Laser-produced plasma measurement of thermal diffusivity of molten metals

Abstract

We have shown that a laser-produced plasma plume which is representative in elemental composition of the condensed phase target can be reproducibly generated if the movement of the surface due to evaporation is kept in pace with the thermal diffusion front propagating into the bulk. The resulting mass loss is then strongly controlled by the thermal diffusivity of the target matter, and this relationship has been exploited to measure the thermal diffusivity of metallic alloys. We have developed a novel RF Ievitator-heater as a contamination-free molten metal source to be used as a target for LPP plume generation. In order to determine the mass loss due to LPP excitation, a new high-sensitivity transducer has been constructed for measurement of the resulting impulse imparted on the specimen. The impulse transducer is built onto the specimen holder within the levitation-assisted molten metal source. The LPP method has been fully exercised for measurement of the thermal diffusivity of a molten specimen relative to the value for its room temperature solid. The results for SS304 and SS316 are presented, together with a critique of the results. A numerical modeling of the specimen heating in the molten metal source and the physical basis of the new method are also presented.