THERMAL EXPANSION

GROUP 14

Matthew Schembri 214095(M)

Luke Scicluna 359195(M)
Ren Camilleri 372495(M)
Nicholas Pace 160595(M)
Matthew Pace 041295(M

What is Thermal
Introduction
Expansion?
Thermal expansion is a
result
of increasing the internal
energy
(Kinetic + Potential energy)
of a body.
As more thermal energy is
supplied to a body, the
temperature will increase
and the atoms inside the
same body will start to
vibrate more vigorously.

Different types of Expansion

It

is common practice that

most solids expand when they
are heated. There are 3 types
of thermal expansions, these
being Linear, Areal, and
Volumetric .
If a metal bar of initial length,
at some initial temperature is
given thermal energy (heated),
the temperature of the bar
changes by T and the length
of the bar changes by L. All of
this can be summarized in the
equation:
L= LoT

Different types of
Expansion

Heating causes changes in all the dimensions of a

solid, and so changes are seen in both area and
volume, since most objects expand in all direction
as temperature increases.
Using a similar approach as to that used in linear
expansion, this time the Areal and the Volumetric
expansion of an object can be found by the
equations A = AoT and V = VoT respectively.
is equal to 2 and is equal to 3 for small
expansions and substances that expand at the
same rate in every direction, these substances are
called isotropic materials.

Qualitative overview of Thermal Expansion:

Thermal expansion can be

explained qualitatively by
imagining the neighboring atoms
to be connected by springs that
are easier to stretch than to
compress.
Each atom vibrates about the
equilibrium position. When the
temperature increases, the
energy and amplitude of
vibration of the atoms also
increases.
The interatomic spring forces are
not symmetric about the
equilibrium position. As a result,
when the amplitude of vibration

Quantitative overview of
Thermal Expansion:

Thermal expansion can

also be explained
quantitatively by
plotting a potential
energy vs. interatomic
distance curve since
thermal expansion is
reflected by an
increase in the average
distance between
atoms for a particular
object, in this case, a
solid.
The trough in the curve
corresponds to the

Quantitative overview of
Thermal Expansion:

By heating an object to successive

temperatures, the vibrational energy of the
atoms is increased. At different
temperatures we can see that the separation
of the atoms (for a particular temperature)
varies between certain widths, implying that
the width of the curve is proportional to the
amplitude of thermal vibrations for an atom.
Therefore, the atoms oscillate between the
two extremes of each width, at different
temperatures.

Quantitative overview of
Thermal Expansion
The

resulting thermal expansion of the object occurs

due the fact that potential is not symmetrical and not
because of the increased atomic vibrations as the
temperature is increased. Had the curve been
symmetrical the mean position of the atom would
always be along a vertical line passing through
T=0K. Therefore, since there is no net change in
interatomic separation, no thermal expansion can
occur on the increase in vibrational energy. This type
of potential energy curve which is symmetric is
called a harmonic potential curve and since there is
no thermal expansion, the thermal co-efficient is
zero.

Negative Thermal Expansion (NTE)

The majority of materials have a positive thermal

expansion, meaning that when an object is heated (there
is a raise in temperature), the object expands. On the
other hand there are a few materials which shrink in size
upon heating to higher temperatures. These materials
exhibit what is known as negative thermal expansion
(NTE), for a particular temperature range.
This contraction of the material leads to the material
being denser. Although materials which display NTE are
rare, water in fact exhibits an increase in density when
heated between 273K and 277K.
The most common example of a NTE material which
persists over a wide temperature range is Cubic
Zirconium Tungstate

Negative Thermal Expansion (NTE)

Thermal expansion may cause various

difficulties in various engineering applications.
An example of which is thermal expansion of
dental fillings.
The filling tends to expand by a different rate
from the tooth enamel of the particular tooth,
such as when drinking a hot drink. This thermal
expansion could be controlled by using a
composite material made up of materials
having a mixture of both positive and negative
thermal expansion, known as CTE.

Zero Thermal Expansion (ZTE)

In certain materials, the case may also be that the

thermal coefficient of expansion is zero. An example is
a type of glass known as Zero Thermal Expansion Glass
Ceramic. No change in size occurs when the material
undergoes a temperature change. This unusual
characteristic is exhibited because this material is a
multiphase one, that is, it consists of more than one
phase.
In this case it consists of two phases within the
material. When the material is heated, one of the
phases expands because it has a positive thermal
expansion while the other phase contracts because its
thermal coefficient is negative. The result is that the
overall thermal expansion is close to zero.

Zero Thermal Expansion (ZTE)

This unique characteristic is of utmost

importance in applications where the
dimensions of the system have to remain
the same even when undergoing a large
heat fluctuation.
Applications:
Glass ceramics in cooktops
Hybrid Semiconductors

Metals and Alloys

Generally,
metals have linear thermal coefficient

in the range of to. In some cases, metals are

required to be dimensionally stable with
temperature changes. Therefore these types of
metals must have a low thermal coefficient of
the order , such as iron-nickel and iron-nickelcobalt alloys.
Examples: Kovar and Invar
Applications:
Expansion Joints
Thermostats

Examples

Ceramics

Ceramics
generally have strong interatomic

bonds which cause relatively low thermal

coefficients, whose range varies from to .
Ceramic materials need to have low thermal
coefficients and be isotropic when subject to a
change in temperature. Else, since such ceramic
materials are brittle, these tend to fracture due
to dimensional changes which are not uniform,
termed thermal shock.
Applicatios:
Turbine Blades

Examples

Polymers

Polymeric
materials tend to have very
large thermal coefficients whose range is
approximately from to due to weak Van
der Waals bonds.
The factor by which a polymer thermally
expands has a high value when crosslinking is at a minimum.
Applications:
Expansion Joints in piping systems

Examples

Conclusion

The importance of taking into

consideration Thermal Expansion is
evident when discussing metals,
polymers and ceramics and their thermal
properties. Therefore, it is imperative for
an engineer to familiarize himself/herself
with these same three categories when it
comes to designing and ultimately
building a certain object/ infrastructure.