Abstract
Most of us, engineers have, or will model or simulate project(s) or portions of projects. A couple of articles introduced computational methods using MS Excel. Three rectangular cross section conduction heat transfer computational cases using Microsoft Excel have been discussed in detail, in the first article. With the realization that circular cross sections such as cylinders, pipes, rods, etc. have unlimited applications in engineering practice, the second article addressed four computational heat transfer cases for circular cross sections using Microsoft Excel. These four circular cross section cases were modeled with two different Excel techniques and discussed. Unfortunately, both articles addressed only constant thermal properties.
Thermal properties dependent on temperature are included in all seven models introduced in this article. The first two models are rectangular with isothermal boundaries and variable properties for two different materials. The third and fourth models are for circular cross sections with isothermal boundary conditions, though they are modeled with two different methods. Model 5 is rectangular cross section with different boundary conditions, it has two versions one is approximate. Model 6 includes internal convective flow, where the heat transfer coefficient depends on variable thermal properties. Finally, Model 7 includes a heat source. The details of each model, derivation of equations and computations are discussed in this article.
