Determination of thermal conductivity of Piptadeniastrum africanum

Ref.: 4
Área temática: 04 Abstracts donde los autores no han indicado el área temática.
Fecha de recepción: 09/10/2008

AUTORES (* Autor principal)

BAKIIKA, Robert * (Uganda) - Makerere University

ABSTRACT

Despite the frequent use of timber as flooring and ceiling material in buildings, information on the thermo-physical properties of tropical timber species is limited. Most of the information available regarding construction timbers is from temperate countries and therefore, creating a data bank of thermal properties of Ugandan tree species is necessary. The objectives of the study were: (i) to determine the thermal conductivity (TC) of Piptadeniastrum africanum wood at 35 and 40% moisture content (MC) and (ii) to investigate the relationship between TC and density of the timber. Density and MC were determined in accordance with BS 373(1957) procedures while the Quick Thermal Conductivity Meter QTM ­ 500 from Kyoto electronics was used to carry out the thermal conductive test. The mean TC values at 35% and 40% were 0.171Wm-1k-13 and 0.199 Wm-1k-1 respectively. The regression analysis of thermal conductivity and density between the two moisture contents gave a coefficient of determination (R2) 2.2% for 35 percent moisture content and 8.6% for 40 percent moisture content. More research should be done on heat flow in the longitudinal direction and the variation in thermal conductivity from pith to bark but with the use of cellular finite element analysis model.

BIBLIOGRAFÍA