Temperature plays a significant role in the mechanical and chemical response of elastomers. Deformation, in turn, changes the thermal response of elastomers. Several studies have demonstrated that the initially isotropic thermal conductivity of an elastomer may become anisotropic when the material is deformed. Measuring the thermophysical properties, either thermal conductivity or diffusivity, of a material when it is deformed requires careful design of the experimental apparatus; the thermophysical measurements must not interfere with the application and measurement of the well-defined deformations. Likewise, the deformations must accommodate the thermophysical measurements. Thermo-optical measurements, such as derivatives of the flash method of thermal diffusivity measurement, provide a means whereby the specimen many be heated and its temperature history measured without mechanical contact with the specimen. The geometry of heating, temperature measurement, and specimen design are all variables that can be manipulated to produce measures with the highest confidence. Here, we will compare several thermo-optical methods that may be used to measure components of the thermal diffusivity tensor (e.g., modified flash and thermal wave) that are compatible with biaxial loading of a membrane. These thermo-optical techniques will be compared using the Fisher information index and D-optimality.
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