Contribution to the Stepwise Transient Method

Stepwise transient method is an experimental technique for measuring the thermal diffusivity and conductivity of solid materials. The contribution deals with some effects, which may influence the reliability of the measurement results. Namely the heat losses from the base and lateral surfaces of the specimen, the heat capacity of the heat source and thermocouple, and the heat transfer coefficient for the heat source - specimen and specimen - thermocouple interface. The theoretical models for these effects are presented and used to prove that in particular experimental arrangement the mentioned effects have negligible influence on the measurement results.