Energy Conversion and Management 91 (2015) 199203

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Energy Conversion and Management

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/enconman

Stretching/shrinking longitudinal ns of rectangular prole and heat

transfer
M. Turkyilmazoglu
Mathematics Department, University of Hacettepe, 06532 Beytepe, Ankara, Turkey

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history:
Received 15 September 2014
Accepted 3 December 2014
Available online 20 December 2014
Keywords:
Longitudinal rectangular ns
Stretching/shrinking
Heat transfer
Fin efciency
Fin tip temperature
Exact solutions

a b s t r a c t
The present study deals with the heat transfer enhancement and efciency of longitudinal rectangular n
proles when a stretching or shrinking mechanism is mounted on the surface of the n. Exact analytic
solutions are sought from which the combined effects of some physical parameters like the convection
sink temperature parameter, the Peclet number, the stretching/shrinking parameter and the convectionconduction parameter (Biot number) on the efciency of longitudinal rectangular ns against non
stretched straight rectangular ns can be comparatively analyzed. It is shown that stretching degrades
the efciency, whereas shrinking provides better n efciency pointing to signicant advantages in terms
of n design purposes. Moreover, the presented neat formulae serve a verication tool for the researchers
actively working in the eld, particularly when numerical methods are employed to investigate more
complex phenomena.
2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Extended surfaces in the form of longitudinal, radial, spine or
pin, commonly used as ns are for enhancing heat transfer by
increasing the surface area available for convection. They play a
major role in many engineering applications such as airland space
vehicles, automobile radiators, air-cooled engines, chemical, refrigeration, cryogenic processes, electrical and electronic equipments
like CPUs, conventional furnaces and gas turbines, process heat dissipators and waste heat boilers and nuclear-fuel [1,2]. Fins can be
of a variety of geometry-plain, wavy or interrupted-and can be
attached to the inside, outside or to both sides of circular, at or
oval tubes, or parting sheets. The present work yet explores a
new phenomenon on the thermal transport and efciency of the
ns when a mechanism permitting stretching or shrinking of the
surface of them like a conveyer belt is mounted on.
Large amount of publications appeared recently in the literature
investigating various properties of nned heat transfer. To cite a
few, the efciency and optimization of straight ns with combined
heat and mass transfer were implemented in [3]. In [4] the longitudinal ns of rectangular prole, the rectangular ns and the
rotating radial ns of rectangular and other proles were made
use for the heat transfer analysis. Variable thermal conductivity
effects were studied in [5,6]. Torabi and Zhang [7] evaluated
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2014.12.007
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thermal performance and efciency of convectiveradiative

straight ns with various proles and considering all nonlinearities. Moitsheki et al. [8] investigated radial ns of various kind.
Porous media approach was fullled in [9] to measure the response
of a heat sink subjected to cooling by a nanouid of Cu-water type.
Hatami and Ganji [10] numerically investigated the efciency of
circular porous ns. Hatami and Ganji [11] made an extensive
analysis considering ceramic-based materials to understand the
behavior of longitudinal porous n proles. Moradi et al. [12]
analyzed the triangular porous ns taking into account thermal
features relying upon temperature. Moleofane and Moitsheki [13]
accounted for linear and nonlinear thermal conductivity to explore
heat transfer through rectangular, radial and spherical extended
surfaces. The exponential types of n proles were found to be
highly efcient in the articles [14,15].
Besides the above literature in which the n is mainly xed,
the n under continuous motion also took attention of the
researchers, since the thermal treatment of moving materials is
necessary to cool down them during manufacturing such as in
extrusion, optical ber drawing, crystal growth, hot rolling and
casting, see [16,17]. To further cite a few of recent moving n
problems, a variable thermal conductivity was studied for a moving n in [18]. Aziz and Lopez [19] examined of the heat transfer
process in a continuously moving sheet or rod of variable thermal
conductivity that loses heat by simultaneous convection and radiation. Solution for convective radiative continuously moving n
with temperature-dependent thermal conductivity was given in

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M. Turkyilmazoglu / Energy Conversion and Management 91 (2015) 199203

Nomenclature
Roman symbols
a; b; c; d constants
fi
dummy variables
Kummer function
1F1
h
convective heat coefcient
hi
dummy variables
H
Hermit function
k
thermal conductivity
L
length of n
N
convectionconduction parameter (Biot number)
Pe
Peclet number
s
rate of stretching/shrinking of the n
s
parameter of stretching/shrinking of the n
T
temperature along the n
Tb
base surface temperature

[20]. Saedodin et al. [21] considered the problem of moving plates

with multiple nonlinearities. Singla and Das [22] investigated
combined properties of a moving n together with an inverse
problem approach.
The main objective of the present work is to investigate for the
rst time in the literature the effects of n efciency and heat
transfer rate when the ns are exposed to stretching or shrinking
in the direction of motion. Such a mechanism may be manufactured and used in practical applications if it is shown that it is
favorable in terms of efciency of rectangular ns. Within this
aim, closed-form exact formulas are derived for the temperature
eld, n efciency and heat transfer from which the effects of
n movement, stretching and shrinking can be analyzed. It is
found that stretching degrades the performance as compared to
the non stretched longitudinal ns. However, shrinking is shown
to act to enhance the n efciency by extra cooling the surface.
The derived exact solutions also provide a fruitful testing case
when numerical or recently fashionable analytic approximate
methods as frequently employed in the aforementioned literature, are in charge of computing the energy eld for more complex heat transfer phenomena to be investigated in upcoming
potential research.

Ta
U
x
X

surrounding air temperature

local speed of the n
dimensional axial distance
dimensionless longitudinal distance

Greek symbols
g
n efciency parameter
C
gamma function
k
thermal diffusivity
h
scaled temperature
h0
n tip temperature
ha
convection sink temperature parameter
hi
dummy variables

x
X ;
L

T
;
Tb

N2

hL
;
k

Pe

ha
UL
;
k

Ta
;
Tb
s s L;

where ha is the convection sink temperature parameter, N is the

convectionconduction parameter (Biot number), k is the thermal
diffusivity of the material, Pe is the Peclet number associated with
the speed of the n and s is the dimensionless stretching/shrinking
parameter, the governing dimensionless equation and boundary
conditions for the thermal processing through the impermeable
n (for porosity effects see the recent article [15]) takes the form
of variable coefcient differential equation

 
d dh
dh
 N2 h  ha Pe1 sX
0;
dX dX
dX
h0 0 0;

h1 1:

Fin efciency accounts for the reduction in temperature potential between the n and the ambient uid. The physically signicant parameter g standing for the n efciency can be obtained
by means of the base temperature gradient and as the ratio of
actual total heat transfer rate to the maximum possible heat transfer [15]

2. Physical model and mathematical formulation

Consider one-dimensional heat transfer problem due to convection in longitudinal (straight) n of a rectangular prole having
length L, whose conguration is laid out in Fig. 1. The temperature
of the surrounding air is T a (the convection sink temperature) and
the n is situated on the surface of a hot surface of temperature T b
and is surrounded by a coolant having convective coefcient h.
Well-insulated condition is adopted at the n tip. The ns thermal
conductivity k and the convective heat transfer coefcient h are
assumed to be constants for the purpose of gaining exact solutions.
The n is allowed to both move and stretch/shrink horizontally at a
speed U1 s x and the axial coordinate x is measured from the
insulated end of the moving n in contact with the surrounding
uid sooner after the thermal processing terminates. Here U is
the local speed and s is the rate of stretching/shrinking. The
stretching or shrinking of the n can be achieved by coating the
surface with a mechanism similar to a conveying belt.
After an energy balance, the dimensional governing equation of
energy through the n may be found in several publications like
[7,22]. Instead, carrying out the non-dimensionalisation by the
following variables

h0 1
2

N 1  ha

Eq. (3), actually represents the non-dimensional heat transfer rate

through the rectangular kind n. Another physically signicant
parameter is the n tip temperature h0 to be found as a result
of integrating the system (2).
The system in (2) and (3) shows that the temperature
distribution in the n and hence the n efciency depend on four
parameters, namely, the convectionconduction parameter or Biot
number N, the temperature of convection sink parameter ha , the
Peclet number Pe and the n stretching/shrinking parameter s.
Keeping some of these xed, while varying the rest will provide
useful information regarding the temperature eld, n tip temperature and n efciency in the subsequent analysis.
3. Results and discussion
The exact analytical solutions of temperature eld in (2) will
certainly enrich the collection of exact solutions given in the book
[1] covering only some special circumstances. Similar to the

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M. Turkyilmazoglu / Energy Conversion and Management 91 (2015) 199203

Stretching Shrinking
FIN TIP

FIN BASE
Longitudinal Rectangular fin profile
1

Fig. 1. Stretching or shrinking longitudinal n proles of rectangular shape.

analytical works of [14,15] involving exponential type ns, the

energy Eq. (2) is solved exactly, involving hypergeometric, gamma
and Hermit functions of the advanced mathematics. To accomplish
this, since temperature Eq. (2) has analytic coefcients with the
non-vanishing highest derivative, a regular series expansion is
suitable at the point X 0, generating the solution. The resulting
exact temperature inuenced by N; ha ; Pe and s in the longitudinal
rectangular n proles is expressed by
1

The n tip temperature and the n efciency then follow

h0 

p 
1
22a sC 1a
2

pp


p
Pes
1 aePe 2 1 ha 2 sf 3 h1 Pef 4 h2 ha h0
p
;
paPe1 sf 5 f 6 f 1 sf7 Pef8
5

sf6 3sf5 1 aPe1 s2 f 9 1 sf 12

;
3s2 aPe1 sf 5 f 6 f 1 sf7 Pef8

where 1 F 1 is the Kummer conuent hypergeometric function, H is

the Hermit function and C is the gamma function. Moreover, the
parameters appearing in (4)(6) are, respectively

Pe1 s2
b
;
2s

N2
a
;
Pes

Pe1 sX2
c
;
2s

r
Pe
d
;
2s




1a 1
1a 1
; ; b ; f 2 1F1
; ;c ;
2 2
2 2


1a 1 2
; ;c ;
f 3 1F1
2 2

f 1 1F1


3a 3 2
; ;c ;
2 2


1a 3 2
; ;c ;
f 6 1F1
2 2



a 3
f 5 1F1 1 ; ; b ;
2 2



a 1
f 7 1 F 1 1 ; ; c2 ;
2 2


a 5
f 9 1F1 1 ; ; b ;
2 2



a 3
f 8 1 F 1 1 ; ; c2 ;
2 2

f 4 1F1

f 10 1 F 1



3a 3
; ;b ;
2 2

h1 H2  a; d;

f 11 1 F 1



3a 5
; ;b ;
2 2

h2 H1  a; d;

h3 H1  a; d1 s;

h4 H1  a; d1 sX;

h0

p
p
p
21 a sf 1 h1 Pef 1 h2 f 3 1 af 4 h3 ;

h1

p
p
p
21 a sf 2 h1 Pef 2 h2 f 3 1 af 4 h4 :

Pes

e2PeX2sX e2PeX2sX ha h0  ePe 2 1 ha h1

p
h p
:
p
21 a sf 1 h1 Pef 1 h2 f 3 1 af 4 h3




f 12 sf7  Pef8 3sf10 Pe1 s2 f 11 ;

When s 0, the temperature result in (4) strictly matches

with the formula recently given in [21] (see Eq. (15) in [21]). In
the case of a standing rectangular n prole Pe 0 the above
solutions are well-documented [13]. It is interesting to observe
from the outlined exact solutions that for rectangular n proles
considered, the n efciency does not depend on the tip convection sink temperature ha , although the temperature considerably
varies with it.
The temperature eld hX, the n efciency g and the n tip
temperature h0 as analytically computed above will be discussed
next. Fin tip temperature values for three selected n physical
parameters are demonstrated in Fig. 2(a)(c). It is clear from these
gures that in the presence of stretching/shrinking mechanism the
n tip temperature is monotonically increased, implying a continuous enhancement of temperature distribution throughout the n
surface under consideration. So, the more is the stretching applied,
the more the surface is heated. The inuence of increasing Pe and
ha is seen to progressively rise the temperature further in the n
as well as the values of tip temperature, whereas the effect is
opposite for stronger convection N as shown in Fig. 2(c), since a
profound cooling is in progress, in physical terms, for more convection loss from the surface. In spite of the fact of growing effect of
the stretching, it is also intriguing to observe from Fig. 2(a)(c) that
shrinking resists against the rising of tip temperature, possessing
lower tip temperatures for higher shrinking. This mechanism
may be important regarding the n efciency as will be demonstrated later on.
The increase in the n tip temperatures as anticipated in
Fig. 2(a)(c) will bring in smaller temperature gradient at the base
so that a lowered n efciency will result in as revealed in Fig. 3(a)
and (b). It is unfortunate that the efciency is further reduced for
increasing Pe; N and s. Fortunately, as implied and hence discussed
from Fig. 2(a)(c), as compared with the surface stretching, the
more is the shrinking means the more is the n efciency. This

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M. Turkyilmazoglu / Energy Conversion and Management 91 (2015) 199203

(a)

0.80

(b)

a=0

N=1

0.78
0.76

1/2

0.80

0.74

1/5

N=1, Pe=1

0.85

0.72

0.75

0.70

a=0

Pe=1/2

0.68

0.70
1.0

0.5

0.0

0.5

(c)

1.0

1.0

0.9

0.5

0.0

0.5

1.0

1/2

0.8 a=0
Pe=1

0.7

0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3

N=2

0.5

1.0

0.0

0.5

1.0

Fig. 2. The n tip temperature versus stretching/shrinking parameter. (a) N 1; ha 0, (b) N 1; Pe 1 and (c) Pe 1; ha 0.

0.8

0.7
Pe=1/2

0.7
1

0.6

0.5

Pe=1

N=1/2

0.6

N=1

0.5

0.4

0.4

0.3
1.0

0.5

0.0

0.5

1.0

1.0

0.5

0.0

0.5

1.0

(b)

(a)

Fig. 3. The n efciency versus stretching/shrinking parameter. (a) N 1 and (b) Pe 1.

may be explained physically that the case of increasing shrinking

will reduce the speed of thermal processing so that more time of
exposure of the n to the environment takes place yielding cooling
and thus enhanced heat transfer rate.
It is hence concluded that placing a shrinking mechanism on
the surface of the n instead of a stretching mechanism
leads to more economical solution to heat transfer problems in
longitudinal rectangular n design. Besides, the outlined exact
solutions in this paper are signicant in terms of constituting
them as a possible source for the future research on the active
topic.

4. Conclusions
This work is concerned with the heat transfer of longitudinal
rectangular n proles subjected to a mechanism of stretching or
shrinking on the surface, a physical phenomenon introduced rst
time in the literature to the best of authors knowledge. Since the
presented mechanical feature is new it needs an experimental justication warranting further work. The temperature eld, the n
tip temperature as well as the n efciency associated with such
ns are resolved analytically, yielding closed-form solutions. The
combined effects of physical parameters like the convection sink

M. Turkyilmazoglu / Energy Conversion and Management 91 (2015) 199203

temperature parameter, the Peclet number, the convectionconduction parameter (Biot number) and the stretching/shrinking
parameter on the straight rectangular ns enable us to reach the
following conclusions in a thermal processing;
 Peclet number, convection sink temperature parameter and
stretching/shrinking parameter are all in favor of rising both
n tip temperature and temperature distribution.
 The temperature is much reduced by increasing values of Biot
number.
 Higher n efciencies take place for shrinking n proles as
compared to stretched ones.
 Fin efciency is adversely affected by the increment in Biot
number and Peclet number.
 The rectangular straight n proles as commonly used in practical applications may be mounted a shrinking surface on them
at the expense of better n efciency and heat transfer rate.

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