A Quasi-Steady State Technique to Measure the Thermal Conductivity

A new method is developed for the measurement of thermal conductivity. It combines characteristic advantages of steady-state and transient techniques but avoids major drawbacks of both these classes of methods. On the basis of a simple transient hot wire (THW) or transient hot-strip (THS) arrangement, a direct indicating thermal-conductivity meter is realized by adding only one temperature sensor. After a short settling time during which all transients die out, the instrument operates under quasi-steady state conditions. No guard heaters are required because outer boundaries are free to change with time. The instrument’s uncertainty is provisionally estimated to be 3%.