Estimation of the thermophysical characteristics of a composite material
Eugene A Artyukhin, Bertrand Gamier
The simultaneous estimation of the temperature-dependent volumetric heat capacity and thermal conductivity in transient tests is reported for a composite material. An insulating material with relatively low thermal conductivity is analysed. Thermophysical characteristics are estimated by solving the coefficient inverse heat conduction problem with the use of an iterative numerical method. The method requires transient heat flux and temperature measurements. An experimental setup is described. The setup has a multilayer structure which is symmetric in relation to the electric heater and gives heat flux measurements. In addition, temperature histories are measured by thermocouples on the sample surfaces but not inside the material under analysis. To avoid the influence of the thermal contact resistance between layers, all layers are joined by thin silicone grease layers which promote better thermal contact.