Thermal Diffusivity of Sintered Steels with Flash Method at Ambient Temperature

Due to lack of reliable thermal diffusivity data of sintered steels in literature, experimental investigations were conducted on samples made of different powder types (based on prealloyed, or diffusion-bonded, or admixed powders) and under different process conditions. So the influence of pressing pressure and sintering temperature on thermal diffusivity was established. Thermal diffusivity was measured using the "flash method": a sample in the shape of a slab is irradiated with a light pulse on one of the two surfaces, and temperature of the other surface is detected by an ambient temperature pyrometer. The value of the thermal diffusivity is obtained by a least squares regression on the entire trend of the temperature vs. time using the analytical solution of the heat conduction as regression model. Results show the increase of the thermal diffusivity with increasing density. This outcome can be explained from the mutual effect of thermal conductivity and density on thermal diffusivity in porous media. The experimental results have also permitted to verify the influence of the composition of the sintered materials and carbon contents on thermal diffusivity.