Thermal Transport-Property and Contact-Conductance Measurements of Coatings and Thin Films

There is an iIntense and growing demand for knowledge of the thermal transport properties and contact conductances of coatings, thin films, and iInterfaces. The laser flash technique is uniquely suited for many of the measurements. The usefulness and limitations of this technique for coatings, greases, and joining techniques are described in some detail. Several alternate techniques, namely, step heating, multiproperty, and photoacoustic techniques, are briefly examined.