Dependence of the thermal conductivity of alloys of the Al?Mg system on the composition and temperature

It is a common practice to study the dependencies of the physical properties of alloys on the temperature and the composition without generalizing the results. It is more logical to study these dependences complexly, i.e., as fragments of “composition-temperature-property” diagrams (whole diagrams in the ideal case). Today’s mathematical and computer possibilities provide processing of the dependences of any property on the temperature and the composition even for multicomponent systems. Mathematical analogs replace the “composition— property” graphical diagrams. The present work generalizes data on the thermal conductivity of 11 alloys of the Al−Mg system that contain 1 to 14% Mg in the temperature range of 20–350°C. The results are obtained in the form of a single regression equation that describes the data on the thermal conductivity within the range 86–190 W/(m·K) with a standard deviation of 0.7%. The choice of the regression equation is based on the existence of an analogy between heat transfer and electric transfer in metallic systems and on dependences of the electrical resistivity on the temperature and the concentration of the alloying elements known from solid-state physics. Translated from Metallovedenie i Termicheskaya Obrabotka Metallov, No. 6, pp. 13–15, June, 1998.