Thermal conductivity of a glass: II. The empirical model

The temperature-dependent thermal (phonon) conductivity of solid and molten glasses is simulated using a simple empirical model. The power model lambda(T) = 1.68[C-p(T)/rho(T)](0.38), which relates the thermal conductivity and the ratio of the specific heat to the density, adequately describes more than half the available experimental data. The standard deviation of the calculation from the experiment is equal to 12%. This accuracy is close to the accuracy of currently available additive models for calculating the thermal conductivity from the composition. The proposed model predicts that the thermal (phonon) conductivity of molten silicate glasses is virtually temperature independent.