Linearized analysis of burning solids subjected to pressure or external radiant heat flux oscillations results in relatively simple expressions for the burning rate response, particularly when combined with quasisteady gas and surface zone assumptions. In this article, a linear expression for the radiant heat flux response function R q as a function of primary experimental parameters is obtained. The implications of this expression and its relationship to the pressure coupled response function R p are examined. In particular, the linearized effects of the mean radiant heat flux level and in-depth absorption on R q are investigated. The linear response to a series of radiant pulses is also presented to suggest an alternate method of experimentally measuring R q . The effects of nonlinearities are investigated using numerical calculations. It is shown that, in general, the relationship between R p and R q is more complicated than a constant scaling factor. The results demonstrate that in-depth absorption of the thermal radiant energy in the solid significantly affects R q for many practical conditions. Furthermore, even when the equivalence principle holds in the steady case, an equivalent change in the initial temperature does not have the same effect on R q , in general, as an equivalent mean radiant flux. Also, the mean radiant flux is seen to have a significant effect on R q . An attempt is made throughout this article to further clarify the relationship and differences between the flame modeling (FM) and the Zeldovich-Novozhilov (ZN) phenomenological approaches in the prediction of R q and R p .f b i most general form is 1/[(T S -r 0 )(d A = Ilk most general form is 1/[(T S -T 0 )(d fa, = Ilk* specific heat of condensed phase specific heat of gas phase activation energy (f b la c )[T s (p, r b ) -T 0 (p, r b )] fraction of q absorbed below surface reaction zone = radiant heat flux frequency response function, = dimensionless heat release, QJC(T S -T 0 ) dimensionless mean radiant flux, qlpf b C(T s -T 0 ) absorption coefficient of condensed phase material (f, -r 0 )(3 A VWo) M -o = (f s ~ T 0 )tr p ; also thermal conductivity (f s -T 0 )(d^f b /dT 0 ) ptq = (f, -T 0 ) /Arj S T TF t X x z a d 8, 8* T) 0 A = burning rate = reflectivity of condensed phase material = (dT s /dT 0 ) p , q = (f, -r 0 )/[f, -T 0 -(qf r /pf b C)] = temperature = time = length scale = spatial coordinate = -i + i(l + 4/ft) 1/2 = thermal diffusivity = temperature exponent in surface pyrolysis expression = ratio of thermal to radiant length scale (K a a c /f b ) = denotes an oscillatory value = vr -jjik = v q r* -iJL q k* -v*r* _ JJL*^* = dimensionless pressure, pip = dimensionless temperature, (T -T 0 )/(T S -T 0 ) = 2 + 2(1 V = _ ll(f s -T 0 )(dT s /d (d £tf...