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Thermalconductivity&diffusivityFAQs
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ClickontheAnumberforananswer...
A1.Whatistheconnectionbetweenthermalconductivityandthermal
diffusivity?
A2.Whatisthephysicaldifferencebetweenthermalconductivityand
thermaldiffusivity?
A3.WherecanIfindcheapbutaccuratethermophysicalproperty
measurementequipment?
A4.HowcanItestloosefillinsulatingmaterials?
A5.Isitpossibletomeasurethethermalresistance/conductivityof
productswithaircavities?
A6.WhycanIseedifferentthermalconductivityvaluesforfoamed
plastics?
A7.IfIwantalowthermalconductivity,whichdensityshouldIchoose?
A8.Isitpossibletocalculatethermalconductivitywithknowledgeofthe
density?
A9.HowshallIperformameasurementonamoistmaterial?
A10.Aretherematerialsthatcaninsulatebetterthanair?
A11.Isthereconvectionininsulationmaterials?
A12.Isthereanoptimumdensityforinsulationmaterials?
A13.Isitpossibletomeasurethermalconductivityoncomponentsof
unusualsizeandshape?
A14.Whatarethereasonstomeasurethermaldiffusivityinsteadof
thermalconductivity?
A15.Whatarethemostfrequentlyusedmethodstomeasurethermal
diffusivityorthermalconductivity?
A16.Hasthethermalconductivity/diffusivityofallmaterialsthesame
temperaturedependence?
A17.Isitpossibletoextrapolatethethermalconductivityofamaterial
beyondthetemperaturerangeforwhichthemeasurementsaremade?
A18.Whatarethemostaccuratemeasurementmethods?
A19.Inthelaserflashmethod,whyshouldthespecimenbeopaquetothe
laserbeam?
A20.Isitpossibletomeasurethermaldiffusivityofamultilayered
materialbylaserflashmethod?
A21.Whataretheproblemsinmeasuringthermalconductivityusingpulse
methods?
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A22.Whydothermalconductivity/diffusivitymeasurementdevicesneed
specialspecimengeometry?
A23.WhatisthethermalequivalentofOhm'slaw?
A24.Whatisthebestmethodforthermalconductivitymeasurementof
solidelectricalconductorsatveryhightemperature?
A25.Whatistheprincipleofthermaldiffusivitymeasurement?
A1.Whatistheconnectionbetweenthermalconductivityand
thermaldiffusivity?
Thermalconductivity()andthermaldiffusivity(a)arerelatedby =a.

.cp,whereisdensityandcpisspecificheatcapacity.Athigh

temperatures,orwhenthematerialisavailableonlyinsmallsizes,a,
andcpareoftenmeasuredtodetermine
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A2.Whatisthephysicaldifferencebetweenthermalconductivityand
thermaldiffusivity?
Thermalconductivity()isapropertythatdeterminesHOWMUCHheat
willflowinamaterial,whilethermaldiffusivity(a)determinesHOW
RAPIDLYheatwillflowwithinit.Ahomelyexampleistoimagineholdinga
pokerthatissuddenlyputintoafire.Howhotyoufeelatthehandleendis
determinedbythepoker'sthermalconductivityandhowquicklyyoufeel
theheatisdeterminedbyitsthermaldiffusivity.
A3.WherecanIfindcheapbutaccuratethermophysicalproperty
measurementequipment?
RonTyehaswrittenabriefnoteentitled"Costandaccuracy"inT2PAC
News.SeethepageoftheNPLnewsletterundersection'AWordInYour
Ear'(nearthebottomofthelefthandmenu).
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A4.HowcanItestloosefillinsulatingmaterials?
Theinsulatingmaterialisblown(orcureddependingonmaterialtype)into
aframeofrigidmaterialandabottomwithathinmaterialwithnegligible
resistance.Theblowingiscarriedoutaccordingtoinstructions(e.g.
manufacturer,standard)soastoobtaintheintendedfibredistribution,
weightanddensity.
A5.Isitpossibletomeasurethethermalresistance/conductivityof
productswithaircavities?
Yesitispossiblebutheatflowdirectionandsizeofthecavitiesmustbe
considered.Theheatflowinacavityisbyradiation,convectionand
conduction.Ifconvectionoccurs,theconvectionpattern/typewillmainly
dependonheatflowdirection,temperatureandsizeofthecavity.
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A6.WhycanIseedifferentthermalconductivityvaluesforfoamed
plastics?
Iftheproductismanufacturedwithablowingagentthathasalower
thermalconductivitythanairanditgraduallyleavestheproduct,the
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thermalconductivitywillincreasewithtime.Thelongtermchangein
thermalresistancewilldependonthegastype,gaspermeabilityand
thicknessoftheproductandtypeofcovering(ifany).Forslabsanaged
valueisstated.
A7.IfIwantalowthermalconductivity,whichdensityshouldI
choose?
Thermalconductivityforinsulatingmaterialsusuallyfollowstheexpression
lambda=a+b*density+c/density.Atlowdensitiestheradiation
dominates,yieldingahighvalueofthermalconductivity.Athighdensities,
theinfluenceofthermalconductioninthesolidphasewillgradually
increase.Thecurve(thermalconductivityversusdensity)willthenhavea
Ushapedformwithaminimumatadensityof4060kg/m.
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A8.Isitpossibletocalculatethermalconductivitywithknowledgeof
thedensity?
Anapproximateestimationispossible.Theequationlambda=a+
b*density+c/densitycanbeusedforlowdensitymaterial.Thethirdterm
representstheradiantheattransfer,whichisconsiderableforlow
densities.Forhigherdensitiestheequationlambda=a+b*density+
c*densityisoftenused.Theconstantsa,b,careusuallycalculatedfrom
severalmeasurements.
A9.HowshallIperformameasurementonamoistmaterial?
Measurementofmoistmaterialsiscomplicated,timeconsumingandmust
becarriedoutbyexperiencedpersonnel.Measurementcausesnormallya
redistributionofmoistureinthematerialwhichleadstotwotypesof
problem:A)Redistributionofmoisture.Thetestiscarriedoutona
specimenwithamoisturedistributionthatisnolongeruniform.B)
Redistributionofthemoisturesimultaneouslyinducesphasechanges.
Theseeffectsmustbewellknownornegligibleduringthetest.Small
temperaturegradientsdonotguaranteethatphasechangeeffectswillbe
negligible.InCEN/TR14613andISO10051themeasurementprocedures
aredescribedindetail.
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A10.Aretherematerialsthatcaninsulatebetterthanair?
Thethermalconductivityofairatambientconditionsisabout0.026
W/(m.K).Microporousinsulationmaterialsshowathermalconductivity
below0.025W/(m.K)evenatambientconditions.Thethermalconductivity
oftheairwithinthemicroporesispartiallysuppressed.Evacuated
insulationsystemscouldshowevenlowervaluesofthethermal
conductivity,e.g.lessthan0.005W/(m.K).
A11.Isthereconvectionininsulationmaterials?
No.Ininsulationmaterialstheconvectionofairissuppressedbythe
porousstructure.
A12.Isthereanoptimumdensityforinsulationmaterials?
Atlowerdensitiesthermalradiationwillbecomeadominantheattransfer
mechanismandtheapparentthermalconductivityincreaseswith
decreasingdensity.Athigherdensitiesthethermalconductivityincreases
duetotheincreasingsolidconductivity(heattransferviathesolid
structure).Thus,thereexistsaminimumofthermalconductivityalso
dependingontemperature.
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A13.Isitpossibletomeasurethermalconductivityoncomponentsof
unusualsizeandshape?
Insitumeasurementsareoftennotpossible.Thermalconductivity
measurementdevicesneedspecialgeometrieswhichusuallydifferfrom
thatofordinaryobjects.Inthecaseofsmallcomponentsthermal
diffusivitymeasurementsarerecommended,withsamplesof8mm
diameterorso.
A14.Whatarethereasonstomeasurethermaldiffusivityinsteadof
thermalconductivity?
Inordertocalculatethermalstressduringrapidtemperaturechangeyou
needthethermaldiffusivityofthematerial.Otherreasonsare:1)Only
smallsamplesintherangeof8mmdiameterand2mmthicknessare
available,2)thetemperatureishigherthan1000Cwhichistheupper
limitforthermalconductivitymeasurements.
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A15.Whatarethemostfrequentlyusedmethodstomeasure
thermaldiffusivityorthermalconductivity?
Thereisnouniversalmethodtomeasurethermaldiffusivityorthermal
conductivity.Basically,thermalconductivityisdeterminedbysteadystate
methodsandthermaldiffusivitybytransientmethods.Thechoiceofa
measurementmethoddependsonmanycriteriasuchassamplegeometry,
temperaturerange,typeofmaterial,magnitudeofthermalconductivity/
diffusivity,uncertainty,etc..
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A16.Hasthethermalconductivity/diffusivityofallmaterialsthe
sametemperaturedependence?
Thevariationofthesethermalpropertieswithtemperaturedependsonthe
typeofmaterial.Inthesametemperaturerangethevaluesofthermal
conductivity/diffusivitycandecreaseforsomematerialsandincreasefor
others.
A17.Isitpossibletoextrapolatethethermalconductivityofa
materialbeyondthetemperaturerangeforwhichthemeasurements
aremade?
Thevariationofthermalconductivity/diffusivityisnotmonotonousina
widetemperaturerange.Thermaldiffusivityandthermalconductivity
sometimesvarysharplywithtemperature,especiallyatlowtemperatures
andinthevicinityofphasetransition(Curiepointofironforexample).So
thermalpropertiesvaluesshouldnotbeextrapolatedoutsidethe
temperaturerangeforwhichthemeasurementsaremade.
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A18.Whatarethemostaccuratemeasurementmethods?
Measurementmethodscanbedividedintotwocategories:absolute
methodsandcomparativemethods.Anabsolutemethodallowstoperform
ameasurementthatisdirectlytraceabletotheprimarySIunits(suchas
temperature,time,length,voltage,weight,etc.)withouttheuseofan
externalreferenceofthesamequantity.Forcomparativemethods,the
thermalconductivity/diffusivitymeasurementiscarriedoutby
comparisonwithreferencematerialsthatwerebeforehandcharacterised
byanabsolutemethod.So,absolutemethodsgivesmalleruncertaintiesof
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measurementthanwithcomparativemethods.
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A19.Inthelaserflashmethod,whyshouldthespecimenbeopaque
tothelaserbeam?
Laserflashmethodisbasedonthecomparisonofexperimentalcurves
withamathematicalmodelthatassumesthattheenergyofthebeamis
absorbedatthesurfaceofthespecimen.Ifthespecimenisnotopaqueat
thewavelengthofthebeam,thentheenergypulseisabsorbedinsideit.
Thentheboundaryandinitialconditionsofthemathematicalmodelare
differentfromexperimentalconditions.Thisleadstoawrongestimationof
thermaldiffusivity.Thisproblemcanbeavoidedbycoatingthespecimen
orbyusingalaserhavingasuitablewavelength(CO2laserforexample).
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A20.Isitpossibletomeasurethermaldiffusivityofamultilayered
materialbylaserflashmethod?
Usualmethodsthatestimatethermaldiffusivityfromexperimentalcurves
assumethatthespecimenishomogeneous.Thermaldiffusivityof
multilayeredmaterialscanbeestimatedbythesemethodsifthenumber
oflayersishighenoughtoconsiderthespecimenashomogeneous.This
assumptionisvalidifthesamethermaldiffusivityvaluesareobtainedfor
specimenshavingdifferentthicknesses.Formultilayeredmaterialswhich
cannotbeconsideredashomogeneous(specimenconsistingof2or3
layersforexample),aspecificmathematicalmodeldescribingthethermal
behaviouroftheconsideredspecimenshouldbeused.
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A21.Whataretheproblemsinmeasuringthermalconductivityusing
pulsemethods?
Theproblemsarenotduetotheexperimentalapparatuswhichisrelatively
simple,butthecomplexityofevaluationofthermalconductivityfrom
thermalprofilesinsidethespecimen.Thisrequiresalargematrix
computation.
A22.Whydothermalconductivity/diffusivitymeasurementdevices
needspecialspecimengeometry?
Theuncertaintyofthermaldiffusivity/conductivitymeasurements
dependsonhowwellthetheoreticalmodelcorrespondswiththe
measurementsetup,inparticularthevalidityoftheassumptions
concerningsamplegeometry(shape,size,thickness/diameterratio,
parallelismofspecimenfaces,etc.).
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A23.WhatisthethermalequivalentofOhm'slaw?
Thereisacloseanalogybetweentheflowofelectricity(electrons)and
heat.HeatfluxQcorrespondstotheelectriccurrentI.Temperature
differencecorrespondstovoltage(potentialdifference).Thermal
resistancecorrespondstotheelectricalresistance.Thermalresistanceis
connectedwiththermalconductivitythroughgeometricalparameters(area
andlength).Applyingthismodelonecansolvethermalproblemsinthe
samewayaswhenanalysingelectricalcircuits.
A24.Whatisthebestmethodforthermalconductivitymeasurement
ofsolidelectricalconductorsatveryhightemperature?
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Themostprecisemethodfrom1000Kupto4000Kispulsetechniquethat
overcomesproblemsconnectedwithsteadystatetechniques(furnace
control,chemicalreactions,evaporation,specimencontainment,lossof
mechanicalstrength,etc.).
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A25.Whatistheprincipleofthermaldiffusivitymeasurement?
Themethodsofmeasuringthermaldiffusivityrelyonanalysingthe
temperatureresponseofthespecimensubjectedtotransientthermal
conditions.Thetransientscanbecausedbyapulse,aperiodicallyvarying
heatfloworamonotonicheatingregime.
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