Homework

Course: CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics)

Student Name: Ahmadreza Aminian

Prof.: Dr. Abedini

Student No. : 911056107

Problem Description:
Simulation of 2D Heat Transfer in a Square Plate with MATLAB. In different
conditions. The conditions in this homework are as to be:
1. An square plate with insulation in 3 sides, with 5-elemented meshing pattern,
heat input of 100C, and 20C of steady temperature in 3 other walls;
2. The square plate remains the same as (1), but with 2 sides of insulation at 20C,
and heat input of 100 and 250C in two other walls, and 10-elemented meshing
pattern;
3. Same square plate as (1), but with no insulated wall. Heat inputs are represented
as 100, 250, 400, and 500C, for top, left, right, and bottom respectively, and the
meshing pattern is considered as 20-element style.
All the elements assumed as quadratic shape, and heat transfer regime is steady state.

Fig.1: layout of square plate

Page 1 of 11

Homework
Course: CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics)
Student Name: Ahmadreza Aminian

Prof.: Dr. Abedini

Student No. : 911056107

1. The square plate with 3 insulated walls and 5-elemented meshing pattern:
Heat input of 100C acting on top wall, and 3 remaining sides are insulated at 20C.
Square plate to be assumed 1m long and 1m wide. Step determined as 5, then

1000

200

So, in overall, there are 25 meshes generated and the temperature for 36 nodes1 must
be determined (Fig.2).

Fig.2: Five-element meshing pattern with boundary conditions

The partial differential equation for problem conditions mentioned earlier can be
expressed as below:

No. of concerning nodes can be determined by relation below:

So, for horizontal step=vertical step=5, no. of the nodes determined as 36.
Page 2 of 11

Homework
Course: CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics)
Student Name: Ahmadreza Aminian

Prof.: Dr. Abedini

Student No. : 911056107

The finite difference formulation of an interior node is obtained by adding the

temperatures of the four nearest neighbors of the node, subtracting four times the
temperature of the node itself, and adding the heat generation term. It can also be
expressed in this form:

When there is no heat generation in the medium, the finite difference equation for an
interior node further simplifies to:
1

[1]

Taking a volume element for a general interior node, with (m,n) coordination, as stated
in Fig.3, we have T(m,n) address for an example interior node.

Fig.3: The volume element of a general interior node (m, n) for two dimensional conduction in rectangular
coordinates [1]

Page 3 of 11

Homework
Course: CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics)
Student Name: Ahmadreza Aminian

Prof.: Dr. Abedini

Student No. : 911056107

So, as for programming in MATLAB, the equation above can be expressed as:
,

In order to writing a code in MATLAB, we have to use a preliminary value for all of
the nodes consisting the [T] matrix. As an example, and just for start, the temperature
of 20C has been chosen.
The MATLAB code generated as below:
m=6; n=6;
T(1:m,1:n)=20; %Preliminary Values of 36 Points%
T(1,2:n-1)=100; %Boundary Condition of Top Side Heating%
for k=1:1:inf
T0=T;
for i=2:m-1
for j=2:n-1
T(i,j)=(1/4)*(T(i-1,j)+T(i+1,j)+T(i,j-1)+T(i,j+1));
end
end
error=max(max(abs(T0-T)));
if error<1e-2
break
end
end
T
iteration=k
subplot(2,1,1),contour(T),title('Thermal Distribution in Steady
State'),xlabel('x'),ylabel('y'),colorbar
subplot(2,1,2),pcolor(T),shading interp,title('Thermal Distribution
(SS)'),xlabel('x'),ylabel('y'),colorbar

The first FOR loop is used to permit MATLAB calculator to select the right iteration
value (named as k), resulting in [T] matrix and iteration value as below:
T =
20.0000
20.0000
20.0000
20.0000
20.0000
20.0000

iteration =
18

Page 4 of 11

100.0000
56.3557
37.8684
28.7795
23.6322
20.0000

100.0000
67.5654
46.3501
33.6254
25.7521
20.0000

100.0000
67.5674
46.3527
33.6275
25.7531
20.0000

100.0000
56.3594
37.8733
28.7834
23.6341
20.0000

20.0000
20.0000
20.0000
20.0000
20.0000
20.0000

Homework
Course: CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics)
Student Name: Ahmadreza Aminian

Prof.: Dr. Abedini

Student No. : 911056107

Resulting temperature contours are indicated in Fig.4.

Fig.4: Graphical contour of 1st case

2. The square plate with 2 insulated walls and 10-elemented meshing pattern:
Heat input of 100C remains acting on top wall, but 250C of temperature is feeding
from left side of the square plate. The 2 remaining sides (right and bottom) are insulated
at 20C. Square plate to be assumed 1m long and 1m wide. Step determined as 10, then

1000

10

100

So, in overall, there are 100 meshes generated and the temperature for 121 nodes2 must
be determined.
As the strategy for problem solving remains the same, the MATLAB code presented as
below:

No. of concerning nodes can be determined by relation below:

So, for horizontal step=vertical step=10, no. of the nodes determined as 121.
Page 5 of 11

Homework
Course: CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics)
Student Name: Ahmadreza Aminian

Prof.: Dr. Abedini

Student No. : 911056107

m=11; n=11;
T(1:m,1:n)=20; %Preliminary Values of 121 Points%
T(1,2:n-1)=100; %Boundary Condition of Top Side Heating%
T(1:m-1,1)=250; %Boundary Condition of Left Side Heating%
for k=1:1:inf
T0=T;
for i=2:m-1
for j=2:n-1
T(i,j)=(1/4)*(T(i-1,j)+T(i+1,j)+T(i,j-1)+T(i,j+1));
end
end
error=max(max(abs(T0-T)));
if error<1e-2
break
end
end
T
iteration=k
subplot(2,1,1),contour(T),title('Thermal Distribution in Steady
State'),xlabel('x'),ylabel('y'),colorbar
subplot(2,1,2),pcolor(T),shading interp,title('Thermal Distribution
(SS)'),xlabel('x'),ylabel('y'),colorbar

Resulted [T] matrix, after 70 iteration of solving, represented as below:

T =

Columns 1 through 8
250.0000
100.0000
250.0000
89.0695
250.0000
80.7654
250.0000
74.6369
250.0000
69.4464
250.0000
64.1107
250.0000
57.8813
250.0000
50.3254
250.0000
41.3119
250.0000
31.0311
20.0000
20.0000
Page 6 of 11

100.0000

100.0000

100.0000

100.0000

100.0000

100.0000

171.5535

138.5685

121.4501

110.7594

102.9345

96.1934

197.6507

161.2784

136.4820

118.6634

104.7953

92.7783

207.7786

172.4242

144.5508

122.6323

104.8199

89.3720

211.0491

176.1036

146.6823

122.5135

102.4975

85.2680

210.3246

174.2743

143.5798

118.2616

97.4073

79.7722

205.9848

167.1041

135.1187

109.5643

89.1157

72.3180

196.5195

153.0512

120.2418

95.7774

77.1883

62.5157

177.0486

128.3494

97.0313

76.1275

61.3556

50.2408

133.3299

86.2727

63.4136

50.3529

41.8730

35.7858

20.0000

20.0000

20.0000

20.0000

20.0000

20.0000

Homework
Course: CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics)
Student Name: Ahmadreza Aminian
Columns 9 through 11
100.0000
79.3260
66.5865
58.9756
53.7819
49.3544
44.7808
39.6000
33.6547
27.0281
20.0000

100.0000
61.6524
47.2853
40.9043
37.3587
34.7510
32.2933
29.6433
26.6812
23.4273
20.0000

20.0000
20.0000
20.0000
20.0000
20.0000
20.0000
20.0000
20.0000
20.0000
20.0000
20.0000

iteration =
70

The thermal distribution graphs are as indicated in Fig.5.

Fig.5: Graphical contour of 2nd case

Page 7 of 11

Prof.: Dr. Abedini

Student No. : 911056107

Homework
Course: CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics)
Student Name: Ahmadreza Aminian

Prof.: Dr. Abedini

Student No. : 911056107

3. The square plate with no insulated walls and 20-elemented meshing pattern:
Heat input values are of 100, 250, 400, and 500C for top, left, right, and bottom sides,
respectively. Preliminary temperature of all nodes remains at 20C. Square plate to be
assumed 1m long and 1m wide. Step determined as 20, then

1000

20

50

So, in overall, there are 400 meshes generated and the temperature for 441 nodes3 must
be determined.
As the strategy for problem solving remains the same, the MATLAB code presented as
below:
m=21; n=21;
T(1:m,1:n)=20; %Preliminary Values of 121 Points%
T(1,1:n)=100; %Boundary Condition of Top Side Heating%
T(2:m-1,1)=250; %Boundary Condition of Left Side Heating%
T(m,1:n)=500; %Boundary Condition of Bottom Side Heating%
T(2:m-1,n)=400; %Boundary Condition of Right Side Heating%
for k=1:1:inf
T0=T;
for i=2:m-1
for j=2:n-1
T(i,j)=(1/4)*(T(i-1,j)+T(i+1,j)+T(i,j-1)+T(i,j+1));
end
end
error=max(max(abs(T0-T)));
if error<1e-2
break
end
end
T
iteration=k
subplot(2,1,1),contour(T),title('Thermal Distribution in Steady
State'),xlabel('x'),ylabel('y'),colorbar
subplot(2,1,2),pcolor(T),shading interp,title('Thermal Distribution
(SS)'),xlabel('x'),ylabel('y'),colorbar

After 289 iteration of solving, the [T] matrix resulted provided as below:

No. of concerning nodes can be determined by relation below:

So, for horizontal step=vertical step=20, no. of the nodes determined as 441.
Page 8 of 11

Homework
Course: CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics)
Student Name: Ahmadreza Aminian

Prof.: Dr. Abedini

Student No. : 911056107

T =
Columns 1 through 8
100.0000
100.0000
250.0000
124.2785
250.0000
147.9173
250.0000
170.4348
250.0000
191.5708
250.0000
211.2674
250.0000
229.6166
250.0000
246.8097
250.0000
263.0991
250.0000
278.7752
250.0000
294.1528
250.0000
309.5651
250.0000
325.3601
250.0000
341.8964
250.0000
359.5347
250.0000
378.6181
250.0000
399.4357
250.0000
422.1610
250.0000
446.7665
250.0000
472.9317
500.0000
500.0000

100.0000

100.0000

100.0000

100.0000

100.0000

100.0000

176.4973

148.3465

135.9009

129.7696

126.5794

124.9566

207.6437

180.9900

165.4903

156.6013

151.5955

148.9728

223.0895

202.4828

188.4734

179.5555

174.2351

171.4289

232.2342

217.3828

206.3713

198.9196

194.3693

192.0826

238.4680

228.4487

220.7169

215.3917

212.2509

210.9734

243.1930

237.2334

232.6648

229.6901

228.2818

228.3067

247.0750

244.6345

243.0284

242.4343

242.8932

244.3705

250.4774

251.2090

252.3905

254.1383

256.5014

259.4889

253.6305

257.3417

261.1971

265.2405

269.5005

274.0018

256.7081

263.3382

269.8270

276.1396

282.2742

288.2599

259.8689

269.4841

278.6439

287.2304

295.2122

302.6281

263.2882

276.0932

288.0446

298.9389

308.7310

317.4918

267.1952

283.5635

298.5122

311.7617

323.2954

333.2636

271.9332

292.4602

310.6881

326.3115

339.4380

350.3850

278.0813

303.6620

325.4765

343.3680

357.7714

369.3162

286.7329

318.6352

344.1947

363.9209

378.9731

390.5007

300.2178

339.9552

368.7515

389.1546

403.7069

414.2865

324.1851

372.2192

401.7053

420.2439

432.4191

440.7833

374.3044

423.0330

445.6092

457.6994

464.9455

469.6648

500.0000

500.0000

500.0000

500.0000

500.0000

500.0000

Columns 9 through 16
100.0000
100.0000
124.2450
141.4381
147.9911
179.8078

Page 9 of 11

100.0000

100.0000

100.0000

100.0000

100.0000

100.0000

124.7152

125.6434

127.0556

129.0510

131.8264

135.7376

148.9775

150.8079

153.5330

157.3266

162.5212

169.6895

Homework
Course: CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics)
Student Name: Ahmadreza Aminian
170.8326
213.5306
192.5113
242.3740
212.9236
266.8372
232.0992
287.6785
250.1702
305.6696
267.3411
321.4999
283.8657
335.7567
300.0294
348.9369
316.1373
361.4676
332.5037
373.7279
349.4425
386.0694
367.2527
398.8320
386.1972
412.3547
406.4718
426.9748
428.1619
442.9997
451.1941
460.6293
475.2968
479.8031
500.0000
500.0000

Prof.: Dr. Abedini

Student No. : 911056107

172.4041

175.0858

178.9496

184.2086

191.2492

200.6973

194.7316

198.1926

202.9816

209.3188

217.5788

228.3280

215.8320

219.9848

225.4784

232.5184

241.4303

252.6717

235.7037

240.4519

246.4437

253.8601

262.9653

274.1027

254.4491

259.6926

266.0009

273.5287

282.4822

293.1079

272.2486

277.8871

284.3563

291.7883

300.3420

310.1906

289.3364

295.2700

301.7672

308.9436

316.9229

325.8263

305.9811

312.1086

318.5177

325.3135

332.5955

340.4492

322.4692

328.6850

334.8998

341.2147

347.7122

354.4519

339.0923

345.2807

351.1995

356.9501

362.6018

368.1920

356.1331

362.1633

367.6842

372.7998

377.5672

381.9989

373.8502

379.5710

384.5894

389.0121

392.8813

396.1785

392.4581

397.6950

402.1036

405.7904

408.7788

411.0118

412.1018

416.6591

420.3509

423.2777

425.4414

426.7434

432.8275

436.4980

439.3722

441.5364

442.9734

443.5525

454.5551

457.1401

459.1100

460.5285

461.3689

461.4981

477.0629

478.4012

479.4030

480.1023

480.4787

480.4447

500.0000

500.0000

500.0000

500.0000

500.0000

500.0000

100.0000
250.6764
310.6540
339.2343
355.2133
365.3617
372.4659
377.8279
382.1302
385.7695
389.0008
392.0075
394.9403
397.9471
401.2050
404.9738
409.7108
416.3616
427.1946

100.0000
400.0000
400.0000
400.0000
400.0000
400.0000
400.0000
400.0000
400.0000
400.0000
400.0000
400.0000
400.0000
400.0000
400.0000
400.0000
400.0000
400.0000
400.0000

Columns 17 through 21
100.0000
150.2103
194.5782
231.2498
260.8086
284.6342
304.1151
320.4034
334.3943
346.7757
358.0860
368.7648
379.1933
389.7286
400.7337
412.6075
425.8070
440.8462
458.2187
Page 10 of 11

100.0000
164.8274
217.0490
256.0872
284.9832
306.7833
323.7528
337.4436
348.9078
358.8752
367.8758
376.3212
384.5604
392.9253
401.7736
411.5402
422.8039
436.3628
453.2621

100.0000
192.0522
252.7061
291.0709
316.2583
333.7688
346.6751
356.7168
364.9247
371.9483
378.2277
384.0901
389.8079
395.6443
401.9000
408.9800
417.5086
428.5414
443.9338

Homework
Course: CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics)
Student Name: Ahmadreza Aminian
478.1389
500.0000

474.5346
500.0000

466.7378
500.0000

448.4831
500.0000

Prof.: Dr. Abedini

Student No. : 911056107
400.0000
500.0000

iteration =
289

Thermal graphs are represented in Fig.6:

Fig.6: Graphical contour of 3rd case

References:
1. Y.A. engel, Heat and Mass Transfer; a Practical Approach, 2nd ed., McGraw-Hill, 2002, pp
301-302.

Page 11 of 11