An accurate carbon cone calorimeter for pulsed lasers

Abstract

The requirements for a laser calorimeter are discussed with reference to a particular thick walled carbon cone equipped with eight thermocouples and a resistance wire to discharge a known energy for calibration purposes. The main sources of error are: (i) incomplete absorption of the laser beam; (ii) the cooling error due to the finite time for redistribution of the heat along the cone; (iii) the measurement of the calibrating energy; however it is shown that, provided certain conditions are fulfilled, an accuracy to better than 4% can be obtained. Although simple to construct, the calorimeter is not very convenient to use and should be regarded as a means of calibrating another detector.