

0.9

1.0

Length [m]
in the case of
non-uniform heat flux

35
30

o
(x) [ C]

25
20
15
10
5
0
0.0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

Length [m]
Fig. 4. Relative temperature distributions at the inner surface of the pipe along the axial direction for the various mean
ow velocities.

um 0:05 m/s to um 0:10 m/s by steps of 0.01 m/s. The maximum inner surface temperature
occurs at x 1 m for uniform heat ux. The inner surface temperature along the pipe length
varies between 666 and 031 C for uniform and non-uniform heat ux, respectively. The inner
surface temperatures increase linearly along the pipe length for uniform heat uxes for all mean
ow velocities, but they reach the maximum value at 0.74 m length of the pipe for the 0.05 m/s
mean ow velocity and non-uniform heat ux case. The inner surface temperature distributions
have the same trend along the pipe length for all mean ow velocities in the case of uniform and
non-uniform heat ux, individually. The maximum inner surface temperature of the pipe occurs at
x 0:58 m for non-uniform heat ux and 0.1 m/s mean ow velocity.
The calculation of thermal stresses in the pipe wall has been performed by using Eqs. (8)(11).
The relative temperature dened with Eq. (6) and obtained from the conjugate heat transfer

H. Yapc, B. Albayrak / Energy Conversion and Management 45 (2004) 927937

935

calculations has been used for T r in these calculations. Therefore, the stress ratios will also
increase linearly with
 increasing q0 value. reff 
distributions inside the pipe wall have been
The stress ratio eective stress ratio, Ea=1
m
depicted in Figs. 5 and 6 in the uniform and non-uniform heat ux cases for two dierent mean
ow velocities (0.05 and 0.1 m/s), respectively. As is apparent from these gures, the stress ratios
at the inner surface reach maximum values for all axial planes. These ratios then reduce along the
radial direction. In the same axial distance, the stress ratio of the inner surface of the pipe decreases with the increase in the mean ow velocity, as expected. In the uniform heat ux case, the
ratio varies from 6.6 to 66.7 along the inner surface of the pipe for 0.05 m/s mean ow velocity.
These values are in the range of 5.340 for 0.1 m/s mean ow velocity. In the non-uniform heat
ux case, the maximum stress ratio occurs at x 0:775 m for 0.05 m/s mean ow velocity at a
value of 31.3. This ratio is 20 and its distance is x 0:66 m in the case of 0.1 m/s mean ow
velocity.
Comparison with similar previous studies: The temperature prole tendencies in the case of the
uniform heat ux are similar to the temperature proles in Refs. [7,8], although the material
properties and ow conditions in this study are dierent from those in Refs. [7,8]. The thermally
induced stress levels in the pipe wall cannot be compared evidently with the present references due
to the fact that they were calculated by taking into account independent pipe wall material
um=0.05 m/s
36

32

28
30

26

34 32
3 8 36

24
2
22 0

28

0.0050
0.0

0.1

34 6
3
38

22

14
16
18

10
12

0.0055

0.2

0.3

40

38

30

26

24

20

10
12
8

0.0060

14
16
18

Radius [m]

0.0065

28

22

18

14

16

0.0070

0.4

44
48
0.6
0.7

0.5

48
50

46

42

40

46

42
44

40

56

52 54

0.8

58

0.9

1.0

Length [m]

um=0.10 m/s
22

16

20

12

0.0070

18

24

20

22

16

18

24

26

0.2

0.3

22

14

0.1

20

0.0050
0.0

12

10

0.0055

26

14
12

10
8

0.0060

Radius [m]

0.0065

0.4

30
28

28

32

34

30

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

1.0

Length [m]

Fig. 5. Eective stress ratio,

reff
,
Ea=1
m

contours in the case of uniform heat ux (the ratios are in K).

936

H. Yapc, B. Albayrak / Energy Conversion and Management 45 (2004) 927937

um=0.05 m/s
0.0070
8

16

16
18

20

14

10
12

22

20

0.0060

10
12

20
22

0.1

26

14

0.0050
0.0

16
18

24

0.0055

Radius [m]

0.0065

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

22

28

0.7

0.8

0.9

1.0

Length [m]

um=0.10 m/s

14

12
10

14

0.1

0.2

16

12

0.0050
0.0

0.3

10

0.0055

14

0.0060

12

Radius [m]

12

0.0065

0.0070

16

18

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

1.0

Length [m]

Fig. 6. Eective stress ratio contours in the case of non-uniform heat ux.

properties and a 2D (axi-symmetrical) plane strain case in this study. However, it is sucient to
compare the temperature proles in this study with those in Refs. [7,8].

4. Conclusions
In the present work, radial and axial heat conductions in the pipe wall with uniform or nonuniform heat ux are considered under a conjugate heat transfer situation. The temperature
distributions inside the pipe wall and uid have been presented for uniform and non-uniform heat
uxes for two dierent mean ow velocities. The stress distribution has also been presented inside
the pipe wall for all cases mentioned above. This study would give ideas to help in designing and
operating heat transfer devices.

References
[1] Luna N, M
endez F, Trevi~
no C. Conjugated heat transfer in circular ducts with a power-law laminar convection
uid ow. Int J Heat Mass Transfer 2002;45:65566.

H. Yapc, B. Albayrak / Energy Conversion and Management 45 (2004) 927937

937

[2] M
endez F, Trevi~

no C. The conjugate conductionnatural convection heat transfer along a thin vertical plate with
non-uniform internal heat generation. Int J Heat Mass Transfer 2000;43:273948.
[3] Bilir S
. Transient conjugate heat transfer in pipes involving two-dimensional wall and axial conduction. Int J Heat
Mass Transfer 2002;45:17818.
[4] Merkin JH, Pop I. Conjugate free convection on a vertical surface. Int J Heat Mass Transfer 1996;39:152734.
[5] Liu M-S, Dong Q-W, Wang D-B, Ling X. Numerical simulation of thermal stress in tube-sheet of heat transfer
equipment. Int J Pres Ves Pip 1999;76:6715.
[6] Guerriri G, Cossa LM. Temperature stresses in thick circular cylindrical shells used in nuclear reactors with
exponential heat generation within the shell wall thickness. Proc Inst Mech Eng, Part C: J Mech Eng
1998;212(7C7):55565.
[7] Alzaharnah IT, Hashmi MS, Yilbas B. Thermal stresses in thick-walled pipes subjected to fully developed laminar
ow. J Mater Process Technol 2001;118:507.
[8] Alzaharnah IT, Yilbas BS, Hashmi MS. Conjugate heat transfer in fully developed laminar pipe ow and thermally
induced stresses. Comput Meth Appl Mech Eng 2000;190:1091104.
[9] Alzaharnah IT, Yilbas BS, Hashmi MS. Pulsating ow in circular pipesthe analysis of thermal stresses. Int J Pres
Ves Pip 2001;78:56779.
[10] Fauple JH, Fisher FE. Engineering designa synthesis of stress analysis and material engineering. New York:
Wiley; 1981.
[11] FLUENT users guide, version 4.5. Fluent Incorporated, Centerra Resource Park, 10, Cavendish Court, Lebanon,
NH 03766, USA, 1996.
[12] Childs KW, Giles GE, Bryan CB, Cobb CK. Heating: a computer program for multidimensional heat transfer
analysis (version 7.2), Sect. F10 of SCALE: a modular code system for performing standardized computer analyses
for licensing evaluation, ORNL/NUREG/CSD-2/V2/R3, Martin Marietta Energy Systems, Inc., Oak Ridge Natl.
Lab., draft February (1990). Available from Radiation Shielding Information Center as CCC-545.