Experimental Correlation of the Steel's Thermophysical Properties for Thermal Engineering Applications

Abstract

In this study, a predictive method is presented to estimate the variation of three thermophysical properties (thermal diffusivity, specific heat, and thermal conductivity) of 32 AISI-SAE commercial classes of rolled and annealed steels, at a working temperature from 0°C to 800°C and with a composition (C, Mn, S, P, Ni, Si, Mo, Cr, V). The function adjustment method is used for the treatment and generalization of the available experimental data, obtaining an equation that provides satisfactory adjustments to extend its use to thermal engineering. The proposed models were verified by comparison with available experimental data. For thermal diffusivity, specific heat, and thermal conductivity, the models obtained correlate with a deviation of $\pm 17.6\%$, $\pm 8.2\%$, and $\pm 16.6\%$, respectively. The weaker correlation fit corresponds to the thermal diffusivity of AISI-SAE 316 steel, with a maximum error of 17.6% and a mean absolute error (MAE) of 8.2% in 80.6% of the available experimental data. The best fit is provided by the specific heat of the AISI-SAE 1078 steel, with a maximum error of 1.9% and an MAE of 1.1% in 68.3% of the available experimental samples. In all cases, the agreement of the proposed model with the available experimental data is good enough to be considered satisfactory for practical design.