Thermal diffusivity measurements - made easy

 

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Technique

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In-Plane Tests - Fiber-Reinforced Epoxy
More and more polymers, metals or ceramics are being reinforced with fibers to improve their bending strength and to adjust them to special applications. In many cases, the fiber reinforcement results in a high degree of anisotropy to the mechanical and thermal transport properties. By employing special sample holders, the flash technique allows analysis of this anisotropy in the thermal diffusivity and thermal conductivity. The measurement example clearly demonstrates that the values for both the thermal diffusivity and thermal conductivity, perpendicular to the fiber direction are significantly lower than the results of the in-plane test (in the fiber direction).

Thermal Conductivity Determination - Polymer Tape
The LFA 447 NanoFlash® allows easy and fast temperature-dependent measurements of the thermal diffusivity. Additionally, the specific heat can be determined by employing a comparative method. A direct determination of the thermal conductivity is possible, if the bulk density of the material is known. This method was used for the thermophysical properties characterization of a polymer tape between room temperature and 90°C. The calibration standard for the specific heat determination was Pyroceram 9606. It can clearly be seen that both the thermal diffusivity and specific heat changed significantly versus temperature. The resulting thermal conductivity depicts nearly no temperature dependence.