Hemispherical Total Emissivity of Niobium, Molybdenum, and Tungsten at High Temperatures Using a Combined Transient and Brief Steady-State Technique

The hemispherical total emissivity of three refractory metals, niobium, molybdenum, and tungsten, was measured with a new method using a combined transient and brief steady-state technique. The technique is based on rapid resistive self-heating of a solid cylindrical specimen in vacuum up to a preset high temperature in a short time (about 200 ms) and then keeping the specimen at that temperature under steady-state conditions for a brief period (about 500ms) before switching off the current through the specimen. Hemispherical total emissivity is determined at the temperature plateau from the data on current through the specimen, the voltage drop across the middle portion of the specimen, and the specimen temperature using the steady-state heat balance equation based on the Stefan-Boltzmann law. Temperature of the specimen is determined from the measured surface radiance temperature and the normal spectral emissivity; the latter is obtained from laser polarimetric measurements. Experimental results on the hemispherical total emissivity of niobium (2000 to 2600 K), molybdenum (2000 to 2700 K), and tungsten (2000 to 3400 K) are reported.