The thermal conductivity of a mineral cast material made of epoxy-granite was determined by a steady state method, as well as by the transient plane source (TPS) method. In comparing both methods to geometric models, it was determined that both methods were able to accurately measure the thermal conductivity of the two-phase material. The material that was tested was intended to be used in machine tools, and so its thermal ...
Paraffin is an excellent phase change material (PCM) for latent heat storage, but it does not efficiently use stored energy because of its low thermal conductivity. In this study, nickel and copper foams were added to paraffin to enhance heat transfer. A Thermal Constants Analyzer measured the thermal conductivity of the paraffin composites using the transient plane source (TPS) method. The addition of copper foam enhanced the thermal conductivity of ...