Skip to Main Content
Energy and Mass Transfers
book

Energy and Mass Transfers

by Abdelhanine Benallou
August 2018
Beginner to intermediate content levelBeginner to intermediate
356 pages
6h 28m
English
Wiley-ISTE
Content preview from Energy and Mass Transfers

4 Dimensional Analysis

4.1. Introduction

Various physical phenomena of interest to engineering are described by a number of magnitudes, laws and equations that sometimes involve several parameters. The values of these parameters define the state of the system (Langhaar, 1951).

For example, we saw in Chapter 2 that the magnitude “heat flux transmitted by conduction” depends on a closely-defined set of parameters: the heat conductivity of the material considered, the transfer area and the temperature gradient.

Yet, generally speaking, when we come to study a phenomenon for the first time, in principle we do not tend to know the set of parameters concerned. We therefore apply common sense and physical analysis of the transformations underway, in order to deduce the parameters that could potentially influence the phenomenon being studied.

Nevertheless, this physical analysis is often not enough to be able to determine all of the parameters that can be involved, all the more so when defining the relation that has to exist between these parameters and the magnitude studied.

Put simply, dimensional analysis is, firstly, a technique for defining the dimensions (temperature, length, mass, time, etc.) occurring in a given magnitude. Velocity, for example, involves the dimensions “length” and “time”. Secondly, this technique can be be used to reveal the relations that describe a given physical phenomenon.

Dimensional analysis is thus used as a mathematical technique to methodically ...

Become an O’Reilly member and get unlimited access to this title plus top books and audiobooks from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers, thousands of courses curated by job role, 150+ live events each month,
and much more.
Start your free trial

You might also like

Energy Storage, 2nd Edition

Energy Storage, 2nd Edition

Ralph Zito, Haleh Ardebili
Diffusion and Mass Transfer

Diffusion and Mass Transfer

James S. Vrentas, Christine M. Vrentas
Combined Cooling, Heating and Power

Combined Cooling, Heating and Power

Masood Ebrahimi, Ali Keshavarz

Publisher Resources

ISBN: 9781786302748