Thermal Conductivity Based on Modified Laser Flash Measurement

The laser flash method is a standard method for thermal diffusivity measurement. It employs single-pulse heating of one side of a thin specimen and measures the temperature response of the other side. The thermal diffusivity of the specimen can be obtained based on a one-dimensional transient heat transfer analysis. This paper reports the development of a theory that includes a transparent reference layer with known thermal property attached to the back of sample. With the inclusion of heat conduction from the sample to the reference layer in the theoretical analysis, the thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity of sample can be extracted from the temperature response data. Furthermore, a procedure is established to select two points from the data to calculate these properties. The uncertainty analysis indicates that this method can be used with acceptable levels of uncertainty.