Steady-State 1D Conduction through a Composite Wall

layer conductivity in W/m K
k 1	Plywood, 0.13
k 2	Plywood, 0.13
k 3	Plywood, 0.13
k 4	Slate, 2.01
k 5	Hardwoods, 0.16

environmental parameters

q, W/

2

m

25

T

0

, °C

25

layer thickness in mm

x

1

4.79

x

2

5

x

3

5

x

4

5

x

5

5

wall:

The purpose of this Demonstration is to illustrate the relationship between heat transfer and thermal conductivity

k

of a material by applying Fourier's law,

q=-kA

dT

dx

, to plot the temperature

T

versus the position

x

through the depth of a multilayer wall. You can vary the total heat surface heat flux

q

conducted through the multilayer wall and the surface temperature at the far left side of the wall,

T

0

. The wall has a constant cross-sectional area

A

in square meters in the

x

direction. You can select different materials and their thicknesses for five layers of the wall, denoting

k

i

as the thermal conductivity of layer

i

. Given this information, it is possible to determine the temperature profile through the wall, showing the interior temperature at each location.