Experiment No.

1
Objective:
To determine the thermal conductivity of composite slab. To plot the temperature variation
along the composite wall.

Introduction:
The heat transfer through composite slabs experiment aims to study the movement of heat
through the walls of a composite material. Heat transfer may take place via conduction ,
convection or radiation. The movement of heat across walls in conduction in slabs takes place
via collision of molecules , hence the kinetic energy gets transferred across from the cold
areas to the hotter region.
Without the guard heater, cooler air surrounding the edge of the main heater would be heated
by conduction and convection. Thus some of the heat supplied to the main heater would be
carried away by the surrounding air.
With the guard heater in place and adjusted to the same temperature as the main heater, the
air in the gap between is maintained at the temperature of the main heater, so no heat is lost at
the edge of the main heater. All heat lost from the main heater must flow into the test slabs.

Principle:
The rate at which heat is conducted through a slab of a particular material is proportional to
the area A of the slab and to the temperature difference T between its sides and inversely
proportional to the slab's thickness d.

The amount of heat Q that flows through the slab in the

time t is given by

Rate of conduction:-

And thus
Where T = T1 T2, and k is the thermal conductivity of the material, is a measure of its
ability to conduct heat. The SI unit of k is Wm-1K-1.

Specification of equipment:

S. No.

2
3
4
5
6
7

Name of the
part
Instrument
Slabs

Digital
Voltmeter
Digital
Ammeter
Thermocouple
s
Channel
Selector
Demister
Heating coil

Materials /
make

Dimensions/
range (mm)

Cast Iron
Hylam
Wood

B1=25
B2=19
B3=12
300
diammeter
0-200V
0-2 A

ChromeAlumel

Nichrome
heating coil

0-573k

Remarks

Resolution=0.1
Resolution=0.0
01
Resolution=273
.1k

0-230V, 0-2A
300 W

Procedure :
1. Put the slabs and the composite material on either side of the heater assembly in proper
order.
2. The arrangement of slabs should have an equidistant separations from he central heater
plate
3. It must be ensured that the plates must be in complete contact for smooth functioning of
the material.
4. The value of current and the voltage must be noted to calculate power given by the formula
Q= V*I
5. Adjust the power supply .

6.After the system has hit a constant , steady state , note down the readings.

Observation:
The readings were taken for all the thermocouples.
Voltmeter reading (V)
Ammeter reading(A)
Thermocouple readings
T1
T2
T3

69
0.70
(0C)
324.9
324.5
324.7

CALCULATION:
Total thickness of composite slab = b1+b2+b3 = 0.056m
Thermal conductivity (K) = (Q*B)/ (A*(TA-TB)) W/m-k.
Thermal conductivity of composite slab =2.97 w/m-k
Kcastiron= 382.75W/m-K
Kbakelite=5.77 W/m-K
Kwood= 6.19W/m-K

Conclusion:

Corresponding graph shown in fig3. Shows the temperature distribution versus slab
thickness. It is clear from the graph that wood has less temperature gradient(dT/dx) as
compared to bakelite and cast iron .

FIG.3