Green’s Function Partitioning in Galerkin-Based Integral Solution of the Diffusion Equation

A procedure to obtain accurate solutions for many transient conduction problems in complex geometries using a Galerkin-based integral (GBI) method is presented. The nonhomogeneous boundary conditions are accommodated by the Green’s function solution technique. A Green’s function obtained by the GBI method exhibits excellent large-time accuracy. It is shown that the time partitioning of the Green’s function yields accurate small-time and large-time solutions. In one example, a hollow cylinder with convective inner surface and prescribed heat flux at the outer surface is considered. Only a few terms for both large-time and small-time solutions are sufficient to produce results with excellent accuracy. The methodology used for homogeneous solids is modified for application to complex heterogeneous solids.