Thermal conductivity, thermal diffusivity and specific heat, namely as the thermal properties, are the three most important physical properties of a material that are needed for heat transfer calculations. Those properties are observed when heat is added or removed from a material, and they become important in any design that must function in any thermal environment. Thermal conductivity is one of the most important physical properties of a material. However, its experimental evaluation may presents some specific troubles, and high precision in the determination of the factors involved in its calculation is required. The thermal diffusivity can be measured more easily and accurately than the thermal conductivity. For this reason, many researchers prefer to measure the thermal diffusivity and then to derive the thermal conductivity. Nowadays, several different techniques for the determination of the thermal diffusivity and thermal conductivity may be found in the literature. Recently, transient techniques have become the preferable way for measuring thermal properties of materials. In this work it is presented a description as well as a critical analysis of one experimental technique employed worldwide for thermal properties measurements of ceramic materials: the laser flash technique. Numerical results are also presented.
transient techniques; thermal properties; thermal diffusivity; laser flash technique
