This calculation allows the user to explore the effects of thermal boundary conditions and thermal conductivity in a simple, plane wall geometry. The user selects one of the three supplied thermal boundary conditions (fixed temperature (Dirichlet), specified heat flux (including the adiabatic condition) (Neumann) and convective boundary (Robin)), supplies numerical values of any parameters and performs the calculation. The resulting temperature distribution in the wall, computed using Fourier’s Law, is displayed.

Module Description

This module includes a library of typical materials, including photos and the corresponding magnitudes of the thermal conductivity.    Since the thermal conductivity can vary by a factor on the order of a million, dramatic differences in the solutions are readily apparent.

Thermal conductivity form