Trident™ Application Highlight: Thermal Conductivity of Cementitious Materials in Dry and Saturated States

This document highlights the use of the Transient Plane Source (TPS) method to quantify the effect of water saturation on the thermal conductivity of cementitious materials using the Single-Sided Utility.   Concrete is heterogeneous at the aggregate scale, so a meaningful measurement requires a sensor that interrogates a sufficiently large volume to average across the matrix and aggregate, rather than sampling a single phase. Saturated specimens add a second Measurements were performed using the Transient Plane Source (TPS) method on the C-Therm Trident Thermal Conductivity Instrument. constraint. Any measurement that imposes a sustained thermal input across a wet porous sample will drive moisture redistribution within the pore network during the test. It is important to use a characterization method that minimizes the extent and duration of thermal input. Sample preparation is the third consideration. Techniques that require a drilled pilot hole and a coupling agent, such as the Transient Line Source (TLS) method, introduce additional preparation requirements and reduce throughput. A single-sided testing configuration was used to collect this data. The TPS Single-Sided Utility utilizes the sensor loaded against one exposed face and an insulating backing above it.

Download here