Heat transfer analysis of a circular pipe heated internally with a cyclic moving heat source

Moving heat source (MHS) problems are widely encountered in many engineering applications. In this paper, transient heat transfer of a circular pipe subjected to an internal cyclic expanding heat source is investigated. The right boundary of the heat source moves from its original position to the end of the circular pipe in a few milliseconds, during which the inner wall is under forced convective heating and then the pipe is under natural cooling for a few seconds. This is called a cycle. A finite volume method is used to analyze the transient heat transfer of the pipe under this cyclic thermal loading. Temperature responses, heat flux responses and temperature distributions are presented to show the thermal characteristics of such a pipe. Results show that the inner wall is under intense thermal impact and a large temperature gradient occurs in the region near the inner wall. The effect of exterior water cooling method on the heat transfer in the pipe is investigated. Predictions show that this method can reduce the growth trend of the peak temperature of the inner wall and take much heat away that stored in the pipe.