Generalized laminar heat transfer from the surface of a rotating disk

The energy equation for the laminar incompressible flow induced by a large spinning disk is solved numerically for the three-dimensional temperature field generated by a diametrical, sector-shaped heat source located at the disk surface which is otherwise adiabatic. The heating is assumed to be sufficiently mild so as not to disturb the velocity field. Consequently, natural convection effects, as well as viscous dissipation heating, are neglected. The simple overrelaxation technique may be applied to obtain solutions for any specified radial and/or tangential distributions of surface temperature or heat flux. Results obtained for various Prandtl numbers and source angles indicate the existence of a conduction dominated region at low Reynolds numbers and a convection dominated region at high Reynolds numbers. Correlation between the local surface heat flux and the tangential wall shear stress is also given.