Theoretical Investigation of a Cascaded Fin Thermal Behavior Using MATLAB and Symbolic Math Toolbox

Thermal behavior of cascaded rectangular-triangular fin is analytically and numerically investigated using MATLAB. Three different methods of solution are implemented in this study. First, an analytical closed form solution of the problem underconsideration is obtained manually since the governing equations and their boundary conditions are linear. Second, the solution is developed in symbolic form using MATLAB symbolic toolbox and compared with developed closed form analytical solution. Third, a two-dimensional form of the problem at hand is solved using finite elements method via MATLAB’s PDE (partial differential equation) toolbox and compared with analytical solution. The results of this study show that MATLAB can be used effectively and efficiently to solve challenging heat transfer problems.