ANÁLISE DE DIFUSÃO TÉRMICA EM UMA PLACA PLANA POR MEIO DA APLICAÇÃO DO MÉTODO DE VOLUMES FINITOS

Abstract

In the exact sciences and engineering, it is common to encounter a variety of physical and mathematical problems for which it is necessary to find a solution. Ideally, an exact solution should be obtained. However, largely because of the difficulties encountered, there are often no exact solutions to the mathematical equations that model many problems. Therefore, as an alternative to analytical methods, numerical methods have emerged to solve the equations governing a given physical phenomenon, making them mathematically simpler. The finite volume method (FVM) is the most widely used method for solving engineering problems in the area of thermofluid dynamics for a number of reasons, such as the possibility of applying it to non-linear problems and the observance of conservation principles at all levels, global and discrete. This work aims to apply the MVF under an explicit approach to the solution of a two-dimensional problem of transient heat diffusion in a flat carbon steel plate subjected to convection with a fluid, by implementing a computational routine in the free software Octave. The temperature profiles were obtained for different time instants of 50, 100 and 200 minutes of exposure to the imposed boundary conditions, so that it was possible to visualize, through the results obtained, that the temperature gradients initially arise due to a reduction in temperature on the external faces, due to the temperature difference with the fluid, so that the heat transfer begins by convection and, later, due to the temperature gradient created between the internal and external regions of the plate, the heat transfer begins by diffusion from the inside of the plate to the external surfaces.