Novel Heating-Rate Sensor for Use with Inverse Heat Conduction Problems

A novel sensor for measuring both temperature and heating-rate (dT/dt) in hostile environments will be developed and delivered to the Air Force, along with an inverse heat conduction computer code that uses the dT/dt data. The sensor is optical and allows heating-rates to be measured remotely. As an optical sensor, it is immune to EMI. A tiny amount of sensor material (<<1 mg) is placed on the target. Light emitted from the material is collected by optics and (optionally) directed in a fiber optic to deliver light to a photodetector. (Alternatively, for convenience, the sensor can be attached directly to the end of a fiber optic, eliminating light collection.) The photodetector can be positioned remotely. A computer code will be delivered to the Air Force that uses the dT/dt signal to analyze the inverse heat conduction problem.