Thermal Conductivity of Copper Alloys

Thermal conductivity of Cu alloys are of great importance since the alloys are widely used as heat exchangers in various industries, such as HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning), automotive, power generation, and electronics.

Using Thermo‑Calc with the TCS Cu-based Alloys Database (TCCU), you can calculate the quantities of a phase φ, with the variable THCD(φ) or a system (i.e. alloy), with THCD. You can also calculate derived quantities, including thermal resistivity (THRS) and thermal diffusivity (THDF) in a similar way.

The database includes thermal conductivity starting with version 6 (TCCU6).

Thermal conductivity versus temperature for various Cu-based alloys

Figure 1: Thermal conductivity versus temperature for various Cu-based alloys, e.g. CuNi_AlFeMn indicates the Cu-alloy with Ni as the major alloying element and Al, Fe, and Mn the minor alloying elements. Experimental data from [1991Lan]. Curves: Frozen-in calculations by the latest version of the database.

Reference

[1991Lan] Landolt-Börnstein, Group III - Condensed Matter Volume 15C (1991), "Metals: Electronic Transport Phenomena - Thermal Conductivity of Pure Metals and Alloys" 3.3.3.3 Cu-based alloys, Page 284-298.