Determination of Local Thermophysical Properties and Heat of Transition from Thermal Fields Measurement During Drop Calorimetric Experiment

This paper proposes a non-contact original method to estimate local thermophysical properties (heat capacity and thermal conductivity) and heats of transition from plane thin specimens. This method is based on measurement of temperature fields with an infrared camera during a drop calorimetric experiment. A studied specimen and a reference specimen, with similar geometries, are simultaneously tested. Firstly, the method is validated by estimating heat capacity and thermal conductivity of Vanadium specimens and by comparing the determined values with those obtained by Differential Scanning Calorimetry and by a laser flash method, respectively. Secondly, the method is used to determine latent heats of martensitic transformations. These heats of transition are determined during homogeneous and heterogeneous drop calorimetric experiments of NiTi shape memory alloys specimens. Measured transformation temperatures and latent heats are in good accordance with results obtained by Differential Scanning Calorimetry.