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Mechanical Engineering vocabulary · Thermodynamics and Heat Transfer

Heat transfer

Meaning in mechanical engineering, with examples

nounCore term

In mechanical engineering, heat transfer means: The movement of thermal energy from a hotter place to a colder one. It happens in three ways: conduction, convection and radiation.

In Turkish: ısı transferi, ısı geçişi, ısı aktarımı

How it is used

A core university subject and a daily topic in thermal design, HVAC and the cooling of machines and electronics. Engineers calculate the heat transfer rate in watts and try to increase it in heat exchangers or reduce it with insulation.

Example sentences

  1. Adding fins increases the surface area and improves heat transfer.

  2. Scale on the tubes is reducing heat transfer in the boiler.

Common collocations

  • heat transfer rate
  • heat transfer coefficient
  • improve heat transfer
  • heat transfer area
  • convectionHeat transfer between a surface and a moving fluid such as air or water, or within the fluid as it flows. It can be natural, or forced by a fan or pump.
  • thermal conductivityA material property that shows how easily heat passes through a material by conduction, measured in W/(m·K). Copper conducts heat very well; insulation foam does not.
  • heat exchangerA device that transfers heat from one fluid to another without mixing them, for example from hot oil to cooling water through metal plates or tubes.
  • thermodynamicsThe branch of physics and engineering that studies heat, work and energy and how they change from one form to another, for example in engines, turbines and refrigerators.
  • specific heatThe amount of heat needed to raise the temperature of 1 kg of a material by 1 °C (1 K). Water has a high value, about 4.18 kJ/(kg·K).

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Thermodynamics and Heat Transfer

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