Numerical and experimental studies on the measurement of thermal conductivity of a silicone rubber plate as a reference material

Abstract

Silicone rubber is used as a reference material to examine the accuracy of measuring apparatus. However, the thermal conductivity of silicone rubber has been reported as ranging from 0.20 to 0.25 W/(m·K) at 293.15 K; thus an engineer cannot determine the accuracy of measuring apparatus. In order to obtain the exact value for the thermal conductivity of silicone rubber, the authors have developed a measuring apparatus according to the Guarded Hot Plate method. The dimensions of the test sample were 100 mm x 100 mm x 10 mm. This is sufficient to measure thermal conductivities ranging from 0.18 to 0.26 W/(m·K). The thermal conductivity obtained for a silicone rubber plate in this study was close to 0.25 W/(m·K). It was found that deformation of the silicone rubber has an effect on the thermal conductivity. The accuracy of our thermal conductivity measurement is estimated to be within ±3.5%. © Scripta Technica, Heat Trans Jpn Res, 26(7): 435–448, 1997