HEAT FLUX MICROSENSOR DEVELOPMENT

VATELLE OFFERS TO BUILD AND TEST PROTOTYPE HEAT FLUX MICROSENSORS TO DETERMINE THEIR CHARACTERISTICS AND POTENTIAL UTILITY FOR THE MEASUREMENT OF HEAT FLUX IN ADVERSE ENVIRONMENTS. THE SENSOR IS A COMBINATION OF THIN FILM LAYERS APPLIED DIRECTLY TO THE SURFACE WHOSE HEAT TRANSFER IS TO BE MEASURED. IT WILL USE MATERIALS SELECTED FOR OPTERATION AT 1000 DEG C, AND PERFORMANCE WILL BE TESTED AT THAT TEMPERATURE. THE FEATURES OF THE SENSOR WHICH DISTINGUISH IT FROM PWIOR DEVICES AND ESTABLISH ITS POTENTIAL UTILITY ARE: (1) HIGH TEMPERATURE CAPABILITY, MAKING MEASUREMENTS POSSIBLE IN HARSH ENVIRONMENTS; (2) SMALL THICKNESS, ENABLING HEAT TRANSFER MEASUREMENTSTO BE MADE WITH LITTLE OR NO DISTURBANCE OF FLOWS; (3) RAPID RESPONSE,FACILITATING MEASUREMENT OF HEAT TRANSFER IN BOILING, IN TURBULENT FLOWS OR IN OTHER RAPIDLY CHANGING CONDITIONS, (4) LOW THERMAL DROP, WHICH DOES NOT DISTURB HEAT FLUX DISTRIBUTION, MAKING RESULTS MORE PRECISE AND ACCURATE; (5) HIGH HEAT FLUX RATE CAPACITY, MAKING MEASUREMENTS POSSIBLE IN HIGHLY ENERGETIC SYSTEMS; AND (6) ABILITY TO BE CALIBRATED ON THE OBJECT WHOSE HEAT TRANSFER IS TO BE MEASURED, THUS MINIMIZING INSTRUMENTATION ERRORS CAUSED BY BONDING OF A SENSOR TO A SURFACE AFTER THE SENSOR IS CALIBRATED ELSEWHERE.