Eroding ribbon thermocouples: impulse response and transient heat flux analysis

We have investigated a particular type of fast-response surface thermocouple to determine if it is appropriate to use a one-dimensional transient heat conduction model to derive the transient surface heat flux from the measurements of surface temperature. With these sensors, low thermal inertia thermocouple junctions are formed near the surface by abrasive wear. Using laser excitation, we obtained the impulse response of these commercially available devices. The response of particular sensors can vary if new junctions are created by abrasive wear. Furthermore, the response of these sensors was found to deviate substantially from the one-dimensional model and varied from sensor to sensor. The impulse response was simulated with greater fidelity using a two-dimensional finite element model, but three-dimensional effects also appear to be significant. The impact of these variations on the derived heat flux is assessed for the case of measurements in an internal combustion engine. When the measured impulse response is used to derive the surface heat flux, the apparent reversal of heat flux during the expansion stroke does not occur. © 2005 IOP Publishing Ltd