A high-temperature system based on the laser flash method to measure the thermal diffusivity of melts

A high-temperature measuring system has been developed to undertake measurements of thennal difusivity and specific heat up to 1900 K. The overall design allows measurements on solids to be undertaken using the accepted standard techniques and analytical procedures. The specific design for molten materials and especially slags is based on the differential threelayer technique utilizing a special cell which can be accomodated in the system. In this method, the liquid specimen is sandwiched between an upper inner platinum crucible and a lower outer platinum crucible, to provide a three-layered sandwich. A laser pulse irradiates the surface of the upper platinum crucible and the temperature response of the surface of the lower platinum crucible is observed. For the purpose of accurate measurement of specimen thickness at the measuring temperature, two runs are performed in which the thicknesses arel andl+°Dl, wherel is unknown butl can be set accurately with a built-in micrometer. The thermal difusivity is obtained through a curve-fitting method by a personal computer using a three-layer analysis with a correction for the radiative component based on the transparent body assumption. Following verification of the basic performance, using solids of known properties and water and ethanol, a continuous casting mixture has been evaluated. The initial results on the fluids are in good agreement with those in the literature.Paper presented at the Twelfth Symposium on Thermophysical Properties, June 19–24, 1994, Boulder, Colorado, U.S.A.     

The effects of a finite pulse time in the flash thermal diffusivity method

After a brief review of the finite pulse time effects in flash thermal diffusivity measurements, an analytical expression for an exponential shape pulse was determined using the Green function method. The results were compared with those obtained by Larson and Koyama. It was found that, using the Larson and Koyama equation, when the dimensionless time is equal to zero, the dimensionless temperature rise V cannot reach zero, and when _p, the time characterizing the dimensionless pulse, approaches 1/n ² (n=1,2,3,...), a large error of _1/2 will result. These contradictions have been resolved by the present work. In other respects, both sets of results concurred. The results are compared with the triangular pulse and are discussed.     

Use of the Laplace transformation for data reduction in the flash method of measuring thermal diffusivity

This paper presents a new way to reduce data in the laser flash method of measuring thermal diffusivity. Experimental temperature vs time data are first transformed by using the Laplace transformation, and then they are fitted with an appropriate theoretical formula. The data reduction procedure is more efficient and enables the use of more realistic models of heat conduction in the sample, because the theoretical formulae for transformed temperatures have a simpler form than those for nontransformed ones. Some examples of the theoretical formulae of transformed temperatures are included here for one- and two-dimensional heat transfer, respectively. The models described take into account a finite pulse time and heat losses from the sample. Two fitting algorithms are proposed. Experimentally, the data reduction procedure has been tested for a correction of the finite pulse time effect in the flash method. The results show that the accuracy of our procedure is comparable with other data reduction methods. Provided that the shape and duration of the pulse are known, this procedure allows elimination of the finite pulse time effect on calculation of the thermal diffusivity for any transformable heat pulse time function, even in cases where the other specialized data reduction procedures have failed.     

Measurement of thermal diffusivity by the flash method for a two-layer composite sample in the case of triangular pulse

A method for measuring thermal diffusivity in one of the layers of a two-layer composite sample has been described. The heat transfer problem of a two-layer sample associated with pulse thermal diffusivity measurements has been analyzed for two cases: exponential and square-wave pulses. According to our measurements, a triangular heat-pulse function approximates reasonably well the output of the Nd-glass laser. In this paper, an expression is derived for the temperature transient at the rear face of two-layer sample being subjected to a triangular heat-pulse input on the front face. The analytical solution of the problem forms the basis of our method of data reduction. This solution has been programmed for computer processing of the data. The method described here has been successfully tested by limited measurements on copper and iron.Paper presented at the Ninth Symposium on Thermophysical Properties, June 24–27, 1985, Boulder, Colorado, U.S.A.     

材料热扩散率的非稳态测量与应用

热扩散率是材料热物性中一个非常重要的参数。在材料热扩散率的测试中,主要是利用非稳态方法进行测量。非稳态测量方法具有测量周期短、测试方便、结果准确等优点。主要对常用的5种利用非稳态测试材料热扩散率的方法进行了阐述,详细介绍了它们的工作原理、方法特点以及近几年来的科研成果。同时,列举了目前热扩散率测试的一些常用产品和相关测试标准。最后,对热扩散率测试的未来发展趋势进行了展望。     

Effects of infrared detector nonlinearity on thermal diffusivity measurements using the flash method

When using an infrared detector to measure temperature changes as in the case of the flash technique, the effects of detector nonlinearity can have drastic effects on the experimental data. In the flash technique, the detector nonlinearity tends to shift the calculated half-time to larger values, resulting in underpredicted values of thermal diffusivity especially in experiments performed at room temperature. In order to predict the error in the diffusivity calculation, the nonlinear relationship between the detector signal and the temperature change was developed into a Taylor series expansion used in the flash technique's mathematical model. The nonlinear detector model proves to yield accurate correction factors for the presently calculated values of diffusivity. In order to utilize the model, it is necessary to estimate the maximum temperature rise of the back surface and the degree of detector nonlinearity.     

Thermal diffusivity of liquids determined by flash heating of a three-layered cell

An investigation of the applicability of the flash heating of a three-layered cell for determining the thermal diffusivity of a central liquid layer at temperatures between its melting and boiling points is described. Two different cell designs were developed. In one, the outside layers were brazed to a ring-shaped central spacer; in the other, bolted flanges held the outside layers against a central spacer. Test units were fabricated from type 304 stainless steel. Thermal diffusivity results for water obtained with two brazed cells and one bolted cell were all within ±1% of standard reference values. Results obtained with a high temperature salt (Hitec) with two brazed cells were within ±2.5% of each other over the temperature range of 149–427°C. In contrast, bolted cell measurements were inconsistent.     

A noncontact method for measuring thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity of anisotropic materials

A noncontact method for measuring the thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity of anisotropic materials is proposed. This method is based on the fact that the surface temperature variation with time depends on the thermal properties of the material when its surface is heated locally. The three-dimensional transient heat conduction equation in the material is solved numerically. The dimensionless average surface temperature variations are obtained along each principal axis: that is, thex andy axes. The relation between the dimensionless temperature and the Fourier number is expressed by a polynomial equation and used as a master plot, which is a basic relation to be compared with measured temperature variation. In the experiments, the material surface is heated with a laser beam and the surface temperature profiles are measured by an infrared thermometer. The measured temperature variations with time are compared with the master plots to yield the thermal conductivity λ _x and thermal diffusivityx _v in thex direction and the thermal conductivity ratioE _xy (=λ _y λ _x ) simultaneously. To confirm the applicability and the accuracy of the present method, measurements were performed on multilayered kent-paper, vinyl chloride, and polyethylene resin film, whose thermal properties are known. From numerical simulations, it is found that the present method can measure the thermophysical properties λ _x , α _x andE _xy within errors of ±6, ±22, and ±5%, respectively, when the measuring errors of the peak heat flux, the heating radius, and the surface temperature rise are assumed to be within ±2, ±3%, and ±0.2 K, respectively. This method could be applied to the measurement of thermophysical properties of biological materials.     

Thermal conductivity of Nd3+ and Yb3+ doped laser materials measured by using the thermal lens technique

Thermal conductivity measurements in various well-known Yb³⁺ and Nd³⁺ doped laser materials are performed by using an all-optical pump–probe approach based on the pump-induced thermal lens phenomenon. The derived values agree well with the existing data and open the way to more extensive and more complete investigations.     

An evaluation of specific heat measurement methods using the laser flash technique

Different methods for adapting the laser flash technique to measure simultaneously specific heat have been proposed in the literature. Among them are the coating method, the absorbing disk method, the double-specimen method, the pulse heating-cooling method, and the cavity method. These methods are briefly reviewed, and their merits and demerits are evaluated.     

Accurate determination of specific heat at high temperatures using the flash diffusivity method

The flash diffusivity method can be extended, very simply, to measuring simultaneously thermal diffusivity and specific heat and thus obtaining the thermal conductivity directly. This was accomplished by determining the amount of heat absorbed by a sample with a well-known specific heat and then using this to determine the specific heat of any other sample. The key to using this technique was to have identically reproducible surfaces on the standard and the unknowns. This was achieved earlier by sputtering the surfaces of the samples with a thin layer of graphite. However, the accuracy in determining the specific heat was within ±10% and there was considerable scatter in the data. Several improvements in the technique have been made which have improved the accuracy to ±3% and increased the precision. The most important of these changes has been the introduction of a method enabling the samples to be placed in exactly the same position in front of the light source. Also, the control of the thickness and the application of the graphite coating have turned out to be very important. A comparison of specific heats obtained with this improved technique and with results obtained using other techniques has been made for two materials.Paper presented at the Tenth Symposium on Thermophysical Properties, June 20–23, 1988, Gaithersburg, Maryland, U.S.A.     

Experimental investigation of nonuniform heating and heat loss from a specimen for the measurement of thermal diffusivity by the laser pulse heating method

Nonuniform heating effect and heat loss effect from the specimen in the measurement of thermal diffusivity by the laser pulse heating method have been experimentally investigated using an axially symmetric Gaussian laser beam and a laser beam homogenized with an optical filter. The degree of error is theoretically estimated based on the solution of the two-dimensional heat conduction equation under the boundary condition of heat loss from the surface of the specimen in the axial direction and the initial conditions of axially symmetric nonuniform and uniform heating. A correction factor, which is determined by comparison of the entire experimental and the theoretical history curves, is introduced to correct the values obtained by the conventionalt _1,2 method. The applicability of this modified curve-fitting method has been experimentally tested using materials in the thermal diffusivity range 10⁻³ to 1 cm²·s⁻¹. The experimental error due to the nonuniform heating and heat loss was reduced to approximately 3%.     

Measurement of thermal diffusivity of solids using infrared thermography

We report measurement of thermal diffusivity of solid samples by using a continuous heat source and infrared thermal imaging. In this technique, a continuous heat source is used for heating the front surface of solid specimen and a thermal camera for detecting the time dependent temperature variations at the rear surface. The advantage of this technique is that it does not require an expensive thermal camera with high acquisition rate or transient heat sources like laser or flash lamp. The time dependent heat equation is solved analytically for the given experimental boundary conditions. The incorporation of heat loss correction in the solution of heat equation provides the values of thermal diffusivity for aluminum, copper and brass, in good agreement with the literature values.     

Measurement and evaluation of the thermal diffusivity of two-layered materials

Transient methods, such as those with pulse- or step-wise heating, have often been used to measure thermal diffusivity of various materials including layered composite materials. The aim of the present study is to investigate effects of various parameters on the measurement of thermal diffusivity when the transient methods are applied. Mainly a two-layered material in the pulsewise heating method is considered because of its simplicity and usefulness in identifying and determining the effects of the parameters. First, it has been shown that there exists a special condition for determining the thermal diffusivity of a component in the two-layered material whose other relevant thermophysical properties are known. Second, it has been shown that the thickness of the laserbeam absorption layer, which inevitably makes sample material into the twolayered material, may cause a relatively large error when the thermal diffusivity of the base material is high. Finally, it has been derived a definite relation between the apparent thermal diffusivity obtained from the temperature response and the mean thermal diffusivity, which has a physical meaning related to the thermal resistance.     

激光闪光法测定耐火材料导热系数的原理与方法

依据激光闪光法测定导热系数的理论基础和物理模型,推导了计算导热系数所需的热扩散系数和比热容两个参数的计算公式,从而阐述了该方法的原理。以美国安特公司产FLASH—LINE-5000型热扩散系数测定仪为例,介绍了激光闪光法测定导热系数设备的主要组成,并简要说明了该设备的操作步骤及导热系数的计算方法。     

Simultaneous measurement of thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity of solids by the parallel-wire method

An improved parallel-wire technique for simultaneous measurement of thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity is presented. The deviation between experimental results and recommended (or another author's) values is less than 5% for fused quartz and refractory brick.     

High-sensitivity capacitance method for measuring thermal diffusivity and thermal expansion: Results on aluminum and copper

Thermal diffusivity and thermal expansion in high-conducting solids can be measured by means of a capacitance method, which turns out to be simple, reliable, and accurate and yields the first property with an accuracy of 1% and the second one with an accuracy of 2%. Preliminary results, which are consistent with the literature, have been obtained on pure aluminum (99.999%) and on commercial copper, both at near room temperature.     

Thermophysical properties of porous SiC ceramics fabricated by pressureless sintering

Highly porous SiC with approximately 30–41% porosity was fabricated by pressureless sintering without sintering additives at temperatures in the range 1700–2000 °C. Thermal diffusivities, specific heats, thermal conductivities and thermal resistivities of sintered samples are reported for temperatures from room temperature to 1000 °C. The thermal diffusivities and thermal conductivities of all samples decreased significantly with increasing temperature over this range, whereas specific heats and thermal resistivities increased. At any given temperature, the greater the porosity of the SiC, the lower the thermal conductivity.     

Thermophysical properties of porous SiC ceramics fabricated by pressureless sintering

Highly porous SiC with approximately 30–41% porosity was fabricated by pressureless sintering without sintering additives at temperatures in the range 1700–2000 °C. Thermal diffusivities, specific heats, thermal conductivities and thermal resistivities of sintered samples are reported for temperatures from room temperature to 1000 °C. The thermal diffusivities and thermal conductivities of all samples decreased significantly with increasing temperature over this range, whereas specific heats and thermal resistivities increased. At any given temperature, the greater the porosity of the SiC, the lower the thermal conductivity.