The problems consiste in determining the temperature variation along a bar of length $l$ at any instant of time, given the initial gradient of temperature.
The problem is described by the “Heat Equation” that can be derived as follows:
At any instant of time, the heat flow through the bar equals the variatioon of energy inside the bar: $$\mathrm{Heat\,\,Flow=Variation\,\,of\,\,internal\,\,energy}$$ or $$\nabla \cdot Q = -\frac{dE}{dt}.$$ The variation of the internal energy is given by the body’s ability to store heat by raising its temperature: $$\frac{dE}{dt} = \rho c \frac{dT}{dt},$$ where $\rho$ is the density, and $c$ is the specific heat of the material. Fourier’s Law of heat conduction states that $$Q=-K\nabla T,$$ where $K$ is the thermal conductivity. Hence, we obtain $$\nabla \cdot \left( K \nabla T\right) = \rho c \frac{dT}{dt},$$ or $$\frac{dT}{dt}=\alpha \nabla^2T,$$ with $\alpha = K/(c\rho)$. In 1d this equation is written $$\frac{\partial T(x,t)}{\partial t} = \alpha \frac{\partial ^2T}{\partial x^2}. $$ We must solve this equation given the initial condition $$T(x,t=0) = f(x)\,\,\,\mathrm{(initial\,\,condition)} $$ and the boundary condition $$\begin{eqnarray} T(x=0,t) &=& T_1, \\ T(x=l,t) &=& T_2. \end{eqnarray}$$
The numerical solution is based on converting the differential equation into an approximate finite-diffence one. Following a derivation similar to the one we used for the wave equation we approximate the derivatives by finite differences: $$\begin{eqnarray} \frac{\partial T}{\partial t} &=& \frac{T(x,t+\Delta t)-T(x,t)}{\Delta t}, \\ \frac{\partial^2 T}{\partial x^2} &=& \frac{T(x+\Delta x,t)+T(x-\Delta x,t)- 2T(x,t)}{(\Delta x)^2}.\end{eqnarray}$$
Replacing in [heat_1d] we obtain the discrete equivalent: $$T(x,t+\Delta t)=T(x,t)+\frac{\alpha}{C}\left[T(x+\delta x,t)+T(x-\Delta x,t) -2T(x,t) \right], $$ with the constant $C=(\Delta x)^2/\Delta t$. We see in Fig. [heat_dif] that the temperature at the point $(x, t+\Delta t)$ is determined by the temperatures at three points of the previous time step. The boundary conditions impose fixed values along the perimeter. The initial condition [heat_ini] is used to generate the temperature gradient at time $t=\Delta t$, and the equation [heat1d_discrete] is used for the time evolution.
The stability condition for a numerical solution is iven by $$\alpha\frac{\Delta t}{(\Delta x)^2} \leq \frac{1}{4}.$$ This means that if we make the time step smaller we improve convergence, but if we decrease the space step without a simultaneous quadratic increase of the time step, we worsen it.
Solve the temperature distribution within an iron bar of length $l=50$cm with the boundary conditions $$T(x=0,t)=T(x=l,t)=0,$$ and initial conditions $$T(x,t=0)=100^{\circ}\mathrm{C}.$$ The corresponding constants for iron are: $$c=0.113 \mathrm{cal/(g^{\circ} C)},\,\, K=0.12 \mathrm{cal/(sg^{\circ}C)}, \,\,\rho=7.8 \mathrm{g/cc}.$$
Write the program to solve the heat flow equation using the finite differences method
Plot the temperature gradient along the bar at different instants of time. Use 100 space divissions for the calculation. Choose an appropiate time step such that the numerical solution is stable. Check that the temperature diverges with time is the constant $c$ is made larger that $0.5$.
Repeat the calculation for aluminum, $c=0.217cal/(g^{\circ}C)$, $K=0.49 cal/(g^{\circ}C)$, $\rho=2.7g/cc$. Note that the stability condition requires you to change the size of the time step.
Analize and compare the results for both materials. The shape of the curves may be the same but not the scale. Which bar cools faster and why?
Pick a sinusoidal initial gradient: $$T(x,t=0)=\sin{(\pi x/l)}.$$ Compare with the analytic solution $$T(x,t)=\sin{(\frac{\pi x}{l})}e^{\pi^2\alpha t/l^2}.$$
Two identical bars, 25cm long each, are incontact. One bar is initially at $50^{\circ}C$, and the other at $100^{\circ}C$. The free ends are kept at $0^{\circ}C$. Calculate and plot the temperature distribution as a function of time.
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