Documentation Center

  • Trial Software
  • Product Updates

Radiative Heat Transfer

Heat transfer by radiation


Thermal Elements


The Radiative Heat Transfer block represents a heat transfer by radiation between two bodies. The transfer is governed by the Stefan-Boltzmann law and is described with the following equation:


QHeat flow
kRadiation coefficient
AEmitting body surface area
TA, TBTemperatures of the bodies

The radiation coefficient is determined by geometrical shapes, dimensions, and surface emissivity. For example, the radiation constant for the heat transfer between two parallel plates is computed as


σStefan-Boltzmann constant
ε1, ε2Surface emissivity for the emitting and receiving plate, respectively

Similarly, the radiation coefficient for concentric cylinders is determined with the formula

where r1 and r 2 are the emitting and receiving cylinder radii, respectively. Reference [1] contains formulas for a wide variety of shapes.

Connections A and B are thermal conserving ports associated with the emitting and receiving bodies, respectively. The block positive direction is from port A to port B. This means that the heat flow is positive if it flows from A to B.

Dialog Box and Parameters

Parameters Tab


Radiating body area of heat transfer. The default value is 0.0001 m^2.

Radiation coefficient

Radiation coefficient of the two bodies, based on their geometrical shapes, dimensions, and surface emissivity. See [1] for more information. The default value is 4e-8 W/m^2/K^4.

Variables Tab



The block has the following ports:


Thermal conserving port associated with body A.


Thermal conserving port associated with body B.


[1] Siegel, R. and J.R. Howell. Thermal Radiation Heat Transfer. New York: Taylor and Francis, 2002.

See Also


Was this topic helpful?