A DILATOMETRIC METHOD TO MEASURE THE THERMAL-DIFFUSIVITY OF NONMETALLIC LIQUIDS

A new method to measure the thermal diffusivity of liquids is presented. It requires determination of the time dependence of the thermal expansion of the liquid when it is subjected to a heat source at the top of the cell containing the liquid. The high accuracy of the method (about 3%) is due to an essential reduction of convective currents and also to the absence of temperature detectors, which generally introduce unwanted perturbations on the thermal field.