Inverse analysis of conductive-convective wet triangular fin for predicting thermal properties and fin dimensions

Abstract

The present work deals with the application of Homotopy Analysis Method (HAM) in conjunction with Nelder–Mead simplex search method (SSM) to study a triangular wet fin. At first, analytical expression has been derived using HAM to calculate the local temperature field. Then using SSM, the important parameters, namely, thermal conductivity of the material, surface heat transfer coefficient and dimensions of the fin, have been estimated separately for attaining the prescribed temperature field. The transport phenomena involve simultaneous heat and mass transfers. It is found from the present study that many feasible solutions can satisfy a given thermal condition, which will offer the flexibility in selecting the fin material, adjusting the thermal conditions and regulating the fin dimensions. Further, it is determined that the allowable error in the temperature measurement should be limited within ± 15% and a good reconstruction of the temperature field is possible using the HAM–SSM combination.