Measurement of the thermal conductivity of stainless steel AISI 304L up to 550 K

New measurements of the thermal conductivity of stainless steel AISI 304L over the temperature range 300 to 550 K are reported. To perform the measurements, the transient hot-wire technique was employed, with a new wire sensor. The sensor makes use of a soft silicone paste material and of two thin polyimide films, between the hot wires of the apparatus and the stainless steel specimen. The transient temperature rise of the wire sensor is measured in response to an electrical heating step over a period of 40 mus to 2 s, allowing an absolute determination of the thermal conductivity of the solid, as well as of the polyimide film and the silicone paste. The method is based on a full theoretical model with equations solved by a two-dimensional finite-element method applied to the exact geometry. At the 95% confidence level, the standard deviation of the thermal conductivity measurements is 0.6%, while the standard uncertainty of the technique is less than 1.5%.