ASTM D4611 - 16

    Standard Test Method for Specific Heat of Rock and Soil

    Active Standard ASTM D4611 | Developed by Subcommittee: D18.12

    Book of Standards Volume: 04.08

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    Significance and Use

    5.1 Specific heat is a basic thermodynamic property of all substances. The value of specific heat depends upon chemical or mineralogical composition and temperature. The rate of temperature diffusion through a material, thermal diffusivity, is a function of specific heat; therefore, specific heat is an essential property of rock and soil when these materials are used under conditions of unsteady or transient heat flow.


    1. Scope

    1.1 This test method covers the determination of instantaneous and mean values of the specific heat of rock and soil.

    1.2 This test method employs the classical method of mixtures, which involve procedures and an apparatus that are simpler than those generally used in scientific calorimetry, but with an accuracy that is adequate for most rocks and soils. While this test method was developed for testing rock and soil, it can be adapted to measure the specific heat of other materials.

    1.3 The testing procedure provides an instantaneous specific heat over temperatures ranging from 25 to 300°C or a mean specific heat in that temperature range.

    1.4 The test procedure is limited to dry specimens of soil and rock.

    1.5 Units—The values stated in SI units are to be regarded as the standard. No other units of measurements are included in this standard.





    ASTM Standards

    D618 Practice for Conditioning Plastics for Testing

    D653 Terminology Relating to Soil, Rock, and Contained Fluids


    D6026 Practice for Using Significant Digits in Geotechnical Data



    ICS Code


    UNSPSC Code

    UNSPSC Code 11111501(Soil)

    Referencing This Standard
    Link Here

    DOI: 10.1520/D4611-16

    Citation Format

    ASTM D4611-16, Standard Test Method for Specific Heat of Rock and Soil, ASTM International, West Conshohocken, PA, 2016, www.astm.org

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