Effect of Saturation on Thermal Conductivity of Granular Materials

Abstract

Thermal conductivity is one of the most important properties of construction materials due to change the structure and the chemical composition of these materials particularly in hot weathers. Thermal conductivity testing of building materials in situ provides useful database about of temperature, moisture and conditions of storage. In this paper, thermal conductivity of Huston sand has been investigated for dry and saturation status by transient technique. TP02 Hukseflux probe used to calculate thermal conductivity of Huston sand. TP02 Hukseflux probe has been calibrated by Glycerol and compare with results from art-of-literature. The results showed that the value of thermal conductivity during the saturation is more than the dry state. This is identical to reality as the parameter is strongly influenced by presence of water. Comsol Multiphysics® simulation has been used to validate the experimental test. Slightly difference is marked between the experimental and theoretical results