Finite Element Analysis of Heat Transfer from a Thin Horizontal Disk Buried in Semi-infinite Soil

Estimating the heat flow and the temperature distribution for a two or three dimensional system is complicated. Th e conduction shape factor may be used for a reasonably good estimate for such systems. Th e numerical methods have also been used. In this paper a thin horizontal disk buried in semi-infinite soil is modelled by Abaqus finite element software. Heat flux and the temperature distribution are obtained from Abaqus. Th e conduction shape factor is calculated analytically and then, the heat flux is obtained from references. Th e Results show a good agreement between graphical and numerical methods (maximum error is about 7%).