Study of the analytical solution to the heat transfer problem and surface temperature in a semi-infinite body with a constant heat flux at the surface and an initial temperature distribution

Abstract

In many practical cases, one heats a semi-infinite solid with a constant heat flux source. For such an unsteady heat transfer problem, if the body has a uniform initial temperature, the analytical solution has been given by Carslaw and Jaeger. The surface temperature of the semi-infinite body follows the $$\sqrt t $$ -rule, that is, the surface temperature changes in proportion to square root of heating time. But if, instead of the uniform initial temperature, the body has a temperature distribution at the beginning of heating, the analytical solution has not yet been developed. Analytical solutions to the same problem with an exponential or a linear initial temperature distribution are obtained in this paper. It is shown, that in the case of a linear initial temperature distribution the surface temperature also changes according to $$\sqrt t $$ -rule Approximating the initial temperature distribution near the surface by its tangent at the surface, it is found that the surface temperature within a short time after the start of heating should also satisfy the $$\sqrt t $$ -rule, in spite of an arbitrary initial temperature distribution. The experimental data support this argument. Furthermore, the constant heat flux can be calculated after relationship between the surface temperature and heating time according to the equation derived in this paper, if the initial temperature distribution or its first-order derivative at the surface is known.