MATLAB: PDE Toolbox: Constant external heating on 4 sides of a Cylinder

3d modelcylinderexternal heatfunction handleheat formulaPartial Differential Equation Toolboxpdethermal

Hi,
i am trying to simulate the heating of a hollow carbon shaft through 4 Infrared radiators which are placed alongside the shaft. I already constructed the model in 3D, but i don't know how to simulate the external heatflow with the 4 differently positioned radiators. Which conditions do i have to consider in order to succesfully simulate the heatflux in Matlab? I guess i need to do it similar to this https://de.mathworks.com/help/pde/ug/heat-conduction-in-multidomain-geometry-with-nonuniform-heat-flux.html with a function handle, but now i have 4 heat sources which emit heat on different locations.
The radiatiors are placed like this:
radiators.JPG
Many thanks in advance,
Pascal

Best Answer

Hi Pascal,
If there is no axial variation, then I suggest using a 2-D crosssecion to solve the problem. In 2-D you can easily draw the large cylinder and smaller heating elements as different circles. You then model the heat generation using internalHeatSource function.
If the problem is indeed 3-D, then you might make a couple of modelling approximation:
  1. On the blue solid parts create either fully burried heating element as holes. Apply an equivalent heat flux on the inner wall surfaces.
  2. If heating element is not fully embedded, they also radiate heat to atmosphere, then you can make slots/channels at the location of heating element and apply heat flux BC.
Regards
Ravi
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