Periodic laminar forced convection:: solution via symbolic computation and integral transforms

Transient laminar forced convection within the thermal entrance region of parallel-plate channels is analytically solved for by making use of the Generalized Integral Transform Technique (GITT) and mixed symbolic-numerical computation (Mathematica 3.0 system). The physical situation involves a periodic variation in time of the fluid inlet temperature, together with a fifth kind boundary condition at the channel walls that includes external convection and wall thermal capacitance effects. A mixed symbolic-numeric algorithm is constructed, which provides fully automatic derivation of all the analytical steps and offers a straightforward visualization of the numerical results, in both tabular and graphical forms. Amplitudes and phase lags of the system thermal response are then presented and interpreted, while critically compared with previously reported results. (C) Elsevier, Paris.