Solved with COMSOL Multiphysics 5.

Suns Radiation Effect on Two

Coolers Placed Under a Parasol
Introduction
A warm sunny day at the beach can be more enjoyable with a steady supply of frosty
beverages. This example considers two Styrofoam coolers containing cold beverage
cans sitting on a sandy beach. A parasol provides partial shade for one of the coolers
over the course of the day. The difference in beverage temperature over time is
computed. This tutorial demonstrates the usage of the external radiation source
boundary condition, as well as how to model structures exposed to ambient
conditions.

Figure 1: A parasol provides shade on the beach. Two Styrofoam coolers contain beverage
cans that should remain as cold as possible.

Model Definition
A system of a parasol and two coolers is modeled as shown in Figure 1. The coolers,
made of Styrofoam, contain six beverage cans each. The beverage cans are represented
by water-filled cylinders with walls modeled as thin thermally resistive layers of

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aluminum. Because a slit is defined for the temperature on the walls, the temperature
can differ between the inner and outer faces. This is used to define initial conditions
that are discontinuous between the exterior and interior can surfaces. Because
aluminum has higher thermal conductivity than the surrounding materials, the thin
thermally resistive layer condition behaves like a continuity condition as soon as the
initial temperature difference vanishes. The initial can temperature is 1 C. The spacing
between the cans and the cooler walls is small, so the model neglects free convection
inside the cooler for simplicity.

The parasol primarily provides shade but otherwise has no significant thermal effect on
the beverage temperature. For this reason, it is not too important to have a high fidelity
model of the parasol. It is only the shadow cast by the parasol that contributes to the
beverage temperature profile. The material used for the parasol is acrylic plastic.

The primary source of heat in this model is the solar irradiation, which is included
using the External Radiation Source feature. This feature uses the longitude, latitude,
time zone, time of year, and time of day to compute the direction of the incident solar
radiation over the simulation time. A sunny location at the equator in the middle of
the Pacific ocean is chosen for this analysis. Assuming no cloud cover, the solar flux at
the surface is about 1000 W/m2. All of the ambient surfaces of the model are included
in the solar loading calculation, and shadowing effects are included.

The temperature of the sun is about 5800 K, and it emits primarily short-wavelength
infrared and visible light at wavelengths shorter than 2.5 microns. The fraction of this
short-wavelength solar radiation that is absorbed by the various materials is quantified
by the solar absorptivity. Because the surfaces are at a much lower temperature, they
reradiate in the long-wavelength infrared band, at wavelengths above 2.5 microns, and
the fraction of reradiated energy is quantified by the surface emissivity. The solar and
ambient wavelength dependence of emissivity model is used to account for differing
emissivities in different wavelength bands.

There are three ambient temperature conditions in this model. First, the ground at 1 m
below the sand surface is assumed to be at a constant temperature of 27 C throughout
the day, corresponding to the average water temperature at this location.

The second ambient condition is the surrounding air temperature. There exists a
combination of free and forced convection, due to wind, from all exposed surfaces to
the ambient air, the temperature of which is assumed to vary sinusoidally through the
day. In this application, the Convective Heat Flux boundary condition uses a bulk heat
transfer coefficient of 20 W/(m2K) for all exposed surfaces.

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The third boundary condition is the radiative view factor to ambient. The gray body
radiative view factors are computed between all exposed faces in the model, and
radiative heat transfer is computed between these faces. However, these computed
view factors do not sum to unity. There is a significant view factor to surrounding
regions that is not modeled; this is the residual view factor. The temperature of the
ambient is the same as the ambient air temperature.

Results and Discussion

Figure 2 plots the temperature profile at 4 p.m. Observe the decrease of temperature
where the parasol shade stands.

Figure 2: Temperature distribution.

Figure 3 plots the temperature of the beverage inside two of the cans. This shows
clearly the advantage of placing the cooler in the shade. At 2 p.m., the parasol shade

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starts to leave the cooler corresponding to the green curve, which is responsible for the
sudden variation in the temperature increase at that moment.

Figure 3: Beverage temperature over time inside of the two coolers at the left side of the
parasol (blue curve) and at the right side (green curve).

Reference
1. F.P. Incropera, D.P. DeWitt, T.L. Bergman, and A.S. Lavine, Fundamentals of
Heat and Mass Transfer, 6th ed., John Wiley & Sons, 2006.

Application Library path: Heat_Transfer_Module/Thermal_Radiation/

parasol

Modeling Instructions
From the File menu, choose New.

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NEW
1 In the New window, click Model Wizard.

MODEL WIZARD
1 In the Model Wizard window, click 3D.
2 In the Select physics tree, select Heat Transfer>Radiation>Heat Transfer with
Surface-to-Surface Radiation (ht).
3 Click Add.
4 Click Study.
5 In the Select study tree, select Preset Studies>Time Dependent.
6 Click Done.

GEOMETRY 1
Define an analytic function for the time-dependent ambient temperature.

GLOBAL DEFINITIONS

Parameters
1 On the Home toolbar, click Parameters.
2 In the Settings window for Parameters, locate the Parameters section.
3 In the table, enter the following settings:

Name Expression Value Description

Tavg 27[degC] 300.2 K Average ambient
temperature
dT 3[K] 3K Half diurnal
temperature variation
coordLat 0 0 Latitude
coordLong -176.5 -176.5 Longitude
coordTime 12 12 Time zone
zone
dateDay 1 1 Day
dateMonth 1 1 Month
dateYear 2012 2012 Year

Analytic 1 (an1)
1 On the Home toolbar, click Functions and choose Global>Analytic.
2 In the Settings window for Analytic, type T_ambient in the Function name text field.

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3 Locate the Definition section. In the Expression text field, type Tavg[1/K]+dT[1/
K]*cos(2*pi*(x-14)/24).
4 Locate the Units section. In the Arguments text field, type h.
5 In the Function text field, type K.
6 Locate the Plot Parameters section. In the table, enter the following settings:

Argument Lower limit Upper limit

x 0 24*3600

7 Click the Plot button.

GEOMETRY 1

Block 1 (blk1)
1 On the Geometry toolbar, click Block.
2 In the Settings window for Block, locate the Size and Shape section.
3 In the Width text field, type 6.
4 In the Depth text field, type 6.
5 Locate the Position section. From the Base list, choose Center.
6 In the z text field, type -0.5.

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7 Right-click Block 1 (blk1) and choose Build Selected.

This first block corresponds to a large region of sand. The next two blocks are the
styrofoam coolers on the sand.

Block 2 (blk2)
1 On the Geometry toolbar, click Block.
2 In the Settings window for Block, locate the Size and Shape section.
3 In the Width text field, type 0.3.
4 In the Depth text field, type 0.22.
5 In the Height text field, type 0.18.
6 Locate the Position section. From the Base list, choose Center.
7 In the x text field, type 0.5.
8 In the z text field, type 0.09.
9 Right-click Block 2 (blk2) and choose Build Selected.

Block 3 (blk3)
1 Right-click Block 2 (blk2) and choose Duplicate.
2 In the Settings window for Block, locate the Size and Shape section.
3 In the Width text field, type 0.26.
4 In the Depth text field, type 0.18.
5 In the Height text field, type 0.14.
6 Right-click Component 1 (comp1)>Geometry 1>Block 3 (blk3) and choose Build
Selected.
In the next few steps, you create two six-pack cans by building one cylinder that is
duplicated in two 3 2 arrays. Because the cans are located inside the two styrofoam
coolers, you need to enable the Wireframe Rendering option to see them.
7 Click the Wireframe Rendering button on the Graphics toolbar.

Cylinder 1 (cyl1)
1 On the Geometry toolbar, click Cylinder.
2 In the Settings window for Cylinder, locate the Size and Shape section.
3 In the Radius text field, type 0.03.
4 In the Height text field, type 0.125.
5 Locate the Position section. In the x text field, type 0.42.
6 In the y text field, type 0.04.

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7 In the z text field, type 0.02.

Array 1 (arr1)
1 Right-click Cylinder 1 (cyl1) and choose Build Selected.
2 On the Geometry toolbar, click Transforms and choose Array.
3 Select the object cyl1 only.
4 In the Settings window for Array, locate the Size section.
5 In the x size text field, type 3.
6 In the y size text field, type 2.
7 Locate the Displacement section. In the x text field, type 0.08.
8 In the y text field, type -0.08.

Copy 1 (copy1)
1 Right-click Array 1 (arr1) and choose Build Selected.
2 On the Geometry toolbar, click Transforms and choose Copy.
3 Select the objects blk2, arr1(3,2,1), arr1(1,1,1), arr1(2,2,1), arr1(2,1,1), blk3,
arr1(3,1,1), and arr1(1,2,1) only.
For more convenience, use the Select Box button to select the above-mentioned
objects.
4 In the Settings window for Copy, locate the Displacement section.
5 In the x text field, type -1.5.
6 Right-click Copy 1 (copy1) and choose Build Selected.
Now, create the parasol.

Cone 1 (cone1)
1 On the Geometry toolbar, click Cone.
2 In the Settings window for Cone, locate the Size and Shape section.
3 In the Height text field, type 0.3.
4 In the Semi-angle text field, type 70.
5 Locate the Position section. In the z text field, type 1.5.
6 Right-click Cone 1 (cone1) and choose Build Selected.

Cone 2 (cone2)
1 Right-click Cone 1 (cone1) and choose Duplicate.
2 In the Settings window for Cone, locate the Position section.

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3 In the z text field, type 1.4.

Difference 1 (dif1)
1 Right-click Component 1 (comp1)>Geometry 1>Cone 2 (cone2) and choose Build
Selected.
2 On the Geometry toolbar, click Booleans and Partitions and choose Difference.
3 Select the object cone1 only.
4 In the Settings window for Difference, locate the Difference section.
5 Find the Objects to subtract subsection. Select the Active toggle button.
6 Select the object cone2 only.

Cylinder 2 (cyl2)
1 Right-click Difference 1 (dif1) and choose Build Selected.
2 On the Geometry toolbar, click Cylinder.
3 In the Settings window for Cylinder, locate the Size and Shape section.
4 In the Radius text field, type 0.05.
5 In the Height text field, type 1.7.

Form Union (fin)

1 Right-click Cylinder 2 (cyl2) and choose Build Selected.
2 On the Geometry toolbar, click Build All.
3 Click the Zoom Extents button on the Graphics toolbar.

DEFINITIONS
The following selection gathers the boundaries of the twelve cans.

Explicit 1
1 On the Definitions toolbar, click Explicit.
2 In the Settings window for Explicit, type Beverage Can Walls in the Label text
field.
3 Select Domains 47, 9, 10, and 1419 only.
4 Locate the Output Entities section. From the Output entities list, choose Adjacent
boundaries.
The next selection is for the irradiated surfaces.

Explicit 2
1 On the Definitions toolbar, click Explicit.

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2 In the Settings window for Explicit, type Irradiated Surfaces in the Label text
field.
3 Locate the Input Entities section. From the Geometric entity level list, choose
Boundary.
4 Select Boundaries 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 3840, 5662, 6572, 74, 75, and 118 only.

ADD MATERIAL
1 On the Home toolbar, click Add Material to open the Add Material window.
2 Go to the Add Material window.
3 In the tree, select Built-In>Water, liquid.
4 Click Add to Component in the window toolbar.

ADD MATERIAL
1 Go to the Add Material window.
2 In the tree, select Built-In>Air.
3 Click Add to Component in the window toolbar.

MATERIALS

Air (mat2)
1 In the Model Builder window, under Component 1 (comp1)>Materials click Air (mat2).
2 Select Domains 3 and 13 only.

ADD MATERIAL
1 Go to the Add Material window.
2 In the tree, select Built-In>Acrylic plastic.
3 Click Add to Component in the window toolbar.

MATERIALS

Acrylic plastic (mat3)

1 In the Model Builder window, under Component 1 (comp1)>Materials click Acrylic
plastic (mat3).
2 Select Domains 8 and 11 only.

ADD MATERIAL
1 Go to the Add Material window.

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2 In the tree, select Built-In>Aluminum.

3 Click Add to Component in the window toolbar.

MATERIALS

Aluminum (mat4)
1 In the Model Builder window, under Component 1 (comp1)>Materials click Aluminum
(mat4).
2 In the Settings window for Material, locate the Geometric Entity Selection section.
3 From the Geometric entity level list, choose Boundary.
4 From the Selection list, choose Beverage Can Walls.

Material 5 (mat5)
1 In the Model Builder window, under Component 1 (comp1) right-click Materials and
choose Blank Material.
2 In the Settings window for Material, type Styrofoam in the Label text field.
3 Select Domains 2 and 12 only.
4 Locate the Material Contents section. In the table, enter the following settings:

Property Name Value Unit Property group

Thermal conductivity k 0.05 W/(mK) Basic
Density rho 200 kg/m Basic
Heat capacity at constant pressure Cp 1300 J/(kgK) Basic

Material 6 (mat6)
1 Right-click Materials and choose Blank Material.
2 In the Settings window for Material, type Sand in the Label text field.
3 Select Domain 1 only.
4 Locate the Material Contents section. In the table, enter the following settings:

Property Name Value Unit Property group

Thermal conductivity k 0.3 W/(mK) Basic
Density rho 1500 kg/m Basic
Heat capacity at constant pressure Cp 800 J/(kgK) Basic

5 On the Home toolbar, click Add Material to close the Add Material window.

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H E A T TR A N S F E R W I T H S U R F A C E - T O - S U R F A C E R A D I A T I O N ( H T )
1 In the Model Builder window, under Component 1 (comp1) click Heat Transfer with
Surface-to-Surface Radiation (ht).
2 In the Settings window for Heat Transfer with Surface-to-Surface Radiation, locate
the Radiation Settings section.
3 From the Wavelength dependence of emissivity list, choose Solar and ambient.

Initial Values 1
1 In the Model Builder window, under Component 1 (comp1)>Heat Transfer with
Surface-to-Surface Radiation (ht) click Initial Values 1.
2 In the Settings window for Initial Values, locate the Initial Values section.
3 In the T text field, type T_ambient(t).

Initial Values 2
1 On the Physics toolbar, click Domains and choose Initial Values.
2 Select Domains 27, 9, 10, and 1219 only.
3 In the Settings window for Initial Values, locate the Initial Values section.
4 In the T text field, type 1[degC].

External Radiation Source 1

1 On the Physics toolbar, click Global and choose External Radiation Source.
2 In the Settings window for External Radiation Source, locate the External Radiation
Source section.
3 From the Source position list, choose Solar position.
4 In the Location table, enter the following settings:

Latitude (+ to N), in Longitude (+ to E), in Time zone (+UTC)

coordLat coordLong coordTimezone

5 In the Date table, enter the following settings:

Day Month Year

dateDay dateMonth dateYear

6 In the Local time table, enter the following settings:

Hour Minute Second

0 0 t

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Temperature 1
1 On the Physics toolbar, click Boundaries and choose Temperature.
2 Select Boundary 3 only.
3 In the Settings window for Temperature, locate the Temperature section.
4 In the T0 text field, type 27[degC].

Diffuse Surface 1
1 On the Physics toolbar, click Boundaries and choose Diffuse Surface.
2 In the Settings window for Diffuse Surface, locate the Boundary Selection section.
3 From the Selection list, choose Irradiated Surfaces.
4 Locate the Ambient section. In the Tamb text field, type T_ambient(t).
5 Locate the Surface Emissivity section. Find the Solar spectral band subsection. From
the B1 list, choose User defined. In the associated text field, type 0.2.
6 Find the Ambient spectral band subsection. From the B2 list, choose User defined.
In the associated text field, type 0.8.

Diffuse Surface 2
1 On the Physics toolbar, click Boundaries and choose Diffuse Surface.
2 In the Settings window for Diffuse Surface, locate the Ambient section.
3 In the Tamb text field, type T_ambient(t).
4 Locate the Surface Emissivity section. Find the Solar spectral band subsection. From
the B1 list, choose User defined. In the associated text field, type 0.94.
5 Find the Ambient spectral band subsection. From the B2 list, choose User defined.
In the associated text field, type 0.76.
6 Select Boundary 4 only.

Thin Layer 1
1 On the Physics toolbar, click Boundaries and choose Thin Layer.
2 In the Settings window for Thin Layer, locate the Boundary Selection section.
3 From the Selection list, choose Beverage Can Walls.
4 Locate the Thin Layer section. In the ds text field, type 300[um].

Heat Flux 1
1 On the Physics toolbar, click Boundaries and choose Heat Flux.
2 In the Settings window for Heat Flux, locate the Boundary Selection section.
3 From the Selection list, choose Irradiated Surfaces.

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4 Locate the Heat Flux section. Click the Convective heat flux button.
5 In the h text field, type 20.
6 In the Text text field, type T_ambient(t).

STUDY 1

Step 1: Time Dependent

1 In the Model Builder window, under Study 1 click Step 1: Time Dependent.
2 In the Settings window for Time Dependent, locate the Study Settings section.
3 From the Time unit list, choose h.
4 Click Range.
5 In the Range dialog box, type 10 in the Start text field.
6 In the Step text field, type 10[min].
7 In the Stop text field, type 16.
8 Click Replace.
The study starts at 10 a.m. and ends at 4 p.m. with timesteps of 10 minutes.
9 On the Home toolbar, click Compute.

RESULTS

Temperature (ht)
1 In the Model Builder window, expand the Temperature (ht) node, then click Surface 1.
2 In the Settings window for Surface, locate the Expression section.
3 From the Unit list, choose degC.
4 Click the Zoom Extents button on the Graphics toolbar.
The first default plot shows the temperature distribution as in Figure 2.

Isothermal Contours (ht)

The second default plot shows the isothermal contours.

Radiosity (ht)
This default plot shows the surface radiosity. Proceed to plot the external irradiation at
2 p.m. and see the parasol shade as in Figure 1.

1 In the Model Builder window, under Results click Radiosity (ht).

2 In the Settings window for 3D Plot Group, locate the Data section.
3 From the Time (h) list, choose 14.

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4 In the Model Builder window, expand the Radiosity (ht) node, then click Surface 1.
5 In the Settings window for Surface, click Replace Expression in the upper-right corner
of the Expression section. From the menu, choose Component 1>Heat Transfer with
Surface-to-Surface Radiation>Radiation>External irradiation>ht.G_extB1u - External
irradiation, upside.
6 Locate the Coloring and Style section. From the Color table list, choose GrayPrint.
7 On the Radiosity (ht) toolbar, click Plot.
Next, observe the temperature of the beverages as in Figure 3.

1D Plot Group 4
1 On the Home toolbar, click Add Plot Group and choose 1D Plot Group.
2 In the Settings window for 1D Plot Group, type Temperature in the Coolers in
the Label text field.

Point Graph 1
On the Temperature in the Coolers toolbar, click Point Graph.

Temperature in the Coolers

1 Select Points 41 and 126 only.
For more convenience, you can click the Paste Selection button and paste the point
numbers.
2 In the Settings window for Point Graph, locate the y-Axis Data section.
3 From the Unit list, choose degC.
4 On the Temperature in the Coolers toolbar, click Plot.

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