Thermal Resistivity

This test is used to measure the thermal resistivity of the soil, which is a fundamental parameter for the design of buried cable systems, where heat is produced by the electrical current flowing through the cable. This heat must dissipate adequately in the medium where lower thermal resistivity is found to prevent an undesired increase in the cable’s heat and any possible damage.

Generally, several in-situ measurements are carried out in an open trench at different depths, according to the goal of the design of the cable system. Also, it is widely recommended to analyze different samples of undisturbed soil and compute dry-out curves which correlate the thermal resistivity of a sample with its moisture content, allowing to assess the range of the thermal resistivity from the saturated to the dry state of the sample.