A Computational Study on Thermal Conductivity Measurements of High Temperature Liquid Materials

X. Ye[1], R. W. Hyers[1]
[1]Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering, University of Massachusetts - Amherst, Amherst, MA, USA
Published in 2014

Accurate thermo-physical properties of materials are valuable for both scientific research and industrial applications. For high temperature liquid materials, two issues exclude traditional methods: elevated reactivity of test material and experimental apparatus, uncontrolled heat transfer through radiation and convection. Electromagetic Levitation (EML) based Modulated Calorimetry (EML-MC) provides an possible alternative.

In this study, the utility of this technique for high temperature liquid materials are explored using COMSOL Multiphysics® software. The accuracy of current thermal conductivity measuring scheme is determined under different levels of convective interference. The governing principle of the dependence of measurement error is revealed. Recommendations are provided for accurate thermal conductivity measurement of a Zr-based multicomponent alloy at high temperature liquid state.