Thermal Conductivity

Thermal conductivity (often denoted k, , or ) is the property of a material to conduct

heat. It is evaluated primarily in terms of Fourier's Law for heat conduction.
Heat transfer occurs at a higher rate across materials of high thermal conductivity than
across materials of low thermal conductivity. Correspondingly, materials of high thermal
conductivity are widely used in heat sink applications and materials of low thermal
conductivity are used as thermal insulation. The thermal conductivity of a material may
depend on temperature. The reciprocal of thermal conductivity is called thermal resistivity.

1) Comparative method
The thermal conductivity of metals, alloys or composites with can be measured by
comparative method with steady state longitudinal heat flow in a temperature range room
temperature up to about 1000C. The comparative instrument measures heat flow based upon
the known thermal properties of standard reference materials. The test specimen is
sandwiched between two identical reference samples. This stack is placed between two
heating elements controlled at different temperatures. A guard heater is placed around the test
stack to ensure a constant heat flux through the stack and no lateral heat flow losses. As heat
flows from the hot element to the cold element the temperature gradient (T/L) across the
stack is measured with thermocouples. Once the specimen reaches a state of thermal
equilibrium its thermal conductivity is calculated from the expression
k=

QL
A T

where Q is the heating power of the heater.

Figure 1: Comparative method for measurement of thermal conductivity

The experimental error is in the range of approximately 10 %. The specimen geometry

is cylindrical (diameter 25 or 50 mm, height approx. 10-40 mm).

2) Laser flash (Thermal Diffusivity)

Thermal conductivity may be calculated using thermal diffusivity (Laser flash), Specific
Heat (DSC) and density (Archimedes).
The laser fires a pulse at the sample's front surface and the infrared detector measures
the temperature rise of the sample's back surface. The software uses literature-based analysis
routines to match a theoretical curve to the experimental temperature rise curve. The thermal
diffusivity value is the diffusivity value associated with the selected theoretical curve. To
determine specific heat, the infrared detector measures the actual temperature rise of the
sample. The response of the infrared detector is calibrated with a reference sample of known
specific heat.

The instrument can measure thermal diffusivity and specific heat

simultaneously. The software uses these values and the bulk density to calculate thermal
conductivity from the equation:
=

k
a c p

Figure 2: Schematic setup of the laser flash method

These measurements can be performed very rapidly with an accuracy of about 5 %.

Within the last years, a great variety of very different materials like metals, ceramics, glasses,
minerals etc. have been characterised with respect to thermophysical properties. Thermal
conductivity can be calculated with high accuracy using thermal diffusivity. The specimen
geometry is cylindrical (diameter ~12 mm, height 1-3 mm).

Reference:1) G.Korb, E. Neubauer, Thermophysical Properties of Metal Matrix Composites

MMC-Assess Consortium, July 2001