critical_radius_cyl​inder_gui

Calculates & plots critical radius of insulation for cylinder/sphere with multi-h curves, user inputs, and marked key points.

This interactive MATLAB GUI is designed for educational use and small project applications in thermal engineering. It calculates and plots the critical radius of insulation for both cylindrical and spherical geometries, given user-defined parameters such as insulation conductivity, bare surface radius, required insulation thickness, surface temperature, and ambient temperature.

The tool evaluates heat transfer for multiple convection coefficients [1,5,15,20,50,100] W/m2⋅K and plots the heat loss vs. insulation thickness for all cases, highlighting the critical radius for each condition and the user-specified thickness.

This makes it an excellent teaching aid for demonstrating the effect of insulation thickness on heat loss, as well as a quick calculator for selecting optimal insulation in preliminary design or project scenarios where a range of hhh values is considered.

Features:

• Toggle between Cylinder and Sphere models
• Color-coded curves for each convection coefficient
• Labeled critical radii and marked requested thickness
• Always-on grid and professional plot layout
• Simple, intuitive input panel

Educational Value:

Helps students and engineers visualize how insulation affects heat transfer and understand the concept of the critical radius under different convective conditions