Thermal Property

Thermal Property
Heat capacity
Thermal Property Response of material to application of heat
Manifestation Rise in temperature and change in dimension.
Temperature rise Heat absorption
Heat capacity is the ability of a material to absorb heat
Heat capacity, C, is defined as the amount of energy required
to produce a unit temperature rise
(J /mol-K or cal/mol-K), q is energy, T is temperature.
Specific heat, c, is heat capacity per unit mass (J /kg-K or
cal/g-K)
Constant pressure or constant volume heat capacity, C
p
and
C
v
respectively.
dT
dq
C =
Thermal Conductivity
If there is a temperature gradient, heat will flow from higher to
lower temperature region. This is Thermal conduction.
The ability of a material to transfer the heat is the Thermal
conductivity, k.
dX
dT
k q =
q is steady state heat flux i.e.
heat flow per unit area per unit
time (W/m
2
)
k is thermal conductivity of the
medium (W/m-K)
dT/dX is the thermal gradient in
the medium.
Conduction Mechanism
Atoms vibrate about their equilibrium positions with high
frequency and low amplitudes. Amplitude increases with rise in
temperature.
The vibrations of adjacent atoms are coupled due to atomic
bonding and this leads to generation of elastic waves which
move through the lattice at the velocity of sound and thus carries
the heat.
Each quantum of the wave is known as phonon.
Conduction Mechanism
Free electrons gain kinetic energy in the hotter region and
move towards the colder region thus transferring the heat.
Therefore, thermal conductivity k = k
l
(lattice) + k
e
(electron)
Since a large number free valence electrons are available in
metals, the electron mechanism is much more efficient. This
imparts great thermal conductivity that metals are known for.
Thermal and electrical conductivities in metals are related by
WiedemannFranz law: L= k/oT, L is a constant, o is electrical
conductivity.
Ceramics do not have free electrons as all electrons are tightly
bound in the atomic bonds and hence, are poor conductors of
heat.
Polymers conduct heat by vibrational and rotational motion of
chain molecules and hence, are poor conductors of heat.
Thermal Conductivity
Thermal conductivity of ceramics generally decreases with
increasing temperature due to phonon scattering. At very high
temperature it increases again due to change in heat transfer
mode from conduction to radiation.
Determination of Thermal conductivity
Experimental set up
Heat generation/conduction unit with controls
Thermocouples and Data logger
Maintain two ends of the sample at constant temperatures
Insert five to six thermocouples along the length at different
locations
Plot temperature as a function of distance and find dT/dX from
the slope.
Find the thermal conductivity, k (q = - k dT/dX) [Experimental
techniques to find q can be found at
http://www.physics.uoguelph.ca/~detong/phys3510_4500/Ther
mal%20expansion%20and%20conductivity.pdf
http://www.the-
three.net/documents/portfolio/thermal_conductivity_report.pdf
Thermal Expansion
Most of the solids expand when heated. This is known as
thermal expansion.
It can be expressed as
Where, AL is the change in length due to a temperature rise of
AT. o
l
is known as linear coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE).
o
l
(C
-1
) is a material property which depends on the type of
atomic bonding. The extent to which a material expands on
heating will depend on its o
l
.
The atomic mechanism of thermal expansion can be viewed
as an increase in the inter-atomic separation.
Therefore, it will depend on the shape of the energy vs. inter-
atomic distance curve.
T
L
L
o
A =
A
l o
Thermal Expansion
The energy and vibrational amplitude (width of the potential
energy trough) increase with increasing temperature and so
does the interatomic separation (indicated by the open circles).
For a material with a broader potential curve, the increase in
the interatomic distance is more (Fig. a) and hence thermal
expansion is more.
The increase in atomic distance and hence, the expansion is
much lower for a deep and narrow potential trough (Ceramics).
(a)
(b)
Low/Zero Thermal Expansion
Coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) for metals is in the
range of 5 x 10
-6
25 x 10
-6
/C.
For a typical ceramic like Al
2
O
3
CTE = 7.6 x 10
-6
/C
There is a class of materials which have very low or near-zero
thermal expansion.
Invar (64Fe 36Ni) has CTE of 1.6 x 10
-6
/C (Up to 230 C,
the temperature can be increased by heat treatment).
Super Invar (63Fe-32Ni-5Co) 0.72 x 10
-6
/C.
This is believed to be caused by magnetostriction a
phenomena which lead to volume change on magnetization.
Negative Thermal Expansion
Some materials contract on heating (negative CTE).
Zirconium tungstate (ZrW
2
O
8
) for example contracts
continuously from 2 to 1050 K.
A composite (mix) of positive and negative expansion
materials may give rise to a zero expansion material.
Thermal Properties of some materials
Material c
p
(J/kg-K) o
l
(C
-1
x 10
-6
) k (W/m-K)
Metals
Alumnium 900 23.6 247
Copper 386 17.0 398
Silver 235 19.7 428
Steel 502 16 15.9
Super Invar 500 0.72 10
Ceramics
Alumina (Al
2
O
3
) 775 7.6 39
Fused Silica (SiO
2
) 740 0.4 1.4
Pyrex glass 850 3.3 1.4
Polymers
Polyethylene 1850 106 - 198 0.50
Polystyrene 1170 90-150 0.13
Teflon 1050 126-216 0.25
Thermal Stress
Thermal stresses arise due to
Constrained expansion or contraction e.g. heating or
cooling a rod with fixed rigid ends.
Uneven heating/cooling
Thermal expansion mismatch inside the solid.
Thermal stress o due to temperature change from T
o
to T
f
o = Eo
l
(T
o
T
f
) = Eo
l
AT
E is the elastic modulus.
Upon heating, the stress is compressive and tensile while
cooling if the expansion/contraction is restrained.
Example
A steel rod is to be used with its ends held rigid. What is the
maximum temperature the rod can be heated to without the
compressive stress in it exceeding 180 MPa. Elastic modulus
of the rod E = 190 GPa.
Solution:
o s -180 x 10
6
Pa (Compressive) = Eo
l
(T
o
T
f
)
o
l
for steel ~ 14 x 10
-6
C
-1
. T
o
= room temperature = 25 C
C T
o
f 92
10 14 10 190
10 180
25
6 9
6
=


+ =

Thermal Shock
Thermal stresses might cause fracture in brittle materials like
ceramics due to rapid heating or cooling if the
expansion/contraction is restrained. This is known as thermal
shock.
The ability of material to withstand such shocks is known as
thermal shock resistance (TSR)
, o
f
is the fracture stress.
Thermal shock can be prevented by controlling the external
conditions like lowering heating and cooling rates and
controlling the thermal/mechanical parameters such as CTE
and fracture stress as per the equation above.
o
o
l
E
k
TSR
f
~
References
http://neon.mems.cmu.edu/rollett/27301/L8_therm_cond-
Nov07.pdf
http://www.engineersedge.com/properties_of_metals.htm
http://www4.ncsu.edu/~pamaggar/403_Thermal.pdf
www.claisse.info/student/Powerpoints/1.3%20Thermal.ppt
http://www.cmse.ed.ac.uk/MSE3/Topics/ThermalProperties.pdf
Key words: Thermal properties; Heat capacity; Thermal
conductivity; Thermal expansion; Thermal shock
Quiz
1. What is heat capacity? What is specific heat?
2. Briefly explain the mechanism of heat conduction in solids?
3. What is phonon?
4. Why do metals have good thermal conductivity?
5. Why are ceramics poor conductors of heat?
6. What is the origin of thermal expansion in solids?
7. Why thermal expansion of ceramics is much lower
compared to metals?
8. What kind of stresses will be developed if the ends of a
solid are constrained while (i) heating (ii) while cooling?
9. Is it possible to have zero or negative thermal expansion?
10. What causes thermal shock?
11. What is thermal shock resistance? How can it be
improved?
Quiz
12. A brass rod is to be used with its ends held rigid. What is
the maximum temperature the rod can be heated to from
room temp without the compressive stress in it exceeding
172 MPa. Elastic modulus of brass E = 100 GPa and
o
l
= 20 x 10
-6
13. A 0.35 m long brass rod is heated from 15 to 85 C with
its ends held rigid. Find out the magnitude and type of stress
developed if it was free of stress at 15 C. Elastic modulus of
brass is 100 GPa and o of brass is 20 x 10
-6
/C