Modelling for determining the thermal conductivity of porous solid materials

Abstract

The aim of this study was to develop an algebraic equation to calculate the thermal conductivity coefficients of porous solid materials. The components of the equation consisted of material porosity and density, and thermal conductivity coefficients of its Matrix and porous gas. The equation was applied to ten samples of organic sediment stones, volcanic rocks, and porous aggregates. The thermal conductivity coefficients given by the equation were higher than those measured experimentally (6.62%-16.89%). The proposed equation was also compared to six algebraic equations. Results suggest that the proposed algebraic equation can be used to calculate the thermal conductivity coefficients of solid materials containing complex geometrical pores. Highlights • A simple algebraic equation was developed to determine of the effective thermal conductivities of concrete with porous aggregates. • The equation was applied to the concrete with expanded clay, expanded polystyrene, pumice and fly ash aggregates. • The new produced samples can be used as light concrete in building.