A universal laser-pulse apparatus for thermophysical measurements in refractory materials at very high temperatures

This paper presents a new experimental technique enabling thermophysical me asurements to be carried out at very high temperatures in a very simple and small pressurized vessel in which the sample is heated by a continuous wav e laser, and subsequently subjected to a short temperature pulse. The adopt ed method is essentially an extension of the "laser-flash" technique, widel y used for thermal diffusivity measurements, whereby, in addition, the heat capacity and, hence, the thermal conductivity, lambda, are simultaneously evaluated rom the pulse analysis. Results are presented for the thermal dif fusivity and heat capacity of graphite, zirconia, and uranium dioxide up to temperatures above 3000 K.