Amy Faville
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, New York, 14260 USA
Matthew Burge
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, New York, 14260 USA
A heat transfer experiment was performed by the undergraduate Aerospace Engineering Laboratory class at the University at Buffalo to measure the natural convection heat transfer coefficient of lumped 3D objects and investigate the significance of their geometric differences. Using an infrared camera, temperature decay of heated objects was measured passively over time. The data was fit with an exponential curve, and the natural convection heat transfer coefficient was extrapolated from the trend while accounting for the conduction into the supporting surface and compared to theory. This process was used to investigate the applicability of a simplifying model that approximates non-spherical objects as spherical with equivalent diameters. The subsequent analysis offers insight into the common physical behaviors of objects with different shapes, illustrating a fundamental nature of heat transfer in a hands-on setting.