View Factors — Lesson 2

When you put your hands in front of a heater, do you feel the same heat on the front and back sides of your hands?

In an electronic package, do all the surfaces of the components receive the same amount of heat from the heat source?

How do we quantify the effect of different positions and orientations in space on radiation heat transfer between surfaces? The answer is view factor. Depending on how well one surface "views" another surface, the radiative heat between them varies. The view factor is a geometric parameter that is unique for radiation heat transfer.

In this lesson, we will help you understand the concept of the view factor.

Lecture

Alternate video link.

Handout

Here are the accompanying handout slides for this lesson.