Measurements of the thermal expansion coefficient of 1Cr18Ni9Ti stainless steel with a laser scanning microdisplacement detection technique

A laser scanning microdisplacement detection system has been developed to measure the thermal expansion coefficient of materials over the range from room temperature to 1200 K. The measurement apparatus consists of a dynamic heating device, a microdisplacement detection system, and a microcomputerbased high-speed data acquisition system. The specimen is dynamically heated from room temperature to 1200 K by passing a large electrical current through it. The thermal expansion of the specimen is detected by the laser detection system, which records the shift of Fraunhofer diffraction fringes with a photodetector. Measurements of the mean linear thermal expansion coefficient of 1Cr18Ni9Ti stainless steel in the range of 300–1200 K are described. The results are compared with other reported values of the thermal expansion coefficient. The maximum deviation between them is about 2.3% at the highest temperature, 1200 K.Paper presented at the Tenth Symposium on Thermophysical Properties, June 20–23, 1988, Gaithersburg, Maryland, U.S.A.