A generalized variational formulation for convective heat transfer

The scope of this paper is to develop the basic equations for a variational formulation which can be used to solve problems related to convection and/or diffusion dominated flows. The formulation is based on the introduction of a generalized quantity defined as the heat displacement. The governing equation is expressed in terms of this quantity and a variational formulation is developed which leads to a system of equations similar in form to Lagrange's equations of mechanics. These equations can be used for obtaining approximate solutions, though they are of particular interest for application of the finite element method. As an example of the formulation two finite element models are derived for solving convection-diffusion boundary value problems. The performance of the two models is investigated and numerical results are given for different cases of convection and diffusion with two types of boundary conditions. The applications of the developed formulations are not limited to convection-diffusion problems but can also be applied to other types of problems such as mass transfer, hydrodynamics and wave propagation.