Research
Why Conventional Engineering Laws Are Irrational, and a Paradigm Shift that Results in Rational Laws
Conventional engineering laws are irrational for three reasons: When the laws are applied to nonlinear behavior, they have three variables to describe how two variables are related; they are founded on Fourier’s erroneous claims that dimensions can rationally be assigned to numbers, and dimensions can rationally be multiplied or divided. Until now, it has been globally accepted that parameter symbols in rational equations represent numerical value and dimension. The proposed paradigm shift requires that parameter symbols in equations represent only numerical value, and if an equation is quantitative, the dimension units that underlie parameter symbols must be specified in an accompanying nomenclature. The proposed paradigm shift results in laws and equations that are dimensionally homogeneous because they are dimensionless. The new laws are analogs of y = f{x}. The new laws state that the numerical value of parameter y is a function of the numerical value of parameter x, and the function may be proportional, linear, or nonlinear. The new laws are rational because they always have only two variables, they do not require that dimensions be assigned to numbers, and they do not require that parameter dimensions be multiplied or divided. The new laws make it much simpler to learn and apply engineering science because they always contain only two variables, and because all parameters (such as h and E) that were created by assigning dimensions to numbers are abandoned. They are not replaced because they are not necessary.
Why Conventional Engineering Laws should be Abandoned, and the New Laws that will Replace them
There are three reasons why laws such as q = hΔT and σ = Eε, and parameters such as h and E, should be abandoned. 1. The laws are analogs of y = (y/x)x and, if y is a nonlinear function of x, analogs of (y/x) (such as h and E) are extraneous variables that greatly complicate problem solutions. 2. Parameters such as h and E were created by assigning dimensions to numbers, in violation of the modern view that dimensions must not be assigned to numbers. 3. The laws purport to describe how the numerical value and dimension of parameters are related when, in fact, equations can rationally describe only how the numerical values of parameters are related. When conventional engineering laws are abandoned, they will be replaced by new laws described by the following: 1. They are dimensionless because parameter symbols in equations represent only numerical value. 2. They are analogs of y = f{x}. 3. They contain no analogs of y/x, and consequently they contain no extraneous variables. 4. They make it possible to abandon analogs of y/x (such as modulus and heat transfer coefficient), greatly simplifying the solution of nonlinear problems by reducing the number of variables. 5. They have no parameters that were created by assigning dimensions to numbers. 6. They are inherently dimensionally homogeneous because parameter symbols in equations represent only numerical value. 7. They state that the numerical value of parameter y is always a function of the numerical value of parameter x, and the function may be proportional, linear, or nonlinear
A Critical Appraisal of Conventional Methodology used to Determine Heat Transfer Correlations, and Alternate Methodology
This article describes alternate methodology for determining heat transfer correlations from experimental programs. In conventional methodology, the form of heat transfer correlations is determined before the experiment by deduction, and the experiment is performed in order to quantify constants in the deduced correlation form. In the proposed alternate methodology, the form of heat transfer correlations is determined after the experiment by induction
