Description
A hot surface losses heat (heat is transferred) to its surroundings by the combined modes of convection and radiation. In practice these modes are difficult to isolate, so an analysis of the combined effects at varying surface temperature and air velocity over the surface provides a meaningful teaching exercise.
The heated surface studied is a horizontal cylinder, which can be operated in free convection or forced convection when located in the stream of moving air. Measurement of the surface temperature of the uniformly heated cylinder and the electrical power supplied to it enables the combined effects of radiation and convection to be compared with theoretical values. The dominance of convection at lower surface temperatures and the dominance of radiation at higher surface temperatures can be demonstrated as can the increase in heat transfer due to forced convection.