Response of thermal conductivity of loess after high temperature in northern Shaanxi burning rock area, China

Abstract The thermal conductivity of loess plays an important role in ecological restoration design and the calculation of roadbed and slope stability. This study uses 60 loess samples from Shaanxi Province of China as raw material. The loess samples were heated to high temperature in an unclosed muffle furnace and then cooled to room temperature. Subsequently, the heat conduction coefficient (λ), specific heat capacity (c) and thermal diffusion coefficient (α) of the sample were measured. Between 23–900 °C, with temperature increasing, λ decreased from 0.90 to 0.46 W/m·K, c decreased from 1.60 to 1.23 J/kg·K, α decreased from 0.59 to 0.38 m2/s. The test results show that, after being exposed to high temperature, the thermal conductivity of loess tends to weaken. This has a very important relationship with the pore characteristics of loess.