Journal of Applied Mathematics
Volume 2013 (2013), Article ID 987327, 8 pages
http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2013/987327
Research Article

Asymptotic and Dynamical Analyses of Heat Transfer through a Rectangular Longitudinal Fin

C. Harley

Centre for Differential Equations, Continuum Mechanics and Applications, School of Computational and Applied Mathematics, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, Private Bag 3, Wits 2050, South Africa

Received 12 November 2012; Accepted 19 November 2012

Academic Editor: Fazal M. Mahomed

Copyright © 2013 C. Harley. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

The steady heat transfer through a rectangular longitudinal fin is studied. The thermal conductivity and heat transfer coefficient are assumed to be temperature dependent making the resulting ordinary differential equation (ODE) highly nonlinear. An asymptotic solution is used as a means of understanding the relationship between key parameters. A dynamical analysis is also employed for the same purpose.