4th Year Stage Material Science-Lecture 04

Duhok Polytechnique University-Petrochemical Department

2018 / 2019

Material Science

 Lecture 04: Physical Properties of Materials- Thermal Properties

Lecturer: Dr Farhad M. Ali

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4th Year Stage Material Science-Lecture 04

Physical Properties

Physical property- any characteristic of a material that can be observed or measured

without changing the composition of the substances in the material.

Physical Properties of Materials

 Volumetric and Melting Properties

 Thermal Properties
 Mass Diffusion
 Electrical Properties
 Electrochemical Processes

Components in a product must do more than simply withstand mechanical stresses. They
must conduct electricity (or prevent conduction), allow heat to transfer (or allow its escape),
transmit light (or block transmission), and satisfy many other functions.

Why are physical properties important in Manufacturing?

It is Important in manufacturing because they often influence process performance

Examples:

➢ In machining, thermal properties of the work material determine the cutting

temperature, which affects how long tool can be used before failure.
➢ In microelectronics, electrical properties of silicon and how these properties can
be altered by chemical and physical processes is the basis of semiconductor
manufacturing.

Thermal Properties of Materials:

Thermal properties are those properties of a material which is related to its conductivity of
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heat. In other words, these are the properties which are exhibited by a material when heat
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4th Year Stage Material Science-Lecture 04

is passed through it. Thermal properties come under the broader topic of physical properties
of materials.

Thermal properties of a material decide how it reacts when it is subjected to heat fluctuation
(excessive heat or very low heat, for example). The major components of thermal properties
are:

▪ Heat capacity
▪ Thermal Expansion
▪ Thermal conductivity
▪ Thermal stress

Heat Capacity

Heat capacity of a material can be defined as the amount of heat required to change the
temperature of the material by one degree. The amount of heat is generally expressed in
joules and the temperature in Celsius or Kelvin.

In order to calculate the heat capacity of materials with given dimension, Molar heat capacity
or Specific heat capacity is used.

Specific Heat Capacity:

Different substances require different amounts of heat energy to raise their temperature by
1 degree Celsius. For example, A unit mass of copper requires 0.385 calorie heat energy
to raise its temperature by the same amount and a unit mass of Iron requires 0.444 calorie
heat energy for the same.

This amount of heat energy required to raise the temperature of a unit mass of a
substance through 1 degree Celsius is called its Specific Heat Capacity.

Specific heat capacity is thus different for different substances, and it depends not on the
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mass, but on the nature of material of the substance.

DR FARHAD M. ALI 4THY-MATERIAL SCIENCE-LECTURE-04-2018-2019

4th Year Stage Material Science-Lecture 04

Usually good conductors have a low specific heat capacity while bad conductors have a
high specific heat capacity. Heat capacity can be measured by the following formula:

Solved Example: Calculate the specific heat capacity of copper given that 204.75 J of
energy raises the temperature of 15g of copper from 25o to 60o.

Solution:
q = m x Cg x (T2 – T1) 204.75 = 15 x C x (60 - 25)
q = 204.75 J 204.75 = 15 x C x 35
m = 15g 204.75 = 525 x C
T1 = 25oC C = 204.75 ÷ 204.75 = 0.39 J
T2 = 60oC oC-1 g-1

Thermal Expansion

When heat is passed through a material, its shape changes. Generally, a material expands
when heated. This property of a material is called Thermal Expansion. There can be change
in area, volume and shape of the material.
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For example, railway tracks often expand and as a result, get misshapen due to extreme
heat.

There are three general types of thermal expansion: linear, area, and volume.

• Linear expansion:

∆𝐋
= 𝐓
𝐋𝐨

Where:

Lo is the original length of the material

ΔL is the change in length (making L / Lo the fractional change in length)
 is the expansion coefficient (depends on specific material), and
ΔT is the temperature change experienced by the material

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Solved example 1: In one continuous piece from a roll of a sheet of aluminium modern
tools are constructed. For a 30-meter-long what is the change in length? Where  =
23×10-6 oC-1 for temperature range ∆T= 60 oC.
Solution: ∆L= L0 α ∆T
= (30 m x 102 cm m-1) (2.3 × 10-5 oC-1) (60 oC) = 4.14 cm

Solved Example 2: A 5 m aluminum flagpole is installed at 20°C. Overnight, the

temperature drops to -5°C. How much does the height change, in millimeters? What is the
final height of the flagpole, in meters? Thermal expansion coefficient for aluminum is α for
Aluminum = 23 × 10−6 °C−1
Solution: First, calculate the change in length using ∆L= L0 α ∆T).

Change in length ∆L= L0 α ∆T = (5 x 103 mm) x (23 × 10−6 °C−1) (-25 °C) = −2.875 mm .

The negative sign indicates the flagpole is getting shorter.

Final length Lf=Lo+ L = 500 mm−2.875mm = 497.125 mm
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4th Year Stage Material Science-Lecture 04

• Area expansion:
𝛥𝐴
= 2𝛼𝛥𝑇
𝐴𝑜

Where ΔA/Ao is the fractional change in area

Every linear dimension increases by the same percentage with a change in temperature.

• Volume expansion:

∆𝑉
= 3𝑇
𝑉𝑜

Where ΔV/Vo is the fractional change in volume

Thermal conductivity

It is the property of a material to conduct heat through itself. It is generally denoted by the
symbol ‘k’ but can also be denoted by ‘’ and ‘κ’. The reciprocal of this quantity, 1/ , is
known as thermal resistivity. Materials with high thermal conductivity will conduct more
heat than the ones with low conductivity. Some materials do not conduct heat at all
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because of the insulating properties of materials. For example, an iron rod will conduct
more heat than normal window glass.

Fourier’s law states that the negative gradient of temperature and the time rate of heat
transfer are proportional at to the area at right angles of that gradient through which the
heat flows. Fourier’s law is the other name of the law of heat conduction.

𝑸 ∆𝑻
= −𝒌𝑨 ( )
∆𝒕 ∆𝒙

k: conductivity of the material in W.m-1.K-1

𝑄
: amount of heat transferred per unit time
∆𝑡
A: area of the cross-sectional surface, m2
ΔT: temperature difference between the endpoints
Δx: distance between two ends

Temperature gradient across the layer is given by:

𝒅𝑻 𝑻𝟐 − 𝑻𝟏
=
𝒅𝒙 𝑳

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4th Year Stage Material Science-Lecture 04

Solved Example: Consider a copper cylindrical slab of constant cross-sectional area 1m²
and thickness 20 cm. The temperatures of the left and the right ends of the slab are 150°C
and 50°C, respectively. Determine temperature gradient and rate of heat transfer. The
thermal conductivity of copper is 400 W/m°C.

Solution: Temperature gradient across the layer is given by

𝒅𝑻 𝑻𝟐 − 𝑻𝟏
=
𝒅𝒙 𝑳

𝒅𝑻 𝟓𝟎−𝟏𝟓𝟎
= = - 500 oC m-1
𝒅𝒙 𝟎.𝟐

Note: the temperature gradient is negative. (Note: temperature gradient is always negative
in the direction of heat transfer
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Now, how to apply Fourier’s Law?

As we have seen, the mathematical form of Fourier’s law is,

𝑸 ∆𝑻
= −𝒌𝑨 ( )
∆𝒕 ∆𝒙

𝑸
= −𝟒𝟎𝟎 ∗ 𝟏 ∗ (−𝟓𝟎𝟎) = 𝟐𝟎𝟎𝑲𝑾 𝒑𝒆𝒓 𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆
∆𝒕

Interpretation of results

If we increase the area of the slab twice, the rate of heat transfer will also increase by two
times. If we decrease the length of the slab to half, then both the temperature gradient and
the rate of heat transfer will increase by two times

Thermal stress

The stress experienced by a body due to either thermal expansion or contraction is called
thermal stress. It can be potentially destructive in nature as it can make the material
explode.

Thermal stress is stress caused by differences in temperature or by differences in

thermal expansion. A crack formed as a result of thermal stress produced by rapid cooling
from a high temperature. Because the section of rail was fixed at both ends it experienced
a thermal stress when the ambient temperature increased. For example, cracks can be
seen on roads where the heat is extreme. The crack is a result of thermal stress.
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DR FARHAD M. ALI 4THY-MATERIAL SCIENCE-LECTURE-04-2018-2019