Mediaspace scheduled maintenance: Aug 25, 2026 07:00 - 12:00 AM. During this time, videos will be temporarily unavailable. Check status updates.

Lecture

Heat Diffusion Equation

In course

ME-341: Heat and mass transfer

This course covers fundamentals of heat transfer and applications to practical problems. Emphasis will be on developing a physical and analytical understanding of conductive, convective, and radiative heat transfer. ...

Description

This lecture covers the heat diffusion equation, thermal conductivity, diffusivity, and transport laws including conduction, convection, and radiation. It explains the derivation of the general heat diffusion equation, material properties, and solutions in 1D and 3D scenarios.

This video is available exclusively on Mediaspace for a restricted audience. Please log in to MediaSpace to access it if you have the necessary permissions.

Watch on Mediaspace

Instructor

Giulia Tagliabue

Dr. Giulia Tagliabue is an Assistant Professor at the Institute of Mechanical Engineering (IGM). She obtained her B.S. and M.S degrees cum laude in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Udine in Italy. Concurrently she also obtained the diploma from the Scuola Normale Superiore of Udine. In 2015 she obtained her PhD in Mechanical Engineering from ETH Zurich with a thesis on nanophotonic design for light-to-heat and light-to-charge conversion devices. In 2015 Dr. Tagliabue was awarded the Early Mobility Fellowship from the Swiss National Science Foundation and moved to Caltech as a PostDoctoral fellow. In 2017, thanks to the award of an Advanced Mobility Fellowship, she prolonged her stay at Caltech. Here, in collaboration with the Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis (JCAP) she investigated coupled light, heat and charge transfer processes in nanophotonic structures and low-dimensional materials for photoelectrochemical and photovoltaic sustainable energy conversion.

Official source

Related concepts (32)

Thermal conduction

Conduction is the process by which heat is transferred from the hotter end to the colder end of an object. The ability of the object to conduct heat is known as its thermal conductivity, and is denoted k. Heat spontaneously flows along a temperature gradient (i.e. from a hotter body to a colder body). For example, heat is conducted from the hotplate of an electric stove to the bottom of a saucepan in contact with it.

Heat equation

In mathematics and physics, the heat equation is a certain partial differential equation. Solutions of the heat equation are sometimes known as caloric functions. The theory of the heat equation was first developed by Joseph Fourier in 1822 for the purpose of modeling how a quantity such as heat diffuses through a given region. As the prototypical parabolic partial differential equation, the heat equation is among the most widely studied topics in pure mathematics, and its analysis is regarded as fundamental to the broader field of partial differential equations.

Thermal conductivity

The thermal conductivity of a material is a measure of its ability to conduct heat. It is commonly denoted by , , or . Heat transfer occurs at a lower rate in materials of low thermal conductivity than in materials of high thermal conductivity. For instance, metals typically have high thermal conductivity and are very efficient at conducting heat, while the opposite is true for insulating materials like mineral wool or Styrofoam.

Convection (heat transfer)

Convection (or convective heat transfer) is the transfer of heat from one place to another due to the movement of fluid. Although often discussed as a distinct method of heat transfer, convective heat transfer involves the combined processes of conduction (heat diffusion) and advection (heat transfer by bulk fluid flow). Convection is usually the dominant form of heat transfer in liquids and gases. Note that this definition of convection is only applicable in Heat transfer and thermodynamic contexts.

Convection–diffusion equation

The convection–diffusion equation is a combination of the diffusion and convection (advection) equations, and describes physical phenomena where particles, energy, or other physical quantities are transferred inside a physical system due to two processes: diffusion and convection. Depending on context, the same equation can be called the advection–diffusion equation, drift–diffusion equation, or (generic) scalar transport equation.

Related lectures (45)

Heat transport: Conduction, Convection, Radiation

Explores heat transport through conduction, convection, and radiation in micro and nanosystems.

Thermal Transport & Steady-state

Explores thermal transport, equilibrium, and heat flux in fluids.

Diffusion: Macroscopic View

Explores diffusion from a macroscopic perspective, emphasizing the derivation of the diffusion equation through mass conservation and fixed flux law.

Heat Transfer Processes

Covers the fundamentals of heat transfer processes, including convection, conduction, and radiation.

Heat: Transport and Boundary Conditions