Determination of thermal diffusivity of the material by numerical-analytical model of a semi-bounded body

A mathematical description of the material thermal diffusivity a т in a semi-bounded body is proposed with a relatively simple algorithm for its numerical and analytical by solving the inverse problem of thermal conductivity. To solve the problem, it is necessary to obtain the temperature values of the unbounded plate as a result of a thermophysical experiment. A plate can be conditionally considered as a semi-bounded body as long as the Fourier number Fo ≤ Fo к (Fo к ≈ 0.04–0.06). It is assumed that the temperature distribution over cross-section of the heated layer of the plate R is sufficiently described by a power function whose exponent depends linearly on the Fourier number. A simple algebraic expression is obtained for calculating a т in the time interval ∆τ from the dynamics of temperature change T ( R п , τ) of a plate surface with thickness R п heated under boundary conditions of the second kind. Temperature of the second surface of the plate T (0, τ) is used only to determine the time of the end of experiment τ к . The moment of time τ к , in which the temperature perturbation reaches the adiabatic surface x = 0, can be set by the condition T ( R п , τ к ) – T (0, τ = 0) = 0,1 K. The method of approximate calculation of dynamics of changes in depth of the heated layer R by the values of R п , τ к , and τ is proposed. Calculation of a т for the time interval ∆τ is reduced to an iterative solution of a system of three algebraic equations by matching the Fourier number, for example, using a standard Microsoft Excel procedure. Estimation of the accuracy of a т calculation was made by the test (initial) temperature field of the refractory plate with the thickness R п = 0.05 m, calculated by the finite difference method under the initial condition T (x, τ = 0) = 300 (0 ≤ x ≤ R п ) at radiation-convective heating. The heating time was 260 s. Calculation of a т , i was performed for 10 time moments τ i + 1 = τ i + Δτ, τ = 26 s. Average mass temperature of the heated layer for the whole time was T = 302 K. The arithmetic-mean absolute deviation of a т (T = 302 K) from the initial value at the same temperature was 2.8 %. Application of the method will simplify the conduct and processing of experiments to determine the thermal diffusivity of materials.