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Methods of Measuring Thermal Expansion

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Compendium of Thermophysical Property Measurement Methods

Abstract

When heat is added to or removed from a solid material there is a change in dimensions, △L. If the material is isotropic, then the change in dimensions is the same in all directions and the mean coefficient of linear thermal expansion is defined as

$$ {{\alpha }_{m}} = \frac{1}{{{{L}_{0}}}}\frac{{\Delta L}}{{\Delta T}} $$
(1)

where Lo is the length at some reference temperature, preferably 293 K. The limiting value of this definition (at constant pressure P) for a differential change in temperature is defined as the coefficient of linear thermal expansion or as the expansivity

$$ \\alpha = \frac{1}{{{L_0}}}{\left( {\frac{{\partial L}}{{\partial T}}} \right)_p}\ $$
(2)

The relative change in dimensions, or the thermal expansion (△L)/L o, is usually expressed in parts per million (µm/m) or as a percent.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland, 20899, USA

    R. K. Kirby

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  1. R. K. Kirby
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Boris Kidrič Institute of Nuclear Sciences, Belgrade, Yugoslavia, Serbia

    K. D. Maglić

  2. National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland, USA

    A. Cezairliyan

  3. Institute for High Temperatures, Moscow, Russian Federation

    V. E. Peletsky

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© 1992 Springer Science+Business Media New York

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Kirby, R.K. (1992). Methods of Measuring Thermal Expansion. In: Maglić, K.D., Cezairliyan, A., Peletsky, V.E. (eds) Compendium of Thermophysical Property Measurement Methods. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-3286-6_19

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-3286-6_19

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  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4613-6445-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4615-3286-6

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