New applications of the flash method
Didier Demange
Two methods for measuring the thermal diffusivity of semitransparent solid ceramics and ceramic coatings on metallic substrates are described. Tests conducted on various zirconias have shown these materials to be highly unstable and tend to show that such materials exhibit an optically dense behaviour at high temperature. The use of a phosphate glass Q-switched laser with very short pulse (25 ns) allows the characterisation of a thin coating of ceramic with thickness between 15 and 50 mm.