Effect of testing conditions on the laser flash thermal diffusivity measurements of ceramics

Several experimental techniques either under steady state or transient heat transfer conditions, have been developed to evaluate thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity of materials. However, testing difficulties resulting from specimen size, extended testing time and heat losses, have somewhat impaired the applicability of many of them. In this respect, the use of the laser flash technique for thermal diffusivity measurements, is a very convenient alternative, considering its basic modeling equation is independent of the temperature gradient as well as the heat flow, and in addition the heat losses can be analytically treated. Another important advantage of the technique is its rapid experimental execution. In this work, it is presented as an investigation concerning how the testing conditions such as specimen coating, laser power and pulse duration, base line adoption, heat losses correction methods, and specimen thickness, may affect the thermal diffusivity measurements of some ceramic materials using the laser flash technique.