Thermal diffusivity

About: Thermal diffusivity is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 26992 publications have been published within this topic receiving 528625 citations.

Transient plane source techniques for thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity measurements of solid materials

Abstract: The general theory of the transient plane source (TPS) technique is outlined in some details with approximations for the two experimental arrangements that may be referred to as ‘‘hot square’’ and ‘‘hot disk.’’ Experimental arrangements and measurements on two materials, Cecorite 130P and Corning 9606 Pyroceram, using a hot disk configuration, are reported and assessed.

Electron heat transport in a tokamak with destroyed magnetic surfaces

Abstract: Formulas for the electron thermal conductivity have been derived in the collisional and collisionless limits for the case of destroyed magnetic surfaces.

Brownian diffusion of particles with hydrodynamic interaction

Abstract: The classical theory of Brownian motion applies to suspensions which are so dilute that each particle is effectively alone in infinite fluid. We consider here the modifications to the theory that are needed when rigid spherical particles are close enough to interact hydrodynamically. It is first shown that Brownian motion is a diffusion process of the conventional kind provided that the particle configuration does not change significantly during a viscous relaxation time. The original argument due to Einstein, which invokes an equilibrium situation, is generalized to show that the particle flux in probability space due to Brownian motion is the same as that which would be produced by the application of a certain ‘thermodynamic’ force to each particle. We then use this prescription to deduce the Brownian diffusivities in two -different types of situation. The first concerns a dilute homogeneous suspension which is being deformed, and the relative translational diffusivity of two rigid spherical particles with a given separation is calculated from the properties of the low-Reynolds-number flow due to two spheres moving under equal and opposite forces. The second concerns a suspension in which there is a gradient of concentration of particles. The thermodynamic force on each particle in this case is shown to be equal to the gradient of the chemical potential of the particles, which brings considerations of the multi-particle excluded volume into the problem. Determination of the particle flux due to the action of this force is equivalent to determination of the sedimentation velocity of particles falling through fluid under gravity, for which a theoretical result correct to the first order in volume fraction of the particles is available, The diffusivity of the particles is found to increase slowly as the concentration rises from zero. These results are generalized to the case of a (dilute) inhomogeneous suspension of several different species of spherical particle, and expressions are obtained for the diagonal and off-diagonal elements of the diffusivity matrix. Numerical values of all the relevant hydrodynamic functions are given for the case of spheres of uniform size.

Helium diffusion from apatite: General behavior as illustrated by Durango fluorapatite

Abstract: High-precision stepped-heating experiments were performed to better characterize helium diffusion from apatite using Durango fluorapatite as a model system. At temperatures below 265°C, helium diffusion from this apatite is a simple, thermally activated process that is independent of the cumulative fraction of helium released and also of the heating schedule used. Across a factor of ∼4 in grain size, helium diffusivity scales with the inverse square of grain radius, implying that the physical grain is the diffusion domain. Measurements on crystallographically oriented thick sections indicate that helium diffusivity in Durango apatite is nearly isotropic. The best estimate of the activation energy for He diffusion from this apatite is E_a = 33±0.5 kcal/mol, with log(D_0) = 1.5±0.6 cm^2/s. The implied He closure temperature for a grain of 100 μm radius is 68°C assuming a 10°C/Myr cooling rate; this figure varies by ±5°C for grains ranging from 50 to 150 μm radius. When this apatite is heated to temperatures from 265 to 400°C, a progressive and irreversible change in He diffusion behavior occurs: Both the activation energy and frequency factor are reduced. This transition in behavior coincides closely with progressive annealing of radiation damage in Durango apatite, suggesting that defects and defect annealing play a role in the diffusivity of helium through apatite.

Diffuse-charge dynamics in electrochemical systems.

Abstract: The response of a model microelectrochemical system to a time-dependent applied voltage is analyzed. The article begins with a fresh historical review including electrochemistry, colloidal science, and microfluidics. The model problem consists of a symmetric binary electrolyte between parallel-plate blocking electrodes, which suddenly apply a voltage. Compact Stern layers on the electrodes are also taken into account. The Nernst-Planck-Poisson equations are first linearized and solved by Laplace transforms for small voltages, and numerical solutions are obtained for large voltages. The "weakly nonlinear" limit of thin double layers is then analyzed by matched asymptotic expansions in the small parameter epsilon= lambdaD/L, where lambdaD is the screening length and L the electrode separation. At leading order, the system initially behaves like an RC circuit with a response time of lambdaDL/D (not lambdaD2/D), where D is the ionic diffusivity, but nonlinearity violates this common picture and introduces multiple time scales. The charging process slows down, and neutral-salt adsorption by the diffuse part of the double layer couples to bulk diffusion at the time scale, L2/D. In the "strongly nonlinear" regime (controlled by a dimensionless parameter resembling the Dukhin number), this effect produces bulk concentration gradients, and, at very large voltages, transient space charge. The article concludes with an overview of more general situations involving surface conduction, multicomponent electrolytes, and Faradaic processes.