The measurement of thermal conductivity variation with temperature for solid materials

An apparatus was designed to routinely measure the thermal conductivity variation with temperature for solid materials. The apparatus was calibrated by measuring the thermal conductivity variations with temperature for aluminum, zinc, tin and indium metals. The variations of thermal conductivity with temperature for the Zn-[x] wt.% Sb alloys (x 10, 20, 30 and 40) were then measured by using the linear heat flow apparatus designed in present work. From experimental results it can be concluded that the linear heat flow apparatus can be used to measure thermal conductivity variation with temperature for multi component metallic alloys as well as pure metallic materials and for any kind of alloys. Variations of electrical conductivity with temperature for the Zn-[x] wt.% Sb alloys were determined from the Wiedemann-Franz (W-F) equation by using the measured values of thermal conductivity. Dependencies of the thermal and electrical conductivities on composition of Sb in the Zn-Sb alloys were also investigated. According to present experimental results, the thermal conductivity and electrical conductivity for the Zn-[x] wt.% Sb alloys decrease with increasing the temperature and the composition of Sb. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved