This study used a two part process to create a system that would predict the thermal conductivity of insulated building materials containing plant materials. A finite-discrete element method was used to predict the thermal conductivity of a packed bed of sunflower pith, while a discrete element method was used to predict how aggregates would fill a volume element. These were used to predict the thermal conductivity of the heterogeneous volume. ...
Very porous ceramics were prepared by the direct foaming method containing 79% kaolinite , based on commercial clay. Ceramics were prepared with different pore volume fractions, and the different ceramics were analyzed using the transient plane source (TPS) technique to measure thermal conductivity. Increasing pore volume fraction led to decreased thermal conductivity....
