A rigid, self-supporting material derived from flax tow was prepared and its mechanical, thermal, hydrous, and acoustic properties were investigated. The study was performed to determine if this material would be a viable option for use as a biodegradable thermal and acoustic insulation in walls. The effect of flax-tow size after grinding on these properties was also investigated. It was determined that increasing the flax-tow size resulted in a reduction ...
The frictional heat produced by the 1999 Chi-Chi, Taiwan earthquake was estimated by identifying a temperature anomaly that is present in a borehole drilled through a large slip region of the fault. The temperature rise was estimated by solving an equation representing one-dimensional thermal conduction in an infinite medium. In order to solve this equation, the thermal diffusivity of fracture zone materials were measured using the transient plane source technique. It ...
The thermal conductivity of polyamide 12 (also known as nylon 12) in loose powder and bulk forms were determined at varying temperatures. The authors stated that there was a lack of information available on the thermal conductivity of this polymer, which is necessary for assessing the material’s performance during laser sintering. It was determined that the thermal conductivity of the powder increased with increasing temperature, while the thermal conductivity of the ...
Ultralow density silica aerogels were formulated by sol-gel process using tetramethyl orthosilicate as the precursor. A supercritical drying step was performed using acetonitrile solvent extraction. These aerogels were found to have a high specific surface area (~812m2/g) and they were found to be excellent thermal insulators with thermal conductivities ranging from 0.024 to 0.043 W/m K at temperatures up to 400oC....
Disodium hydrogenphosphate dodecahydrate was investigated for its thermophysical properties and the effects that temperature had on these properties. The goal of this work was to determine if this material was a suitable phase change material for use in supercooled thermal energy storage. It was found that this hydrate could efficiently exchange energy between itself and heat sources, it could reduce heat loss from energy storage systems, and it could store ...
