Modeling › Thermophysical Properties

One of the main barriers in the analysis and design of materials processing and industrial applications is the lack of accurate experimental data on material thermophysical properties. For example, in the aluminum, steel, and metalca sting industries, the prediction of defect formation such as shrinkage voids, microporosity, and macrosegregation is limited by the data available on fraction solid and density evolution during solidification. To date, the measurement of most of these high-temperature thermophysical properties is often plagued by time lags that are inherent to the measurement arrangement.

The accuracy of thermophysical properties of materials determines the accuracy of numerical simulations used to improve or design new materials processing processes. In most of the instruments used to measure thermophysical properties, the temperature is changed according to the instrument controllers and there is a non-homogeneous temperature distribution within the instruments. In general, the sample temperature cannot be measured directly, i.e., temperature data is recorded by using a thermocouple that is placed at different location than that of the sample. Consequently, there is a time lag of the sample temperature related to factors such as, heating/cooling rate, sample mass, thermal contact resistance between sample and sample sensor. By performing a computational analysis of the measurement process, the time lag can be estimated and its effect can be taken into account in determining the thermophysical properties.

Contacts:

SABAU, Adrian S. sabaua@ornl.gov 865.241.5145
YIN, Hebi yinh1@ornl.gov 865.574.8849

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