Application of Bessel Equation

Heat Transfer in a Circular Fin

Bessel type differential equations come up in many engineering applications such as heat
transfer, vibrations, stress analysis and fluid mechanics. We now consider one particular
example in heat transfer that involves the analysis of circular fins that are commonly used to
cool the cylinders of internal combustion engines and piping systems. A typical schematic of a
single circular fin on a pipe is shown in the figure below. The fin is designed to add additional
surface area in order to help cool the pipe.

T
Pipe
r
Fin

The fin provides heat to transfer from the pipe to a constant ambient air temperature T. We
now wish to establish the differential equation relating temperature in the fin as a function of
the radial coordinate r. The governing equation comes from an energy balance on a differential
ring element of the fin as shown in the figure below.

dr
t

ri
ring element
ro
The ring element has volume V 2rdrt . The energy balance on this differential volume can
be stated as thermal energy conducted into V = thermal energy conducted out of V + energy
lost to surroundings by convection. This can be expressed mathematically by

dT

dr r
(conduction in)
kA

dT

hAc (T T )
dr r dr
(conduction out)
(convection loss)
kA

(1)

where the conduction terms are expressed by Fouriers law and the convection loss is given by
Newtons law of cooling. Again we skip over some of the heat transfer details, and you will
learn more about these in our heat transfer course MCE 348. The other parameters are defined
by A 2rt and Ac 2(2rdr ) , k = thermal conductivity , and h = convective heat transfer
coefficient. Substituting in the area parameters and rearranging gives

dT
dr

r
r dr

dr

dT
dr

2hr
(T T ) 0
tk

(2)

In the limit as dr 0, this relation becomes

d dT 2hr
(T T ) 0
r

dr dr tk

(3)

and this can be written as

d 2T
dT 2hr 2
r
r

(T T ) 0
dr 2
dr
tk
2

(4)

which is a modified Bessel differential equation of order 0. Note that the term modified is used
because the third term in the equation is negative rather than positive.
Equation (4) can be simplified and put in standard form if we make a couple of changes in the
problem variables. First we introduce the shifted temperature and let

T T . Next we

r i 2h / tk r with i
make a change in the independent variable and let ~
two modifications, relation (4) becomes
2
d
2 d
~
r ~2 ~
r ~ ~
r 2 0
dr
dr

1 . Under these

(5)

which is the standard form of the Bessel equation of order zero (see Kreyszig, p 187). Thus the
solution to the heat transfer problem is given by

C1 J o (iMr) C2Yo (iMr)

(6)

where M 2h / tk and C1 and C2 are arbitrary constants to be determine by two boundary

conditions that generally specify the temperature or its gradient at the inner or outer radius of
the fin. Commonly a solution form like result (6) with Bessel functions having imaginary
arguments is redefined in terms of a new set called modified Bessel functions. Since we can get
by with solution form (6), we will not further discuss this modification.
Consider the specific problem with temperature boundary conditions

(ri ) 100 , (ro ) 10

(7)

Using the general solution (6) into these two conditions gives

C1 J o (iMri ) C2Yo (iMri ) 100

C1 J o (iMro ) C2Yo (iMro ) 10
These boundary condition equations represent two equations for the two constants C1 and C2.
The equation system can be easily solved and conveniently expressed using Cramers Rule (see
Kreyszig, p 298) to be

C1

100Yo (iMro ) 10Yo (iMri )

J o (iMri )Yo (iMro ) J o (iMro )Yo (iMri )

10 J o (iMri ) 100 J o (iMro )

C2
J o (iMri )Yo (iMro ) J o (iMro )Yo (iMri )

(8)

Thus the solution for the temperature distribution in the fin is now completed as given by
relations (6) and (8). As is typical we want to see the results graphically and now use MATLAB
to evaluate and plot the temperature distribution for the particular case with T 50 , ri 1,
and ro 5 , and with three different values of M. The results are given in the figure below and
the associated MATLAB code is listed in the text box.

Temperatrue Distribution in Circular Fin

160

Fin Temperature, T

140

120
M=0.1
100
M=0.5
80

M=1.0

60

40

1.5

2.5

3
r

3.5

% MCE 372 Engineering Analysis Example Code

% Prof. M. Sadd
% Circular Fin Example
clc;clf;clear all
ri=1;ro=5;Tinf=50;
r=[ri:0.1:ro];
for M=[0.1,0.5,1.0]
Ji=besselj(0,i*M*ri);Jo=besselj(0,i*M*ro);
Yi=bessely(0,i*M*ri);Yo=bessely(0,i*M*ro);
C1=(100*Yo-10*Yi)/(Ji*Yo-Jo*Yi);
C2=(10*Ji-100*Jo)/(Ji*Yo-Jo*Yi);
th=Tinf+C1*besselj(0,i*M*r)+C2*bessely(0,i*M*r);
plot(r,th,'k','linewidth',2)
xlabel('r'),ylabel('Fin Temperature, T')
title('Temperatrue Distribution in Circular Fin')
grid on;hold on
end
text(2.1,110,'M=0.1')
text(2.6,85,'M=0.5')
text(3.1,62,'M=1.0')

4.5