ON THE SOLUTION OF THE DIFFERENTIAL EQUATION OCCURRING

IN THE PROBLEM OF HEAT CONVECTION IN

LAMINAR FLOW THROUGH A TUBE*
By MILTON AnRA.MOWITZ

1. Introduction. The problem of forced heat convectIOn in laminar flow through

a circular tube or duct assuming the velocity distribution of the fluid to be the
Poiseuille flow requires the solution of the ordinary differential equation [1,2].
d Yldr2 + (llr) dyldr + ri(l - r2)y = 0
2
(1.1)
subject to the end conditions
(1.2) yeO) = 1
(1.3) y(l) = O.
The condition (1.2) arises from the phYSICal condItion that the temperature
shall be constant at the mouth of the tube, while (1.3) results from the fact
that there shall be no heat transfer at the surface of the tube.
A partICular integral of (1.1) satIsfymg (1.2) is
(1.4) yer, (3) = L::-o B 2n r2n
where
Bo = 1, 4B2 + Ii = 0
(1.5) 2
4n B 2n + /12[B 2n _2 - B 2n-4] = 0
In order to satisfy (1.3) the parameter /1 must take on an infinite number of
discrete values /1. . One of the procedures employed in determining the prope'r
values of /1 IS to tabulate the function y(r, (3) with the aid of (1.4) for a sequence
of values of /1 in the neighborhood of /1. and then determine /1. from that value
of /1 for which y(l, /1.) = O. This technique has certam disadvantages computa-
tionally. It is evident from (1.5) that the individual terms of (1.4) increase as
/1/ increases. The difficulty in determimng /1. from the condition ye1, /1.) = 0 is
that this equatIOn is satisfied to a hIgh degree of accuracy even when /18 IS not
known very preCIsely. Thus, if we take /10 = 2.7, y(l, 2.7) = .00219. Therefore,
the determinatIOn of precise values of /1. reqUIres calculations of y(l, /1.) to a
large number of deCImal places. It IS the purpose of the present artICle to obtain
a solutIOn of (1 1) III terms of Bessel functIOns which shall be more convenient
for the determmation of the values of /1•.
2. Solution of (1.1), in terms of Bessel functions. In order to determine a
solution of the differential equation (1.1) as a series of Bessel functions let us
formally assume the possibility of an expression in the form
(2.1) y(r, (3) = L::=o An ({3)Q (/1r)n

where
* The preparation of thiS paper was sponsored III part by the Flight Research Labora-
tory, Wright Air Development Center, USAF
184
 HEAT CONVECTION I:'ol' L.\MIN\R FLOW 185

(22) nn ({3r ) = ({3r r J n ((3r)

The functIOns nn({3r) satIsfy the following recurrence relations [3] where the
dIfferentIatIOn IS WIth respect to the argument fJr.
(2.3) (l/r)n~ = {3n,,-1
(24) {3Vnn = (2n + 2)nn+1 - n,,+2
(25) n: = (2n - 1)nn-l - nn
The nn were chosen to represent the solutIOn of (1 1) slllce they are even func-
tIOns of r and the recurrence relatIOn (2.4) has the property that it expresses
r2nn as a lmear combinatIOn of functIOns of dIfferent orders. Thus, substitut-
lIlg (2 1) into (1.1) we obtalll
(26) L::-o 2
A,,({3) (fJ n:({3r) + (fJ/r)n~(fJr) + (32nn(fJr) - (3Vn n ({3r) I = 0
With the aid of (23)-(25) thIs last relatIOn becomes
L::=o An({3) {(2n - 1){32n ,,_1 - (in" + fJ n"_1 + (32nn
2

(27)
- (2n + 2)nn+1 + n,,+21 = 0

WhICh becomes
(28) L::=o An({3) {2n{32n,,_1 - (2n + 2)n,,+1 + nn+21 = 0
Equating the coefficients of nn to zero we get the following recurrence relatIOns
for the coefficients A,,({3)
(29) .11 = 0, 2{32A2 - ..10 = 0, 6{32A3 + Ao = 0, 4{32A4 - 3A 2 = 0
(2 10) (2n + 2)fJ2An+1 - 2nA,,_1 + A,,_2 = 0 for n ~ 4
In order to satIsfy (1.2) we must choose Ao = 1 and we then have for the
first five coefficients
(211) ...10 = 1, Al = 0, A2 = 1/(2{32), A3 = -1/(6fJ~), A4 = 3/(8{34)

3. Determination of the values of {3s In order to determllle the values of {3.

we must determine the zeros of the functIOn
(3 1) vCr, (3) = L::=o A n({3)({3rrJ,,({3r)
for r = 1. ThIS was done by evaluatmg (3.1) for a series of values in the neigh-
borhood of each {3s and then evaluatmg the zero by inverse interpolation For
example for fJ4 we find
(3 y(l, (3)
18 65 + 0052576
18 66 + 0026192
18 67 - 0000339

By lmear mverse interpolatIOn we get {34 = 1866987 Below are the first five
values that were obtained m thIS fashIOn.
186 MlJ~TON ABRAMOWITZ

8 P.
o 2.7043644
1 6 679032
2 1067338
3 14.6n08
4 1866987
In carrying out the computations the trial values of fl were so chosen that
the values J nCflr) for r = 1 could be obtamed from existmg tables of the Bessel
functIOns J n wIthout recourse to interpolatIOn. The calculations were carned
to at least two more decimal places than gIven in the final computed values of
fl• . The number of terms carned was such that the truncating error in the series
(2.1) was less than the accuracy reqUIred m the values y(l, fl) for evaluating the
fl. by mverse interpolation. A sufficient number of trial values were taken so that
the calculations could be checked by dIfferencing. The choice of the tnal values
is worth mentIOnmg An examination of the values of flo and fll shows that they
appear to tend to 48 + 2 + % and thIs was used m determining the higher
charactenstic values.
In additIOn to the values of fl. the coefficients fl:A .. (fl.) necessary for the de-
termmatIOn of y(r, fl.) to six decimal places have also been given. The quantIties
fl:A .. (fl.) have been gIven rather than the A .. (fl.) themselves because they are
more convenient for computatIOn due to their slower rate of change. The co-
effiCIents themselves are correct to probably no more than seven sigmficant
figures.
The problem has been dIscussed by Lauwerier [4] who obtained an asymptotIC
expanSIOn for the charactenstic values. His result m the notation used here is
tfl. = v + 0.031580 V- 4/3 - 0.000904 v-B/3
where v = 28 + 1 + Ys Comparing the results with that obtained by Lauwerier
[4] we have
8 !,8. Asymptotlc Formula
o 1.3521822 1.354
1 3 339516 3 3396
2 5 33669 5. 336n
3 7 33554 7 33554
The asymptotic formula WIll thus be adequate for the determmation of the
hIgher characteristic values.
REFERENCES
1 JAKOB, M , Heat Transfer, vol 1 New York John Wiley, 1949
2 BOELTER, L M K. ET AL, Heat Transfer Notes University of CalIfornia
Press, Berkeley, CalIf, 1948
3 WATSON, G N, Theory of Bessel FunctIOns, second editIon. Cambridge University
Pless, 1944, p 45
4 LAUWERIER, H A, The Use of Confluent Hypergeometric FunctIOns in Mathematical
PhYSICS and the SolutIOn of the Eigenvalue Problem. Applied Scientific Research,
1951, A, 2, pp 184-204
)JATIONAL BUREAU OF STANDARDS
(Received November 26, 1952)
 HEAT CONVECTION IN LAMINAR FLOW l8i

TABLE 1
{3o = 27043644; {3, = 6.679032; {32 -1067338, {3. = 14.67108; {3, =- 18.66987
n I {3o"A" {3,"A .. P2"A .. Pa"A .. p,"A"

0 1.0000000
1- 1.000000 1.000000 1.000000 1.000000
1
2
.0000000
.5000000 I .000000
.500000
000000
.500000
.000000
.500000
.000000
.500000
3 - .4507274 I -1 113172 -1.778897 -2.445180 -3.111645
I
4 .3750000 I 375000 375000 375000 .375000

5 - 4958001 -1.224489 -1.956786 -2.689698 -3.422810

6 .4140776 .932076 1.894737 3.301953 5.153667
7 - .4974099 -1.228465 -1.963140 -2.698431 -3.433923
8 4461194 1.326717 2963240 5355507 8.503422
9 - .5043542 -1.437822 -2868527 -5089895 -8.397837

10 .4687663 1.604293 3 714583 6799401 10.858624

11 - .5133433 -1.709892 -4.045378 -8 198589 -14.850660
12 1 870738 4 680737 9 344211 16.486510
13 -1.990482 -5259085 -11 404642 -21.505574
14 2.144986 5 888465 12 972559 25.211041

15 -2.274274 -6.573789 -15213988 -30 331903

16 2426377 7 274568 17 390475 36 182422
17 -2561859 -8035620 -19 916738 -42.391405
18 8 819440 22 624494 49.902640
19 -9 655962 -25582621 -57.937150

20 10.522649 28.798271 67.193558

21 -11.437422 -32.267395 -77.360995
22 12 386659 36 019365 88.722920
23 -13 381713 -40 049285 -101. 269104
24 14.413797 44 381006 115 116126

25 -49016174 -130.347248
26 ' 53 973396 147.047833
27 I -59 258487 -165.319629
28 64.887207 185 252663
29 -70 867643 -206.952813

30 77 214067 230 519174

31 -83 935871 -256 061483
32 I 283 687046
33 -313.510575
34 345 646759

35 -380 215990
36 417 339928
37 -457 145018