Thermalfluids Lab-MEC 554/ LS 5/ THOMAS Rev.

01-2007

UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MARA

FACULTY OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
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Program
Course
Code

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LAB SHEET NO :

Bachelor Of Engineering ( Hons ) Mechanical

Thermalfluids Lab
MEC 554
5

HEAT TRANSFER LABORATORY SHEET

TITLE : HEAT CONDUCTION SIMPLE BAR
1.

OBJECTIVE

Investigate Fouriers law for linear conduction of heat along a simple bar.

2.

THEORY
If a plane wall of thickness (x) and area (A) and thermal
conductivity (k) supports a temperature difference (T) then the
heat transfer rate by conduction is given by the equation:

dT
Q k A
dx
Assuming a constant thermal conductivity throughout the
material and a linear temperature distribution, this is:

T
Q k A
x

Thermalfluids Lab-MEC 554/ LS 5/ THOMAS Rev. 01-2007

3.

EQUIPMENT

The equipment is shown in the figure below.

4.

READINGS TO BE TAKEN

Select an intermediate position for the heater power control (e.g. 10 W) and allow sufficient time for
a steady state to be achieved before recording the temperature (T) at all 9 sensor points and the
input power reading on the wattmeter ( Q ). This procedure should be repeated for other input
powers (e.g. 20 W and 30W) up to the maximum setting of the control. After each change, sufficient
time must be allowed to achieve steady conditions.

5.

RESULTS
BRASS
SAMPLE REGION

HEATER

COOLER

x (mm)

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

x (m)

0.01

0.02

0.03

0.04

0.05

0.06

0.07

0.08

Test

T1

T2

T3

T4

T5

T6

T7

T8

T9

(W)

(C)

(C)

(C)

(C)

(C)

(C)

(C)

(C)

(C)

A
B
C

Thermalfluids Lab-MEC 554/ LS 5/ THOMAS Rev. 01-2007

1.

Plot the temperature profile along the entire length. This should reveal three distinct
sections of straight lines (corresponding to the heater, brass sample, and cooler) having
a slope of approximately T/x.

2.

Convert the measured temperatures to degrees Kelvin by the following formula:

T K T C 273.15
3.

Calculate the cross-sectional area (A) of the circular cylinder by using the equation:

A
4.

d2

The brass sample region is the region of interest. Ignore all other temperature
measurements except T4, T5, and T6 and calculate the thermal conductivity of the
brass. This is the slope of the straight line in the brass sample region alone (plotted in
1), given by the equation:

5.

Q x
A T

W
units
m K

Find published values of brass in books or on the Internet. Compare the value you
obtained with these values. Which type of brass does your results best compare with
(e.g. yellow brass, red brass etc.)? Discuss any source of error in your measured
results. Students should comment on how changing the average temperature affects
the thermal conductivity.