Thermal Radiative Properties of Complex Media: Theoretical Prediction Versus Experimental Identification

In many engineering applications and natural phenomena, thermal radiation interacts with complex media composed of dispersed phases that may be of different type: solid/solid, solid/gas, or liquid/gas. Most of them are semitransparent media that emit, absorb, and scatter thermal radiation. Heat transfer by combined radiation with conduction or convection in such media is a problem of high practical importance, mostly in situations where radiation is a dominant mode. Improvement of thermal performance of such materials or of the manufacturing processes that involve these media requires the availability of efficient methods (i) for radiative transfer modeling, and (ii) to predict and to experimentally determine the thermophysical properties intended to feed the models. This paper is focused on radiative properties assessment. After a brief overview of the materials and properties of interest, the emphasis is put on methodology of property investigation combining both theoretical prediction and experimental identification. Examples related to different particulate media are presented, showing recent advances and needs for further investigation.