How Can I Accurately Model Heat Transfer in a Simplified Hydraulic Press Setup?

[gorygod]

Hi all,

This is my first post in PF. This is a heat transfer problem.I have started to learn the basics of Heat transfer (I'm in 3rd yr engg).My project coordinator has allocated a problem and I'm having tough time solving it.

The Problem statement :(Pl find the attached images)

The setup is a hydraulic press for curing rubber and plastics.(the setup is greatly simplified to show thermal related aspects).

The problem is a two dimensional (Axial and Radial),Steady state heat transfer with no internal heat generation.

There is a mould,which is heated axially by heater plates and also radially by jackets.

The mould is housed by a mould container which has got an insulation scheme(Pl find in image)

The heater plates are insulated from support plates by insulator material.

There is a rectangular cutout in the mould housing which is a provision for plate heating fluid hose.

The known parameters are Mould surface temperature , Heater plate surface temperature and ambient temperature @ steady state.

The objective is to find the temperature on the surface of mould container and the top surface of support plate.(T1 and T2 in image)

Approach:
1) for axial heat transfer(Via heater plate to support plate) I considered it as a wall problem since all the the dimensions and thermal conductivity values were known.
2) for radial heat transfer i considered it as concentric cylinder problem.I have also considered radiation from mould to aluminium sheet and from mould container to outside(Pl refer attached image).

I will provide the calculations if wanted.

For both the approaches I assumed h (Convective heat transfer coefficient value) based on air velocity.Is that correct ?

The greatest problem I'm facing is the presence of square cut out. Since heat is directly lost by convection and radiation via cut out,I cannot correctly predict how much heat from mould will be transferred to the aluminium sheet.

I have tried looking for solutions in Heat transfer books but I'm not sure how to fit the problem of flow over vertical cylinder with cutout with standard models.

My co-ordinator wants a Theoretical calculation to roughly predict some values before going to FEA.

Can anyone help me.Please provide some references,case studies or documents

Sorry for a long post.And forgive me if i have misstated or under stated something.I'll explain with more clarity if needed.

Thanks for patiently going through my post.

Thanks in advance

 

[gorygod]

Is my Description of the Problem not proper ?.I'll correct it in my next post.Please Reply

 

[gorygod]

Is there something wrong with my question .Is it the way I have asked or have I posted it in a wrong Forum ? please reply.I'm new to this. I'll correct myself based on some feedback.

 

[gorygod]

Not even a single reply even for courtesy.Do PF members think I'm an Idiot ?
I did not ask for solution.What I asked after all was some guidance.I tried my best and I'm trying even harder.Even my professors are struggling to help me.I'm still confident that many members and mentors are brilliant enough to crack this one.If I have done any thing wrong pls write back again so i can correct myself.But this surely is not a way to deal a post.
Regards
gorygod