Boundary Element Method to Solve Conjugate Heat Transfer Problems—the Case of Fully Developed Laminar Flow in Tubes

Abstract

This paper is concerned with the boundary element method applied to conjugate heat transfer problems, especially to coupled conduction and laminar convection in tubes, and shows that the BEM is more suitable to solve the governing equation in solid region than FEM or FDM, with regards to computational time and computer capacity. After introducing the general numerical treatment for a rather wide class of conjugate heat transfer problems, which combines BEM of solid regions and other numerical methods in fluid regions, the features of this treatment are demonstrated by the analysis of coupled wall conduction and convection in laminar flow of a fluid through a pipe. The numerical results obtained are compared with other solutions available in the literature. The advantages of the BEM applied to conjugate problems are fully illustrated.