Automated thermal conductivity tester

A method, comprising:

• placing a sample of material into an area of a test chamber, wherein the area is subject to a variable desaturation vacuum to dry the sample;
• weighing the sample with a precision scale in the test chamber;
• providing heat and measuring temperature using a probe inside the sample;
• automatically calculating thermal resistivity based on heat input, temperature, and time data;
• automatically removing moisture from the sample by varying desaturation vacuum;
• monitoring internal temperature data using the probe and weight data using the precision scale;
• automatically raising the sample off of the precision scale and lowering the sample back onto the precision scale between measurements using pistons;
• automatically determining if the sample has achieved dryout;
• and
• if the sample has achieved dryout, storing results of calculation in a test result data store containing electronic records, each record including thermal resistivity values over range of moisture content values that represent a dryout curve.