Infrared thermal imaging has become a common technique for nondestructive evaluation and measurement of thermal properties in ceramic specimens. Flash thermal imaging can be used to determine two-dimensional through-thickness thermal diffusivity in a planar specimen. In this study, we extended the method to determine lateral, or transverse, thermal diffusivity in the specimen. During the flash thermal imaging test, pulsed heat energy is applied to a specimen's back surface, which is partially shielded, and the change of temperature distribution on the front surface is monitored by an infrared thermal imaging system. The temperature distribution represents the effect of both the normal heat transfer through the specimen's thickness and the lateral heat transfer through the interface between the shielded and unshielded back-surface regions. Those temperature distributions are then fined with a theoretical solution of the heat transfer process to determine the lateral thermal diffusivity at the interface. This technique has been applied to measure lateral thermal diffusivity in a steel plate and a continuous fiber ceramic composite specimen.
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