Designation:D5334−14StandardTestMethodforDeterminationofThermalConductivityofSoilandSoftRockbyThermalNeedleProbeProcedure1ThisstandardisissuedunderthefixeddesignationD5334;thenumberimmediatelyfollowingthedesignationindicatestheyearoforiginaladoptionor,inthecaseofrevision,theyearoflastrevision.Anumberinparenthesesindicatestheyearoflastreapproval.Asuperscriptepsilon(´)indicatesaneditorialchangesincethelastrevisionorreapproval.1.Scope*1.1Thistestmethodpresentsaprocedurefordeterminingthethermalconductivity(λ)ofsoilandsoftrockusingatransientheatmethod.Thistestmethodisapplicableforbothintactandreconstitutedsoilspecimensandsoftrockspeci-mens.Thistestmethodissuitableonlyforhomogeneousmaterials.1.2Thistestmethodisapplicabletodryorunsaturatedmaterialsovertemperaturesrangingfrom<0to>100°C,dependingonthesuitabilityofthethermalneedleprobeconstructiontotemperatureextremes.However,caremustbetakentopreventsignificanterrorfrom:(1)redistributionofwaterduetothermalgradientsresultingfromheatingoftheneedleprobe;(2)redistributionofwaterduetohydraulicgradients(gravitydrainageforhighdegreesofsaturationorsurfaceevaporation);(3)phasechangeofwaterinspecimenswithtemperatures<0°Cor>100°C.Theseerrorscanbeminimizedbyaddinglesstotalheattothespecimenthrougheitherminimizingpowerappliedtotheneedleprobeand/orminimizingtheheatingdurationofthemeasurement.1.3Units—ThevaluesstatedinSIunitsaretoberegardedasthestandard.Nootherunitsofmeasurementsareincludedinthisstandard.1.4AllobservedandcalculatedvaluesshallconformtotheguidelinesforsignificantdigitsandroundingestablishedinPracticeD6026.1.4.1Theprocedureusedtospecifyhowdataarecollected/recordedorcalculatedinthisstandardareregardedastheindustrystandard.Inaddition,theyarerepresentativeofthesignificantdigitsthatgenerallyshouldberetained.Theproce-duresuseddonotconsidermaterialvariation,purposeforobtainingthedata,specialpurposestudies,oranyconsider-ationsfortheuser’sobjectives;anditiscommonpracticetoincreaseorreducesignificantdigitsofreporteddatatobeco...
