Effects of Internal Heat Generation on the Thermal Stability of a Porous Fin

In this study, the effects of internal heat generation on thermal stability of porous fin is theoretical investigated using differential transform method. The parametric studies reveal increase in the internal heat generation leads to increase in the value or the range of the thermal stability of the fin. The internal heat generation can be used to control the thermal instability in the fin. Also, as the porosity parameter increase, the rate of heat transfer from the base of the fin and consequently improve the efficiency of the fin increase. However, a high value or an excessive internal heat generation results in an undesirable situation where some of the heat energy cannot escape to the sink and instead ends up flowing into the prime surface and the fin tends to store heat rather than dissipating it. This scenario defeats the prime purpose of the cooling fin. Therefore, the operational parameters must be carefully selected to ensure that the fin retains its primary purpose of removing heat from the primary surface.