Complexity matters: highly-accurate numerical models of coupled radiative-conductive heat transfer in a laser flash experiment

Thermal diffusivity measurements of samples transmitting thermal radiation require adjustments to the data treatment procedures in laser flash analysis. Conventionally, an unconstrained diathermic model is used. Current results show that the alternative coupled radiative-conductive models produce substantially different results -- for instance, at high temperatures in oxide ceramics. However, care must be taken to ensure accurate implementations of each constituent computational technique. The latter are presented in this work.