Forced Convection Heat Transfer in a Finitely Conducting Externally Finned Pipe

A numerical study to determine the influence of axial wall conduction on forced convection heat transfer in an externally finned pipe has been made. The effects of wall conductivity, interfin spacing, and external heat transfer coefficient are examined by comparing the results with the corresponding solutions obtained assuming negligible wall conduction. Results indicate that the axial conduction in the pipe walls has a significant influence on the heat transfer behavior. The bulk temperature or the heat transferred to the fluid is underestimated when wall conduction is ignored. At high wall conductivity values, the wall temperatures and Nusselt numbers exhibit a monotonic variation in the axial direction, with the behavior becoming increasingly nonmonotonic as the wall conductivity value is decreased.