A modified flash method for determination of thermal diffusivity in solids

A modified version of the flash method of the thermal diffusivity measurement of solids is described. The method is based on the analysis of the temperature difference between two opposite surfaces of a disc-like sample, where one surface had surface heat generation. The paper also presents a laser flash laboratory apparatus, a procedure for the samples preparation under investigation, as well as the required conditions for the experiment. The method and the apparatus were tested by measurement the thermal diffusivity of nickel 0.999 for several temperatures within the range from 300 to 1000 K. For illustration, the investigation of thermal diffusivity characteristic, within the range from 300 to 1000 K, of the N18K9M5TPr alloy steel, is also presented. The error of the thermal diffusivity determination was estimated to be less than 6%.