Experimental improvements of a four-probe technique to measure the electrical resistivity of molten metals led to an improvement of the measurement uncertainty to less than 6%. Measurements of pure Al and AlSi-, AlSiMg-, and AlSiCu-alloys with a systematic variation of individual components are described. The problem of the calculation of the thermal conductivity has been investigated, and the resulting values of the binary system have been discussed in terms of behavior during melting and solidification. There is a remarkable difference of the thermal conductivity before melting and after resolidification.

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Following the characterization of the batch of Pyroceram 9606 material, a number of the partners in the European Commission (EC) supported program carried out certification measurements of thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity. Six laboratories undertook thermal-diffusivity measurements using either the flash or the modulated beam methods. Eight laboratories measured the thermal conductivity, using either the steady-state guarded-hot-plate method or one of the transient hot-wire methods. Results from each series of measurements were provided in a standard format as an aid to simplify the statistical analysis of the data. The results were corrected to the nominal measured temperature and for change in dimension, analyzed separately, and presented in a standard format. Outliers were identified and rejected where appropriate, based on both statistical and technical evidences. The individual data sets were combined, and the grand mean data for each property analyzed further to provide the certified values together with their uncertainty limits. Finally, using the specific heat capacity and density values obtained from the characterization tests, values of thermal conductivity were calculated from the measured thermal diffusivity. The difference between the calculated and certified values is less than 2.7 %, which is well within the uncertainty limit assigned for the certified thermal property values.

This paper discusses differences in thermophysical parameters (thermal conductivity λ, thermal diffusivity a, and specific heat c) that can be found when experimental methods with different measuring regimes are used. Two classes of methods are compared, namely, classical methods using steadystate, equilibrium, and dynamic measuring regimes and transient methods. The data consistency formula λ = acρ gives a picture on data reliability when single-parameter methods are used. Results of analysis are verified on published, recommended, and measured data by transient methods considering homogenous materials (stainless steel A 310, BK 7, Perspex) and heterogeneous materials (composite C/C-SiC, aerated autoclaved concrete). Satisfactory agreement on data for the thermophysical parameters was found on homogenous materials only.

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