A method to solve conjugate heat transfer problems: the case of fully developed laminar flow in a pipe

A simple fast and general technique combining the superposition principle with a finite element method is proposed to deal with conjugate heat transfer problems. The method is employed to consider the wall conduction effect on heat transfer to fully developed laminar flow through a pipe whose exterior boundary is uniformly heated along a finite length. Results are given for two values of each of the four parameters determining the relative importance of axial conduction: the Péclet number, the wall to fluid conductivity ratio, and the dimensionless thick ness and length of the heated section of the pipe.