METHOD OF INVESTIGATING THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY OF INSULATING COMPOSITE MATERIALS DESIGNED FOR MEANS OF TRANSPORT

The paper presents a method to determine the thermal conductivity of composite insulating materials containing ceramic microspheres, in which there is a vacuum. The matrix of the tested composite is acrylic resin, and the strengthening phase is ceramic microspheres. Preparing of samples from such material for testing in a plate apparatus is difficult due to damage to the spheres during processing and the formation of air gaps between the plates. The described method uses the amount of electricity consumed by the water heaters to maintain the set temperature. The essence of this method is to compare the energy consumption of the tank coated with the tested composite material with that by an identical tank coated with an reference insulation with a known thermal conductivity (PUR). A necessary condition is a similar drop in temperature on the test and reference insulations.