A modified steady state method for measurement of in-plane thermal conductivity

Abstract

A modified version of Parallel Thermal Conductance, Two-Length Method, for in-plane thermal conductivity measurement in slabs is presented. Two modifications have been applied to the currently available methods to improve the accuracy and repeatability of the results; first, to consider and calculate the heat loss resistance in the data analysis, and second, to design the tests in a way that can accommodate multiple samples instead of one to increase the accuracy and decrease the uncertainty of the data analysis. In the end, a semi-empirical technique, using a custom-designed test setup and an analytical solution for temperature distribution inside the anisotropic rectangular plates exposed to multiple hotspots, is proposed. In the introduced technique, using the experimental results, the in-plane thermal conductivity of the sample can be calculated with good accuracy.