Gulliver Miniature Guarded Hot Plate Apparatus

It is proposed to develop a miniature guarded hot plate apparatus that can be used to determine the thermal conductivity or thermal resistance of very small specimens (1 to 3 cm square) of thermal insulation materials over a temperature range from at least -40 degrees Celsius to +65 degrees Celsius, with the apparatus having the capability to carry out measurements under controlled environments of air, selected gases, or vacuum. The apparatus will meet all of the requirements of ASTM C177 and ISO 8302. The specific technical objectives of the Phase I development effort are to: develop performance criteria and specifications for the apparatus; review alternative measurement approaches, select the design, and refine it to the point where it can be subjected to detailed analysis; develop numerical models of the apparatus that will enable reliable prediction of apparatus performance and measurement accuracy as functions of the design parameters; study and analyze, with experimental investigations if required, alternative approaches to the most crucial design features of the apparatus; and develop a detailed design, including construction drawings of the complete prototype apparatus to be built in Phase II, and all instrumentation and software specifications.