Simultaneous Estimation of the Thermal Diffusivity and Thermal Contact Resistance of Thin Solid Films and Coatings Using the Two-Dimensional Flash Method

The paper presents a description of the two-dimensional flash method for measuring the thermal diffusivity of deposited thin solid films and coatings, including the possibility of determination of the thermal contact resistance and the thermal anisotropy of the film or coating. Giving an analytical solution of the transient temperature as the consequence of transient two-dimensional heat conduction through the sample, the paper describes the estimation possibilities for the thermal diffusivity and thermal contact resistance, as well as for other typically unknown parameters of the model. Particular attention was given to the influence of ‘‘known’’ parameters on the estimation possibilities of unknown parameters. With such a study, essential information for the modeling of the experiment is provided. The experimental setups and demonstration of the proposed data reduction procedure are preseInted at the end of the paper. Having different estimation possibilities for measuring different locations of the sample, the results suggest using the data of several transient temperatures for more reliable and accurate simultaneous estimation of the thermal diffusivity and thermal contact resistance of deposited thin films and coatings.