The conjugate conduction-natural convection heat transfer along a thin vertical plate with non-uniform internal heat generation

The steady state heat transfer characteristics of a thin vertical strip wit h internal heat generation is studied in this work. The nondimensional temp erature distribution in the strip is obtained as a function of the followin g parameters: (a) the intensity and distribution of the internal heat sourc es, (b) the aspect ratio of the strip, (c) the longitudinal heat conductanc e of the strip and (d) the Prandtl number of the fluid. Both the thermally thin and the thick wall approximations are considered in this paper. The to tal thermal energy or averaged temperature of the strip is found to decreas e as the influence of the longitudinal heat conduction effects in the strip decreases in the thermally thin wall regime. After reaching a minimum, it increases again in the thermally thick wall regime. (C) 2000 Elsevier Scien ce Ltd. All rights reserved.