A simplified model for thermal-wave cavity self-consistent measurement of thermal diffusivity.

A simplified theoretical model was developed for the thermal-wave cavity (TWC) technique in this study. This model takes thermal radiation into account and can be employed for absolute measurements of the thermal diffusivity of gas and liquid samples without any knowledge of geometrical and thermal parameters of the components of the TWC. Using this model and cavity-length scans, thermal diffusivities of air and distilled water were accurately and precisely measured as (2.191 ± 0.004) × 10(-5) and (1.427 ± 0.009) × 10(-7) m(2) s(-1), respectively, in very good agreement with accepted literature values.