This article aimed to illustrate the Transient plane source (TPS) method’s abilities in measuring the local thermal conductivity of metal foams and detecting their in-homogeneities. A method was used to measure the effective thermal conductivity and thermal properties of powder metallurgical (PM)-aluminum (Al) foams, infiltrated aluminum foams, and PM-Zinc foams. The accuracy of the TPS method was then verified in the determination of defects or density in-homogeneities....
As the world works to combat climate change, focus has turned to reducing energy use. More efficient thermal insulation could drastically reduce the energy use of residential homes. In this paper, the research team focused on reducing the thermal conductivity of polymeric foams. A number of foam samples with varying cell sizes between 90nm and 100um were created, to show that reducing pore size also reduces the thermal conductivity. The ...
Minerals are often added to polypropylene (PP) foams to improve thermal conductivity. The aim of this study was to test and compare the thermal conductivity of unfilled, magnesium hydroxide (Mg(OH)2)-, and montmorillonite (MMT)-reinforced PP foams. An analyzer measured the thermal conductivity of the polypropylene foams using the Transient Plane Source (TPS) method. Results showed that thermal conductivity increased with foam density and with magnesium concentration....
A variety of metallic hollow sphere structures were prepared with different metals, values for diameter and shell thickness and their densities were predicted using analytical/empirical models. From these densities, admitted scaling laws are used to predict thermal conductivity. The predicted values for thermal conductivity are then compared to experimental values for the same structures, as determined by the transient plane source (TPS) technique....
Using the transient plane source (TPS) method, the thermal conductivities of a series of magnesium integral foams have been measured experimentally. The main factor contributing to the thermal conductivity of the magnesium foams is the bulk density. In addition to using the TPS technique, micro-computed tomography (µCT) was used to explain any deviations from expected thermal conductivity....
